Core i5-13400F

The Raptor Lake Intel i5-13400F ($200 USD, cooler included) paired with a B660/B760 motherboard ($150 USD) and 2x8 GB DDR4 3600 RAM ($50 USD) offers good value for money to mid-range gamers. The 13400F has around 5% higher single-core and 35% higher multi-core performance than its predecessor. Although both processors feature the same Golden Cove p-cores, the 13400F has four additional energy efficient e-cores which account for the improvement in multi-core performance. The 13400F offers comparable gaming and better multi-core performance than AMD's 7600X but at a lower price and without the need for an aftermarket cooler, DDR5 memory and an expensive motherboard. Since Intel don’t care for long term relationships with PC hardware influencers, for product launches, they often end up sponsoring influencers that are mostly funded by AMD. As a result, Intel rarely get positive marketing coverage beyond launch, and their products remain relatively under priced compared to AMD. When paired with a DDR4 motherboard the 13100F/13400F CPUs (at MSRP) offer unbeatable/good value to entry/mid level PC gamers. High end gamers should investigate the 13600K, which thanks to both higher clocks and higher IPC (Raptor Cove), is around 15% faster than the 13400F. ^{[Jan '23 CPUPro]}