Home

 › 

Vs.

 › 

Intel Debuts Raptor Lake i5-13490F and i7-13790F

Core i5 vs Core i7

Intel Debuts Raptor Lake i5-13490F and i7-13790F

The new year means new tech, and Intel has some new goodies to reveal. For most gamers and home users, the solid-performing i5 and i7 series have been mainstays. They may not boast the core count of the i9 or Xeon processors, but they are practical and powerful.

The latest generation of Intel processors, Raptor Lake, sees improvements across the board. The i7-13790F and i5-13490F look to be solid choices for PC builders seeking the next central component of their build.

There is always a mess of specs and considerations to make when looking at new CPUs. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at the tech, specs, and performance of these components. Hopefully, shedding a little light on the situation can help guide your next purchase.

i7-13790F vs i5-13490F: Side-by-Side Comparison

i7-13790Fi5-13490F
Cores1610
Threads2416
Performance Core Base Speed2.1GHz2.5GHz
Performance Core Boost Speed5.2GHz4.8GHz
Efficiency Core Base Speed1.5GHz1.8GHz
Efficiency Core Boost Speed4.1GHz3.5GHz
L3 Cache33MB24MB

i7-13790F vs i5-13490F: What’s the Difference?

Both of these CPUs have been released but aren’t widely available just yet. Intel has gone ahead and released stats and specs for the processors, however. There are some key differences to note between the two of them, as would be expected for different tiers of CPU.

Performance

The i7-13790F has more cores, with 12 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores. The 12 performance cores act as the real driving force of the CPU itself, with the 8 efficiency cores performing more mundane tasks that can run in the background.

Core clock speed is on the lower side, but single-core and multi-core performance for Intel processors is usually quite high. The i7 doesn’t have the core or thread count of the higher-end Ryzens, but it does seem promising as a workhorse for workstations and gaming PCs alike.

Powerful workstation chips
i5-13490F has a max memory bandwidth of 76.8 GB/s.

The i5-13490F is noticeably weaker in some areas. It boasts a faster base clock speed for the performance and efficiency cores but has lower boost speeds overall. It also has fewer overall threads, with six performance cores and four efficiency cores.

Intel’s i5 line of processors has always presented great value, being an ideal midpoint between performance and affordability. The 13490F seems to be keeping in line with this trend.

On paper, the i7 is going to come out faster in every single available metric. It is slower, overall, in the core clock speeds but has more power to draw from and a larger L3 cache than the i5.

Real-world performance isn’t quite known, but both processors seem to be incremental improvements upon the Alder Lake series of CPUs. How this will be applicable to the usual benchmarks can’t be quantified, but initial impressions from those with test units seem to indicate they are solid pieces of hardware.

Pricing and Availability

Coming as little surprise to anyone familiar with the Intel line, the i5 comes out a fair bit cheaper than the i7 for arguably incremental improvements in performance. The i5-13490F comes in at $235.96 dollars and should be available from major retailers soon enough. The i7-13790F has an MSRP of $441.62, and availability should be about the same.

Pricing from Intel indicates a 20% or so trend upwards, matching with the pricing of other components seen from the likes of NVIDIA. Performance increases are purely incremental from Alder to Raptor Lake, so those debating a build with a recent Intel processor might want to wait for hard data to come out regarding the CPUs.

Pricing of computer components has been on the rise since the start of the pandemic. A combination of the chip shortage and high demand for enthusiast computer parts has driven prices higher and higher with each subsequent generation since 2020. This is a disappointing trend, but might very well be the reality of things going forward; at least until the demand for components begins to cool.

Compatibility

Both processors support DDR5 RAM, as would be expected going forward. Maximum memory support goes up to 128GB, and there is still support for legacy DDR4 RAM. PCI-E support is extended to the 4.0 and 5.0 protocols. The speed benefits of both revisions are substantial, so gamers should be relatively happy with the performance of compatible GPUs.

rtx
i7-13790F has a max memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

Instruction sets are relatively uniform. SSE4.1, SSE4.2, and AVX are all present, which is great for developers leveraging these instruction sets. As with other components on the market, there is support for deep learning. It seems that the combo of Intel and NVIDIA is the dream team going forward for hobbyist AI developers.

Both CPUs feature standard virtualization extensions, typical of the mid and higher-range models from Intel. This isn’t necessarily a massive benefit for gamers but makes these CPUs somewhat useful for IT work.

Running virtual machines can be vital for testing development tools, or simply just running sandboxed server instances. These don’t necessarily have the raw power of a comparable Xeon of the same generation, but could definitely work as a budget-minded server or a network storage controller.

With that being said, it’s a fairly typical offering from Intel. Nothing present is truly game-changing, but everything is functional and dependable.

i7-13790F vs i5-13490F: 7 Must-Know Facts

  1. i5-13490F uses an LGA16A socket.
  2. i5-13490F is made using a 10nm manufacturing process.
  3. i5-13490F has support for PCI passthrough for virtualization.
  4. i5-13490F uses 65 watts of power.
  5. i7-13790F is compatible with the same socket as the i5.
  6. i7-13790F uses an AVX2 instruction set for faster mathematical calculations, but not AVX512.
  7. i7-13790F does not have an integrated graphics card.

i7-13790F vs i5-13490F: Which One Should You Buy?

Picking the right CPU for your build can be an absolutely overwhelming task. For those who’ve built a PC recently, the new Raptor Lake i5 and i7 likely aren’t much of an upgrade.

The performance increases over their immediate predecessors in the Alder Lake range are negligible. With a potential 10% increase in performance, it makes it especially hard to recommend for anyone who built a PC in 2022.

If you’re looking for an upgrade after multiple years, then the new Intel processors are very much worth the wait. The price increase is a shame, but the i5 still remains an affordable compromise. These might not have the sheer grunt of the i9 series of CPUs, but they are certainly solid performers.

If you aren’t doing very thread-intensive work, then they are a solid choice. If you’re closer to the prosumer end of the spectrum, then the latest i9 or Threadripper from AMD might be up your alley.

Mid to high-end PC builders will likely find these very much ideal for their uses. As it sits, the Intel i5-13490F and i7-13790F are expected upgrades to a dependable line of processors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do these CPUs support virtualization?

Yes, both have support for VT-D and VT-X virtualization protocols. They also come with IOMMU virtualization support. This allows them to effectively utilize any hypervisor on Windows or Linux operating systems while taking full advantage of the hardware present on the system itself.

This is particularly interesting because PCI passthrough virtualization enables users to leverage the full power of the hardware present on something like a server rather than deal with the virtualized components created by the hypervisor.

What sort of RAM do these CPUs support?

Both CPUs have support for DDR4 and DDR5 RAM. Both are relatively fast types of memory, but if you’re making a whole new build it is very much worth taking a look at DDR5 RAM.

Is there an integrated GPU on either of these CPUs?

There is no integrated GPU in the Raptor Lake i5 or i7, you’ll need to get your own installed before you can fully use a build centering around these.

Can you use an M.2 SSD with the Raptor Lake CPUs?

You certainly can, the improvement gains from the PCI-E 5.0 and 4.0 lanes should make it considerably faster as well. The PCI-E 4.0 lanes are considerably smaller, as they don’t use the full sixteen parts you’ll find on the 5.0 lanes. That said, you could potentially have multiple M.2 SSDs on a supported motherboard.

Are any benchmarks available for these CPUs yet?

At the time of this writing, no, there is a general lack of information surrounding the general performance of both of these CPUs. Some of the facts known are mostly specifications and hardware support present for the CPUs, but the actual real-world and synthetic performance metrics have yet to be gathered from reputable outlets.

To top