Intel i9-13900k Vs Ryzen 9 7900X [Benchmarks Tested]

The core i9-13900K is the top variant of the latest (13th) generation of Intel known as the Intel Raptor Lake. And Ryzen 9 7900x is also the latest processor of the AMD Ryzen 7000 series. Both the CPUs are highly specced and among the top processors of the market. To get the name of the better processor, we shall be matching the Intel Core i9-13900k vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7900X today.

The core i9-13900k has a new hybrid architecture of Intel. And the architecture of Ryzen 9 7900X is also the latest architecture of AMD, known as Zen 4. The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is less expensive than the Intel core i9-13900k. But which CPU delivers superior performance?

To find the better processor, we will start this guide with the specifications of two processors. After their specifications, you will find the tech differences between the core i9-13900k and Ryzen 9 7900X. Then you will see the Cinebench scores achieved by both CPUs. After that, there would be benchmarks of different applications showing the performance of both processors. 

In the end, the performance of both CPUs will be discussed for different games. So let’s begin the guide with the specs of core i9-13900k.

Key Takeaways

• The i9-13900k has a total of 24 cores, while the R9 7900X has a total of 12 cores. 
• The R9 7950x does not support any memory except DDR5, while the core i9-13900K of Intel can support twain DDR4 and DDR5 memory. The support of both DDR5 and DDR4 makes the core i9-13900k a better choice for those who are tight on the budget. 
• The thermal design power of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is 170 watts, while that of Intel core i9-13900k ranges from 125 to 253 watts. The core i9-13900k can deliver more power in highly demanding operations.

Intel core i9-13900k

Intel states the specifications of core i9-13900k as follows.

CPU Specs

• Socket: FCLGA 1700
• Codename: Intel Raptor Lake
• Lithography: Intel 7
• Architecture: The Raptor Lake
• Motherboard Support: Read Article on Best Motherboard for i9-13900k
• CPU Coolers For i9-13900K
• P-cores: 8
• E-cores: 16
• Total CPU cores: 24
• Number of Threads: 32
• Performance-core Base Frequency: 3.0 GHz
• Efficient-core Base Frequency: 2.20 GHz
• Clock Multiplier: 30x
• Performance-core Max Turbo Frequency: 5.40 GHz
• Efficient-core Max Turbo Frequency: 4.30 GHz
• Max Turbo Frequency: 5.80 GHz
• Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost Frequency: 5.80 GHz
• Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 Frequency: 5.70 GHz
• Unlocked for Overclocking: Yes
• Intel® Turbo Boost Technology: 2.0
• Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0: Yes
• Instruction Set Extensions: Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
• L2 cache size: 32 MB
• L3 cache size: 26 MB Intel® Smart Cache
• Processor base power: 125 watts
• Processor turbo power: 253 watts
• Single Thread Rating: 4833
• Max operating temperature: 100 °C
• Launch Date: Q4 2022
• Price: $589

Memory Specs

• Memory support: DDR5 | DDR4
• Total Memory Channels: 2
• Max memory speed:
  • DDR5 up to 5600 MT/s
  • DDR4 up to 3200 MT/s
• Max Memory Bandwidth: 89.6 GB/s
• Supports 64-Bit: Yes
• Support USB Type C: Yes
• ECC Memory Supported: Yes
• Bus Speed: 100 MHz

Graphics Specs

• Integrated Graphics: Yes
• Graphics Model: Intel® UHD Graphics 770
• Total GPU execution units: 32
• GPU Ground frequency: 300 MHz
• GPU turbo frequency: 1650 MHz
• DirectX Support: 12
• OpenGL Support: 4.5
• OpenCL Support: 3.0
• Graphics Output: eDP 1.4b, DP 1.4a, HDMI 2.1
• Max Resolution (HDMI): 4096 x 2160 @ 60Hz
• Max Resolution (DP): 7680 x 4320 @ 60Hz
• Max Resolution (eDP – Integrated Flat Panel): 5120 x 3200 @ 120Hz
• Multi-Format Codec Engines: 2
• Intel® Quick Sync Video: Yes
• Intel® Clear Video HD Technology: Yes

Now let’s move to the specifications of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X

AMD states the specifications of the Ryzen 9 7900x as mentioned below.

CPU Specs

• Socket Type: AM5
• Architecture: Zen 4
• Motherboard Support: Read Article on Best Motherboards For Ryzen 9 7900x
• Former Codename: Raphael AM5
• CPU Coolers For Ryzen 9 7900x
• Total physical cores: 12
• Number of threads: 24
• CPU cores technology: TSMC 5nm FinFET
• Semiconductor size: 5 nm
• Base Clock Frequency: 4.7 GHz
• Boost Frequency: 5.6 GHz max
• Clock Multiplier: 47x
• Unlocked for Overclocking: Yes
• AMD EXPO™ Memory Overclocking Technology: Yes
• Total I/O dies: 3
• I/O die size: 122mm²
• I/O die technology: TSMC 6nm FinFET
• Total PCIe lanes: 24
• SSE Version: 4.2
• AMD PRO Technologies: No
• Level 1 Cache size: 768 KB
• Level 2 Cache size: 12 MB
• Level 3 Cache size: 64 MB
• Thermal Power Rating: 170 watts (Cost per Anum: around about $31)
• Single Thread Rating: 4245
• Maximum using temperature: 95°C
• Launch Date: 27 September 2022
• Price: $549

Memory Specs

• Memory support: DDR5 only
• System Memory Subtype: UDIMM
• Total Memory Channels: 2
• Max memory speed:
  • 1x1R 5200 MT/s
  • 1x2R 5200 MT/s
  • 2x1R 3600 MT/s
  • 2x2R 3600 MT/s
• Supports 64-Bit: Yes
• NVMe Support: Boot, RAID0, RAID1, RAID10
• Support USB Type C: Yes
• ECC Memory Supported: Yes (Requires mobo support)
• Bus Speed: 100 MHz

Graphics Specs

• Integrated Graphics: Yes 
• GPU Model: AMD Radeon 2
• Total execution units: 2
• GPU base clock: 400 MHz
• GPU turbo clock: 2200 MHz
• Total Shading units of GPU: 128
• USB Type-C® DisplayPort™ Alternate Mode: Yes
• Total Graphics Power: 15 watts

Now let us check out the technical differences between the two processors.

Intel Core i9-13900k Vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7900X

Technical Distinctions

Cinbench R23 Scores

The Cinebench R23 scores are utilized to evaluate a computer’s processor and graphics card performance. The performance is better if the scores are higher.

Productivity Tests

So far, we have seen the specifications and the technical differences between the Intel Core i9-13900k vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. We have also checked the Cinebench R23 scores achieved by two processors.

Now let us proceed to check the performance of two processors in different demanding tasks such as video encoding, compression, and encryption. The benchmarks we are going to discuss were compiled from Benchmark PC Tech.

Video Encoding

The process of converting video from one data format to another is known as video encoding. We do encode video to decrease the file size, increase compatibility, or increase the efficiency of streaming video data.

Video encoding requires a lot of processing, so it can be taxing on both the CPU and GPU. However, video encoding generally burdens the CPU more than the GPU. We will discuss the performance of two CPUs in the x264 and x265 types of video encoding. The performance of a processor in video encoding is measured in terms of the time taken to complete encoding.

Encoding x264

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X completed x264 type of video encoding in 262.8 seconds, while the Intel core i9-13900k took 203 seconds for the same thing. As the Intel core i9-13900k completed encoding 59.8 seconds earlier than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. So, the Intel core i9-13900k performed better in x264 video encoding.

Encoding x265

The x265 type of video encoding, also said to be High-Efficiency Video Encoding (HEVC), is more suppressing and time-consuming than x264.

To complete HEVC, the Intel core i9-13900k took only 347 seconds, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X completed the same in 458.5 seconds. The 111.5 seconds efficiency of the Intel core i9-13900k makes it win the Intel Core i9-13900k vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7900X in high-efficiency video encoding.

Compression

File compression is lowering a file’s or a group of files’ size to free up storage space or make the data easier to transport over networks. The file type being compressed will typically determine which of the numerous available file compression techniques is employed. Here, the benchmarks of 7-ZIP have been shared. This task is CPU-intensive.

In this, the performance of a CPU is measured with the rate of compression (MIPS). MIPS stands for million instructions per second. The greater the rate of compression, the better the performance of a CPU.

The Intel core i9-13900k was performing 7-Zip compression at a rate of 139.3 MIPS. While under the same conditions, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X performed compression at the rate of 135.8 million instructions per second.

The Intel core i9-13900k performed compression at a 3.5 MIPS better rate than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X.

Encryption

The process of encryption converts understandable data to an incomprehensible form. We do encryption to prevent unauthorized parties from accessing private data. Depending on the level of protection required, encryption might be CPU or GPU intensive. However, it is a demanding task.

The software that was used to test the encryption rate is Veracrypt. The speed of encryption is calculated in GB/s.

The Intel core i9-13900k accomplished encryption at high speed of 21.4 GB/s. While under the circumstances, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was doing encryption at 17.9 GB/s rates. The Intel core i9-13900k performed encryption faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. Thus, the Intel core i9-13900k wins in encryption also.

Gaming Benchmarks – 1440p

To check out the gaming performance of two CPUs, we piled the benchmarks of God of War, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Red Dead Redemption 2, Watch Dogs Legion, and Horizon Zero Dawn from Mike Benchmarks.

All the above-mentioned games were played at a high resolution of 1440p. And the settings were adjusted to ultra and high for the gameplay.

Test PC Specs

The system that was used to check the performance of two CPUs had the following specification.

• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 
• RAM: 2x16GB DDR4 3600MHz | DDR5 6200MHz 
• SSD: Samsung 980 EVO Plus SSD 1TB

Now let us proceed to benchmarks.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

This game is set in the Viking era. It is a GPU-intensive game. For even a resolution of 1080p, it demands a strong GPU. However, the game was played at a higher resolution of 1440p.

During the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, when we see the instantaneous FPS. The Intel core i9-13900k was delivering 100 FPS while, at the same time, under the same conditions, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was delivering only 86 FPS.

The Intel core i9-13900k provided the maximum FPS during the gameplay. It delivered a maximum of 209 frames per second during Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

When we notice the average number of frames in each second, Intel core i9-13900k provided an average FPS of 100 during the gameplay. While AMD Ryzen 9 7900X provided only 87 frames per second on average. The splendid spike of 13 FPS makes Intel core i9-13900k win the FPS match in this game.

When we look at the CPU load, the Intel core i9-13900k had a load of 20%, while the load on AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was only 12%. The load on both CPUs is not high. The CPU load of up to 20% is considered to be low for high-end games. And this indicates the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla to be more GPU-intensive than its dependence on the CPU.

Now the temperature of two CPUs, the Intel core i9-13900k, was operating at a temperature of 57 °C while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was operating at 61 °C under the same conditions.

The overall performance of Intel core i9-13900k was better in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Cyberpunk 2077

It is a role-playing game with a 2077 setting. A user needs a powerful processor to execute the game in a high milieu. It is also reported to be extremely stressful on the computer’s GPU.

In Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay, the instant when FPS was observed for both CPUs, the Intel core i9-13900k was delivering 111 FPS while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was delivering 106 FPS.

The average FPS was 102 for core i9-13900k, and for R9 7900x, it was 99. The Intel core i9-13900k was leading in performance by 3 FPS during the game.

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X reached a max FPS of 142. On the other hand, core i9-13900k touched the limit of 157 FPS at such a high resolution of 1440p.

The load on both CPUs was different only by 2%. And this 2% was more for Intel core i9-13900k. Thus, Intel core i9-13900k was under more stress but still performing better.

Talking about the temperature of both processors, the temperature of Intel core i9-13900k reached 63 °C while that of R9 7900x reached 60 °C. Since core i9-13900k was operating at a higher temperature, so it produced more heat during the gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077.

God of War

The God Of War is an action-adventure game. It stresses your system’s CPU and GPU, but GPU is under more pressure. So, it would prove to be a good choice for comparing two CPUs’ performances.

God Of War is the game where AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was leading in all types of performance. AMD Ryzen 9 7900X delivered an instantaneous FPS of 108, which is 12 FPS less than 120 of Intel core i9-13900k.

The maximum FPS was given by AMD Ryzen 9 7900X during the gameplay. It delivered a max FPS of 389, far more than 336 by Intel core i9-13900k. The core i9-13900k produced 115 FPS over average, while the Ryzen 9 7900x delivered 13 FPS more on average in God Of War. However, in previous games (Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077), the Intel core i9-13900k was providing more FPS.

Then the temperature of Ryzen 9 7900x was 56 °C while the temperature of Intel core i9-13900k was 60 °C. That indicates the Intel core i9-13900k was hotter than AMD Ryzen 9 7900X during gameplay.
The load on both processors was the same (i.e. 24%) during the gameplay of God Of War.

Horizon Zero Dawn

This is an action role-playing video game with an open environment. It is a GPU-intensive game.

The instantaneous number of frames per second delivered by both CPUs was the same at 136.
However, the average FPS provided was different. The Intel core i9-13900k delivered an average of 148 FPS, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was supplying 140 FPS. Thus in Intel Core i9-13900k vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, the Intel core i9-13900k wins the rivalry of average FPS for Horizon Zero Dawn.

The maximum FPS reached by these processors is 236. And again, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X reached the highest limit of FPS.

The temperature of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was 67 °C while the temperature of Intel core i9-13900k was 71 °C during the gameplay. 

Here comes the load on the CPU that was only 1% greater on Intel core i9-13900k. The difference is not very much, but the Intel core i9-13900k had more stress on it.

Red Dead Redemption 2

It is an open-world action-adventure game with a Western feel. It is more GPU-intensive than its dependence on the CPU.

In RDR 2, the instantaneous number of frames per second by these two processors had a difference of 10 FPS. And the Intel core i9-13900k was leading with the delivery of 136 FPS at the instant.

The average FPS over the game delivered by Intel core i9-13900k was 130, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X provided only 122 frames per second on average.

The maximum 335 FPS was attained by Intel core i9-13900k during the gameplay. So, overall the Intel core i9-13900k delivered the better FPS in the gameplay of Red Dead Redemption 2.

The load on both processors is much less in RDR 2 than on the 2 CPUs in Horizon Zero Dawn. This load on core i9-13900k is 14% and 15% on R9 7900X in the gameplay of RDR 2.

If we see the temperature of Intel core i9-13900k, it is 59 °C which is 2 °C more than the temperature of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. So, Intel core i9-13900k generated more heat but also delivered better FPS while playing RDR 2.

Watch Dogs Legion

The graphics work of Watch Dogs Legion is stunning. It extracts a lot of power from both the CPU and the GPU.

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was delivering 108 per second at an instant while the core i9-13900k was supplying 106 FPS at the same time. 

The maximum FPS of 155 was reached by Intel core i9-13900k during gameplay of Watch Dogs Legion. And if we see the minimum FPS reached, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X reached a lower limit of 51 FPS while the Intel core i9-13900k reached as low as 47 frames per second.

The average number of FPS supplied by Intel core i9-13900k and AMD Ryzen 9 7900X was 109 and 103, respectively. The Intel core i9-13900k made a lead of 6 FPS on average.

Thus, the overall performance of the Intel core i9-13900k stayed better in Watch Dogs Legion.

The load on R9 7900x was only 53%, while core i9-13900k had a load of 60%. The game was stressing Intel core i9-13900k more than it stressed AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. But still, the core i9-13900k was delivering better performance.

If we look at the temperatures, R9 7900x was working at a temperature of 53 °C while the core i9-13900k was managing a higher temperature of 60 °C. Thus, the Intel core i9-13900k was provoked to generate more heat by Watch Dogs Legion.

Which One Should Pick?

The specs of the 2 CPUs are brilliant and wonderful, as we noticed at the dawn of Intel Core i9-13900k vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. The number of total cores of core i9-13900k is double (24) the number of cores of R9 7900X (i.e. 12). The number of threads of the Intel core i9-13900k was also more than that of the R9 7900X.

The maximum speed of Intel core i9-13900k can be up to 5.8 GHz more than the 5.6 GHz boost frequency of R9 7900X. The greater turbo clock helps a CPU to operate faster.

The architectures of both CPUs are the latest. They have all the recent upgrades over predecessor CPUs. The sockets of both CPUs are also the latest designed sockets of respective companies.

When it comes to memory support, the R9 7900x can solely sustain DDR5 memory, but the core i9-13900K can bear the DDR4 along with DDR5 memory. The support of both DDR5 plus DDR4 makes the core i9-13900k a better choice for low-budget users. By choosing Intel core i9-13900k, users could also go for DDR4 to build their system and satisfy their budgets.

The maximum operating temperature for Intel core i9-13900k is 100 °C, while that of the Ryzen 9 7900X is 95 °C.

The thermal design power of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is 170 watts, while that of Intel core i9-13900k ranges from 125 to 253 watts. The core i9-13900k can deliver more power under highly demanding operations.

In productivity tests, the core i9-13900k made a significant lead in performance to R9 7900X.

In games, the overall performance of the Intel core i9-13900k was better than that of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. The Ryzen 9 7900X tried to lead in performance sometime and made a tough competition, but the final performance of Intel core i9-13900k was much better.

The price of the core i9-13900k is $589-599, while the price of R9 7900x is %549. The price difference is not much big.

To conclude the battle of Intel Core i9-13900k vs. AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, we advise you to select the Intel Core i9-13900k over the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X. The performance and specifications of core i9-13900k are better than R9 7900x in almost all aspects.

Up Next: Ryzen 9 7900x Vs Ryzen 9 7950x.