Intel Core i9 13900K destroys Ryzen 9 7950X, more headaches for AMD after sales slow down

Detailed benchmarks and testing results of the Intel Core i9 13900K have surfaced on the internet. The chip is now available for purchase, and initial stocks have sold out at leading sellers. The processor is significantly faster than the last-gen Intel Core i9 12900K. In several benchmarks, it also defeats the Ryzen 9 7950X.

The AMD Ryzen 7000 series, launched last month, has not been a commercial success. Team Red has already slowed production plans for its latest processors owing to low demand. The new AM5 platform has several factors, like DDR 5 exclusivity and expensive motherboards, that keep a recessing market from buying the new chips.

However, Intel has worked its way around the problems faced by AMD. Coupled with higher performance at a lesser price point, the Raptor Lake chips might put Team Red in an unfavorable spot for this generation.

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The Intel Core i9 13900K is faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X, but there is a catch

In several benchmarks, the Core i9 13900K has been faster than the Ryzen 9 7950X. In Geekbench 5's multi-core benchmark, the 13900K scored over 24,500 points, while the 7950X only managed a score of 23,639. This lead can be attributed to the higher core count of the 13900K.

In the 3DMark Time Spy Extreme benchmark, the 13900K beat the 7950X by a soft 200-point margin. A similar trend continues in Cinebench R23's multi-core performance benchmark. While the 13900K scores 38,714 points, the Ryzen 9 7950X trails slightly behind with 38,051 points.

This makes the Core i9 13900K a better choice for multi-core workloads like video editing, 3D rendering, and more. The 13900K also does not fail customers in terms of single-core performance, a metric that is very crucial to gaming performance. However, AMD does not play a losing game here.

While the Ryzen 9 7950X scores 2,013 points in Cinebench R23's single-core performance benchmark, the i9 13900K is much faster with a score of 2,259 points. In Geekbench 5's single-core test, the 7950X catches up and beats the 13900K softly with a score of 2,215 points compared to Team Blue's 2,186 points.

However, in a detailed IPC test with Cinebench's tool, the Core i9 13900K and the last-gen 12900K were both spotted to be faster than the $699 Ryzen 7950X. While the 13900K scored 1,978 points and the 12900K managed 1,953 points, the 7950X lags behind with a score of 1,806.

The benchmark results translate to better gaming performance, as the 13900K was spotted to be faster than both the 7950X and the last-gen 12900K by a huge margin.

However, Intel achieves these performance metrics at a huge cost of thermal and power efficiency. The 13900K can pull northwards of 300W while delivering peak performance. Temperatures have exceeded the 95℃ mark in several testing scenarios, even while using high-end liquid cooling gear.

The slight performance difference could have been justified if AMD chips were priced well. On the flip side, the platform will cost users a chunky premium.

The Ryzen 9 7950X is a much costlier chip when compared to the 13900K. While the 7950X has been priced at $700, the Intel processor can be bought for slightly under $600.

Intel also sells an iGPU-less variant of the 13900K that delivers similar performance at $30 to $40 less. Moreover, the latest Intel chips can be paired with last-gen Intel 600 series motherboards that are cheaper and more widely available. Intel also supports the much cheaper DDR 4 memory standard if users do not want to spend a premium on the latest and greatest RAM modules.

Overall, the latest Intel Core i9 13900K is a better performer at a cheaper price point. Thus, the current slowdown in AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors might get accentuated if the company does not revise its pricing.