Intel Core i5-13400F: Best price/perf ratio, questionable for games

Intel Core i5-13400F in detail

Thanks to the addition of E cores even in the lowest Core i5 Raptor Lake models (13400F and 13400), the raw performance between generations has advanced the most in years. However, the improvement may not always happen, the relatively small number of performance ones (P) combined with the lower Turbo Boost 2.0 clock speeds some games don’t like, and when they reach for E cores, the concept of big.LITTLE is at once detrimental.

Intel Core i5-13400F in detail

While previous generations of Core i5-1×400(F), Alder Lake and Comet Lake had physically six cores with Hyper Threading support (i.e. two threads per core), Raptor Lake already has 10 cores. Six large (with HT) and four small (E), with 16 threads total.

Like the Core i5-12400(F), the Core i5-13400(F) comes in two variants, each using a different chip. The processor with the S-Spec code SRMBN (stepping C0) has the smaller one (~209 mm²), of the Alder Lake processors (natively with 8 “P” and 8 “E” cores), the other, with an area of approximately 257 mm (S-Spec code SRMBG, stepping B0) is based on a Raptor Lake chip and is also produced by the newer Intel 7 Ultra manufacturing node. There may thus be some differences in efficiency and cooling across the variants.

There were also differences in operating characteristics across the steppings (C0 and H0) for the Core i5-12400(F). Computing and gaming performance, however, will most likely be the same, as Intel does not differentiate in the clock speed parameters, and for both C0 and B0 stepping, the base all-core boost is 2.5 GHz (for P cores) and 1.8 GHz (for E cores). In practice, without limited power supply (but even with it, according to TDP/65 W), all-core boost clock speeds are significantly higher, compared to the Core i5-12400(F) on P cores by 100 MHz (4100 MHz). The single-core boost by up to 400 MHz (4600 MHz). Despite the fact that this line still only supports TB 2.0, Intel has significantly increased performance for single-threaded applications. This is probably also with a view to not dramatically lag behind the Ryzen 5 7000 processors in this regard, where even the lower model (7600) reaches 5200 MHz, higher (7600X) then up to 5500 MHz. The Core i5-13400(F) is thus “only” 900 MHz slower in single-threaded tasks.

For the tests, we used the variant with stepping C0 out of the two possible ones, which has a unique order number CM8071505093005 (tray)/BX8071513400FSRMBN (box) in addition to a different S-Spec code (SRMBN). This can be a helpful identifier when purchasing a particular variant. The Core i5-13400F with the S-Spec code SRMBG (stepping B0) has the order number CM8071504821107 (tray).

As always, the “F” in the processor’s codename signifies a non-functional or deactivated graphics core, and included is the Intel Laminar RM1 cooler. We discussed the latter in a separate test, where it showed good results (with limited power according to the TDP of 65 W, the operation is also relatively quiet after the PWM curve is adjusted) even for the Ci5-12400 under maximum load, from which the Core i5-13400(F) is not that far. PL2 145 W is vastly exaggerated for these processors, power draw is always significantly lower, under 100 W.

• Contents
• Intel Core i5-13400F in detail
• Methodology: performance tests
• Methodology: how we measure power draw
• Methodology: temperature and clock speed tests
• Test setup
• 3DMark
• Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
• Borderlands 3
• Counter-Strike: GO
• Cyberpunk 2077
• DOOM Eternal
• F1 2020
• Metro Exodus
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Total War Saga: Troy
• Overall gaming performance
• Gaming performance per euro
• PCMark and Geekbench
• Web performance
• 3D rendering: Cinebench, Blender, ...
• Video 1/2: Adobe Premiere Pro
• Video 2/2: DaVinci Resolve Studio
• Graphics effects: Adobe After Effects
• Video encoding
• Audio encoding
• Broadcasting (OBS and Xsplit)
• Photos 1/2: Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom
• Photos 2/2: Affinity Photo, Topaz Labs AI Apps, ZPS X, ...
• (De)compression
• (De)encryption
• Numerical computing
• Simulations
• Memory and cache tests
• Processor power draw curve
• Average processor power draw
• Performance per watt
• Achieved CPU clock speed
• CPU temperature
• Conclusion