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The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X vs Intel Core i5-13400 mid-range CPU battle is quite competitive. While the former has a higher clock speed, the latter has more cores. Most people would assume extra cores in the Intel CPU imply better performance, but that's not the case because the extra cores E-cores have lower clock speeds.
So, which is the best mid-range CPU? AMD Ryzen 5 7600X or Intel Core i5-13400? The AMD Ryzen 7600X is the best mid-range CPU, but the Intel CPU also wins some benchmarks. In this article, we will look at both synthetic and gaming benchmarks to show why AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is the winner.
Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions.
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X vs Intel Core i5-13400: Which is the best mid-range CPU?
The Ryzen 5 7600X and Intel Core i5-13400 are among the best mid-range CPUs and are designed for different workloads. The Intel Core i5-13400 has 10 cores and 16 threads, which will be helpful in video editing workloads that all its cores. On the other hand, the AMD Ryzen 7600X has a high clock speed of 5.3GHz, which would be helpful in gaming.
Specs
The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is based on the Zen 4 architecture and uses the new AM5 platform. The Intel Core i5-13400 is based on the 13th Gen Raptor Lake architecture that uses a combination of P- and E-cores to deliver great performance while maintaining efficiency.
Here are the specs of the two processors:
As observed, the two CPUs have completely different configurations. The Intel CPU has a higher core count, but the Ryzen CPU has more cache, which is helpful in gaming. The two CPUs also have different TDPs, manufacturing nodes, sockets, and more.
Synthetic benchmark
The specs may reveal many factors but don't necessarily present the actual performance difference. So, let's put the two CPUs through some popular benchmark tools, such as Cinebench and Geekbench.
The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X beats the Intel CPU in most benchmarks except for two multi-core benchmarks. The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X did exceptionally well in both Geekbench tests.
Gaming performance difference
Let's check out some of the gaming benchmarks of the two CPUs. These numbers are from the YouTube channel Real Gaming Test, and they tested games ranging from modern titles like Cyberpunk 2077 to competitive games like League of Legends. Here's how Ryzen 5 7600X and Intel Core i5-13400 perform in the gaming benchmarks:
While Ryzen 5 7600X won in almost all the gaming benchmarks, it won by a massive landslide victory in games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Dota 2, and League of Legends. On average, the Ryzen CPU is 17.5% faster. The Intel Core i5-13400 only won in Total War: Three Kingdoms by 4 FPS more.
Price
As of writing this, the Ryzen 5 7600X costs $205.99, while the Intel Core i5-13400 costs $228.98. However, another variant of this Intel CPU, the Intel Core i5-13400F, costs $185.99. So, it is $20 cheaper than the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X. This variant has the same specs as the Intel Core i5-13400 CPU sans the integrated GPU.
Verdict
The Ryzen 5 7600X is faster than the Intel Core i5-13400 in almost every benchmark. It's the best mid-range CPU and costs $23 less than the latter. So, if you want the best gaming performance, I recommend the Ryzen 5 7600X.
But if you're on a budget and will buy a graphics card for gaming anyway, go with the Intel Core i5-13400F variant. It's cheaper than the Ryzen 5 7600X and Intel Core i5-13400 while delivering the same performance as the latter.
