Core i5-13600k vs i5-12600k [Gaming & Render]

The Intel vs AMD rivalry has been getting more and more heated with the release of AMD’s new Ryzen 7000 chips and Intel’s new 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors. With that said, it’s also important to compare the performances of the new gen with the last-gen in their respective brands, which is why in this Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k CPU comparison, we’ll be seeing how much performance boost we got from 12th gen to the 13th gen Intel CPUs coming under the Core i5 label.   

Also read: Intel Core i5 13700k Vs Intel Core i5 12700k 

i5-13600k Specs And Background 

• Total Cores: 14 
• No. of Performance-cores: 6 
• No. of Efficient-cores: 8 
• Total Threads: 20 
• Max Turbo Frequency: 5.10 GHz 
• Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 5.10 GHz 
• Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency: 3.90 GHz 
• Performance-core Base Frequency: 3.50 GHz 
• Efficient-core Base Frequency: 2.60 GHz 
• Cache: 24 MB Intel® Smart Cache 
• Total L2 Cache: 20 MB 
• Processor Base Power: 125 W 
• Maximum Turbo Power: 181 W 

The Intel Core i5 13600k is Intel’s latest entry in the Core i5 label providing mid-range value and performance. The Intel Core i5 13600k has recently been released on October 20th, 2022, in Intel’s lineup of 13th Gen Raptor Lake desktop processors. It’s built on the 10nm process like its predecessor and also runs on the same LGA 1700 socket, which means you can upgrade from the previous gen much more easily.  

The Intel Core i5 13600k comes equipped with 20 threads and 14 cores that are split up into 6 Power (P) Cores and 8 (E) Efficiency Cores. Moreover, the Power (P) Cores operate at a base clock of 3.5 GHz, which can go up to 5.1 GHz depending on the task. As for Efficiency (E) Cores, their base clock is 2.6 GHz which can go up to 3.9 GHz when boosted. Furthermore, the Intel Core i5 13600k is fitted with 24 MB Intel Smart L3 Cache and 20 MB total L2 Cache.  

To talk about the features of the Intel Core i5 13600k comes with backward compatibility for DDR4 memory as well as DDR5 memory. Alongside that, the Intel Core i5 13600k also comes with Intel UHD Graphics 770 integrated inside the CPU.  

Lastly, the Intel Core i5 13600k has a base TDP of 125 W that can go up to 181 W when overclocked, which means you will require a decent PSU to run the CPU without any problems. Intel has set the MSRP price at the launch at $319 for the Intel Core i5 13600k. That’s about it for the specifications of the Intel Core i5 13600k; now, let’s look at the specifications of the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

i5-12600k Specs And Background 

• Total Cores: 10 
• No. of Performance-cores: 6 
• No. of Efficient-cores: 4 
• Total Threads: 16 
• Max Turbo Frequency: 4.90 GHz 
• Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 4.90 GHz 
• Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency: 3.60 GHz 
• Performance-core Base Frequency: 3.70 GHz 
• Efficient-core Base Frequency: 2.80 GHz 
• Cache: 20 MB Intel® Smart Cache 
• Total L2 Cache: 9.5 MB 
• Processor Base Power: 125 W 
• Maximum Turbo Power: 150 W 

With the release of the 12th gen Alder Lake Intel CPUs, we saw the entry of the Intel Core i5 12600k under the Core i5 label on Nov 4th, 2021. It’s built on the 10nm process and is running on the LGA 1700 socket, which is the current latest Intel CPU socket.   

The Intel Core i5 12600k is a 10-core, 16-threaded CPU with the cores split into 6 Power (P) Cores and 4 Efficiency (E) Cores. These hybrid cores operate at different ranges of clock speeds. Regarding the Power (P) Cores, they’re operating at a base frequency of 3.7 GHz, which can go up to 4.9 GHz when boosted. On the other hand, the Efficiency (E) Cores operate at a base clock speed of 2.8 GHz, which can go up to 3.6 GHz. Moreover, the Intel Core i5 12600k is fitted with a 20 MB Intel Smart L3 Cache as well as a 9.5 MB L2 Cache. 

It’s worth mentioning that the Intel Core i5 12600k contains compatibility for both DDR4 as well as DDR5 memory, which makes upgrading easier. Moreover, the processor is fitted with the integrated graphics of Intel UHD Graphics 770 in case something happens to the dedicated GPU.  

Lastly, the Intel Core i5 12600k has a TDP rating of 125 W which can go up to 150 W, meaning it requires a decent PSU to work properly. More power means more temperature, so you’ll need a decent CPU cooler to keep the Intel Core i5 12600k’s temperatures under control. Intel set the MSRP for the Intel Core i5 12600k at $289 at launch. With that done, let’s go over the differences in specifications between the Intel Core i5 13600k vs 12700k before getting into the benchmarks.  

Differences In Specification 

To start the Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k CPU comparison, we should first compare the specifications of both CPUs. 

From the specifications, the first thing to note is the CPU cores & thread counts. The Intel Core i5 13600k operates with 4 extra cores as well as 4 extra threads over the Intel Core i5 12600k. It’s worth mentioning that the Power (P) Core count is the same for both CPUs. However, the Intel Core i5 13600k does have 4 more Efficiency (E) Cores compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. 

Looking at the clock speeds, the Intel Core i5 13600k has the definite upper hand with faster clock speeds for both Power (P) Cores and Efficiency (E) Cores on turbo clocks. Comparatively, the Intel Core i5 13600k’s base clock speeds are lower than the Intel Core i5 12600k counterpart in both types of hybrid cores.  

We can also observe that Intel has increased the L3 and L2 Caches of their new processors from the last gen, with the Intel Core i5 13600k having 4 MB extra L3 Cache and 10.5 MB extra L2 Cache. This extra memory will have a decent effect on games that rely more on the cache.  

While the base TDP of both processors is the same, the Intel Core i5 13600k does have a higher max TDP at 181 W, which is higher than the Intel Core i5 12600k’s 150 W. This means the Intel Core i5 13600k requires a little more power to run, but will also run hotter. 

That’s about all the differences between the Intel Core i5 13600k and the Intel Core i5 12600k. Intel hasn’t made any changes to the DDR4 and DDR5 compatibility with the 13th gen, and the integrated graphics are also kept the same. Both CPUs are also built on the 10nm process and are also running on the same LGA 1700 socket. With the specifications out of the way, we can finally take a look at the benchmarks to find the differences in performance between the Intel Core i5 13600k and Intel Core i5 12700k. 

Also read: AMD Ryzen 5 7600x vs Intel Core i5 12600k

i5-13600k Vs i5-12600k – Gaming Benchmarks 

In this section, we’ll be comparing the performances of the Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k in 9 games. We’ll be discussing the power, temperatures, and of course, the differences in FPS of both CPUs to find just how much of a performance boost we got with the 13th gen compared to the last gen. The benchmarks used in this comparison were referenced from YT/BENCHMARKS FOR GAMERS.  

Test PC 

• CPU: INTEL CORE I5 13600K / INTEL CORE I5 12600K  
• Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus  
• GPU: MSI RTX 4090 Suprim X  
• RAM: G.Skill Trident Z5 2x16GB, 6000 CL36-36-36-96  
• CPU Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360  
• Case: Streacom BC1 Open Benchtable 

Cyberpunk 2077

Starting the Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k comparison with the 2020 released action RPG game Cyberpunk 2077. This game has a reputation for being very demanding to run on PC, with it being both CPU and GPU intensive. Cyberpunk 2077 was tested with ultra-settings and raytracing set to medium.   

For the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark, we can see the Intel Core i5 12600k reaching 111 FPS compared to the Intel Core i5 13600k, which reached 125 FPS. From this, we can tell that the Intel Core i5 13600k was outperforming the Intel Core i5 12600k by a 12% margin of difference in average FPS. 

Moreover, the Intel Core i5 13600k also had 17% higher average 1% lows compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. However, the Intel Core i5 13600k was operating at slightly higher temperatures than the Intel Core i5 12600k due to more power consumption. Moreover, the power consumption of the Intel Core i5 13600k was 12% higher compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k and also 12% hotter.  

Related Articles: Ryzen 7 5800X3D vs i5-13600k

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is a 2020 released strategy action RPG game developed by TaleWorlds Entertainment. Games of this type require a lot of CPU power; as such, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is an extremely CPU-intensive game. It was tested with all the settings turned to very high at 1080p resolution. 

In the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord benchmark, we observed the Intel Core i5 12600k pushing out 206 FPS on average, whereas the Intel Core i5 13600k was reaching a higher average of 246 FPS. The Intel Core i5 13600k was 17% faster than the Intel Core i5 12600k.   

In the case of 1% lows, the Intel Core i5 13600k was ahead by a margin of 20% compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. Moreover, the Intel Core i5 13600k was consuming 17% more power while also reaching a 12% higher average temperature as compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

Forza Horizon 5

Forza Horizon 5 2021 released racing game and is a mostly GPU-intensive game and is very light on its CPU power requirements. It was tested on ultra-settings with MSAA turned off and 1080p resolution.  

For the Forza Horizon 5 benchmark, the Intel Core i5 12600k reached 222 FPS on average, whereas the Intel Core i5 13600k reached 253 FPS. This puts the Intel Core i5 13600k 13% above the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

Same as before, the Intel Core i5 13600k was ahead in terms of 1% lows by a margin of 8%. It was also consuming 17% more power and being 20% warmer in comparison to the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

Far Cry 6

Far Cry 6 is a modern FPS game developed by Ubisoft, infamous for bad optimization in many of their games. This is true for Far Cry 6 where the game has very demanding CPU and GPU requirements, not allowing the game to run with high frame rates on even the most high-end hardware.  

For the Far Cry 6 benchmark, we saw the Intel Core i5 12600k reaching an average of 103 FPS compared to the Intel Core i5 13600k, which reached 123 FPS. To sum up, there was a difference of 17% between the Intel Core i5 12600k and the Intel Core i5 13600k.  

Far Cry 6 also saw the Intel Core i5 13600k being ahead in the 1% lows with a margin of 22% compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. The Intel Core i5 13600k was also consuming 7% more power while also being 20% warmer than the Intel Core i5 12600k. 

Call of Duty: Warzone

Call of Duty: Warzone is a battle royale FPS game released in 2021. It’s optimized well to run on a PC and doesn’t require a lot of CPU and GPU power to run smoothly. Call of Duty: Warzone was tested at 1080p resolution on ultra-settings with raytracing turned off.  

Call of Duty: Warzone saw the Intel Core i5 12600k reaching 179 FPS on average, while the Intel Core i5 13600k was reaching at a much higher 210 FPS. With that said, the Intel Core i5 13600k was 17% faster than the Intel Core i5 12600k for rendering frames.  

In the Call of Duty: Warzone benchmark, we can see the Intel Core i5 13600k having 33% better 1% lows than the Intel Core i5 12600k. Moreover, the Intel Core i5 13600k was consuming 20% more power compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k while also being 25% hotter.   

Fortnite

Fortnite is another popular battle royale game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It’s a mostly CPU-intensive game but also requires a good GPU for rendering player interaction with the map and other players. Fortnite was benchmarked at 1080p resolution with the graphics set to the competitive preset.  

In Fortnite, we saw the Intel Core i5 12600k reaching 343 FPS on average, while the Intel Core i5 13600k reaching 416 FPS which means that the Intel Core i5 13600k was 18% faster than the Intel Core i5 13600k.  

In Fortnite, we can see the Intel Core i5 13600k reaching a 15% higher average FPS compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. Also, the Intel Core i5 13600k reached 18% higher power compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k and was also 20% warmer.  

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is an amateur flight simulator released in 2020. It’s both CPU and GPU intensive which makes it a very title to run on mid to low-end PCs. For the Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k benchmark, the game was tested at 1080p resolution on ultra-settings. 

Microsoft Flight Simulator also saw a nice boost in FPS coming from the Intel Core i5 13600k, with the Intel Core i5 12600k reaching 64 FPS on average, whereas the Intel Core i5 13600k was reaching 74 FPS. Here we can see a 14% higher frame rate coming from the Intel Core i5 13600k over the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

In the case of the lowest 1% FPS drops, the Intel Core i5 13600k was ahead by a margin of 14%. It was also consuming 17% more power and was also 18% hotter.  

Marvel’s Spiderman Remastered

Marvel’s Spiderman Remastered is a 2022 released action superhero game developed by Insomniac Games and Marvel. It’s mostly CPU intensive and is limited by the CPU at higher resolutions. The game was tested at high settings on 1080p resolution with ray tracing turned on.   

For the Marvel’s Spiderman Remastered benchmark, we can observe the Intel Core i5 12600k reaching 108 FPS, whereas the Intel Core i5 13600k was reaching 119 FPS. This means the Intel Core i5 13600k was reaching 10% higher frame rates compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. 

Moreover, the Intel Core i5 13600k was ahead in the case of the 1% lows by a margin of 9% compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. It was also consuming 15% more power compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k and was also reaching 16% higher temperatures. 

F1

The last one on the list, F1, is a racing game developed by EA and released in 2022. It’s a CPU-intensive game which is why you’ll need a powerful processor to stop it from bottlenecking the GPU. This game was tested at ultra-high settings with ray tracing turned off at 1080p resolution. 

With the F1 benchmark, we can see the Intel Core i5 12600k reaching 281 FPS compared to the Intel Core i5 13600k, which reached 330 FPS. This means that the Intel Core i5 13600k was 15% faster than the Intel Core i5 12600k at outputting frames.  

Lastly, with 1% lows, the Intel Core i5 13600k was ahead of the Intel Core i5 12600k by a difference of 13%. Moreover, the Intel Core i5 13600k also had 15% more power consumption and was also reaching 13% higher temperatures compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

Productivity Benchmarks  

In this section, we’ll be comparing the Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k in 9 different applications to find the difference in performance. The application benchmarks used in this comparison were taken from YT/NJ Tech.  

Test PC 

• CPU: INTEL CORE I5 12600K / INTEL CORE I5 13600K 
• Motherboard: MSI Z690 Unify Motherboard  
• RAM: G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB DDR5-6400MHz 32-39-39-102 (2x16GB) 
• SSD: 2TB SDD  
• GPU: ASUS RTX 3080 12GB TUF Gaming  
• PSU: Corsair RM1000X PSU  
• OS: Windows 11 

Cinebench R23

Starting the Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k benchmark with Cinebench R23, we can find a good idea of the performance difference between both processors with this benchmark of both single and multi-core performance. Cinebench R23 ranks both processors according to a score, so the higher the score, the better the performance. 

For multi-core performance, we can see the Intel Core i5 13600k reaching a 26% higher score as compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. As for single-core performance, the Intel Core i5 13600k was just 5% faster than the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

Blender Open Data

Blender is a free graphics rendering and editing tool. For the Blender benchmark, the Intel Core i5 13600k and the Intel Core i5 12600k were used to render out a scene and see how much time it took for them to complete this task.  As the performance is measured in time, the less time it took to complete the task, the better the performance. 

In the Blender Open Data benchmark, we can see that the Intel Core i5 13600k was 26% more efficient than the Intel Core i5 12600k at completing the task.  

Corona 1.3 Benchmark

The Corona 1.3 Benchmark also uses the processors to render out a scene and note down the time taken for them to complete the task; as such, the lower the time taken, the better the performance of the processors. 

For the Corona 1.3 Benchmark, we can see the Intel Core i5 13600k outperforming the Intel Core i5 12600k by a margin of 32%. It’s clear that Intel has made a huge leap in performance in just one year.  

Adobe Premiere

Adobe Premiere is a video editing software that was benchmarked using the Puget System Benchmark tool. As the tool ranks the processors based on a score, the higher the score is, the faster the performance of the processors. 

From the Adobe Premiere benchmark, we can see that the Intel Core i5 13600k reached a 29% score compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

 Adobe Photoshop

The photo editing software Adobe Photoshop was also tested with the Puget System Benchmark tool. Like before, the performance is measured in the score, so the higher it is, the better the performance.  

Adobe Photoshop benchmark saw the Intel Core i5 13600k reaching an 11% higher score compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k.  

V-Ray

V-Ray is another heavy multithreaded rendering workload that tests the CPU’s limits and scores its performance. The higher the score, the better the performance.  

From the V-Ray benchmark, we can see that the Intel Core i5 13600k outperformed the Intel Core i5 12600k by a margin of 26%. 

Chromium Code Compile

Chromium Code Compile was used to test how much time the processors take to compile the code. As the performance is measured in time, the lower the time taken, the better the performance. 

The Chromium Code Compilation test showed the Intel Core i5 13600k completing the compilation 8% faster than the Intel Core i5 12600k. 

Geekbench 5

Geekbench 5 is another CPU benchmarking software that tests the performances and gives them a score, so the higher score is, the better the performance. 

From the Geekbench 5 benchmark, we can see that the Intel Core i5 13600k was scoring 27% higher than the Intel Core i5 12600k in multi-core and 4% better in the single-core test.  

Handbrake x264

Handbrake is a video encoding software that was used to convert a 1.5 GB MKV file to MP4, with the time it took to complete the task taken in seconds. Since the measurement is taken in time, the less time that was taken, the faster the performance. 

In the Handbrake benchmark, we can see that the Intel Core i5 13600k was outperforming the 12700k by a margin of 26%.    

Temperatures

To talk about the temperatures in the Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k, we’ll look at the idle as well as the temperatures when the CPUs are put under stress.  

We can see that the temperature of the Intel Core i5 13600k was 4% higher as compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k at idle temperatures. Moreover, the Intel Core i5 13600k was 8% warmer than the Intel Core i5 12600k when the CPUs were put under load.  

Power

Before wrapping up this Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k CPU comparison, let’s discuss the power requirements of both CPUs. Power consumption is an important factor to consider when upgrading CPUs. In this case, we’ll be looking at how much power both CPUs were consuming during the Handbrake benchmark.  

From the benchmark, we can see that the Intel Core i5 13600k was consuming 39% more power as compared to the Intel Core i5 12600k. This makes the Intel Core i5 12600k much more power efficient than the newer Intel Core i5 13600k, although the performance difference was also quite huge in many applications. 

Final Thoughts 

Let’s discuss the main takeaways from this Intel Core i5 13600k vs Intel Core i5 12600k CPU comparison. To summarize, we first compared the specifications of both CPUs against each other; then, we compared the performances of both CPUs on games, as well as applications, to find how much difference there is. There are some facts you should consider before deciding whether to upgrade to or buy either the Intel Core i5 13600k or Intel Core i5 12600k.  

Firstly, in the specifications, we can see that Intel has added 4 extra Efficiency (E) Cores, added extra memory in the L2 and L3 Caches, and also improved the clock speeds with the Intel Core i5 13600k. All of this results in huge leaps in performance with just one generation of difference. 

In the gaming benchmarks, we saw the Intel Core i5 13600k being ahead of the Intel Core i5 12600k by a margin of 10-18%. In the case of productivity benchmarks, the Intel Core i5 13600k was 8-32% faster, with a difference of 25% in 7 out of 9 applications.  

Next up: Intel 13th-Gen vs AMD Ryzen 7000 Series