Difficulty choosing an Intel 13th Gen CPU

[Azurael]

I am heavy conflicted right now. on what I want to pick. I really like the the 13th Gen i7 and I've had i7 in all my previous systems, but at the same time the 13th Gen i5 is still a rock solid CPU its just a step down from the tier I am used to. Then there is the problem of the K or KF variants. While I would prefer to have K version for security should my graphic's card fail or something go wrong with the drivers for it the site I am looking to use for a custom build has a bunch of great discounts on the KF version making them quite a bit more affordable. I really want a system that will be a solid set up for at LEAST the next 5 years, but at the same time not break my bank.

[RONOTHAN##]

7 minutes ago, Azurael said:

Then there is the problem of the K or KF variants. While I would prefer to have K version for security should my graphic's card fail or something go wrong with the drivers for it the site I am looking to use for a custom build has a bunch of great discounts on the KF version making them quite a bit more affordable.

Here's one way to look at it: if it's cheaper to get a cheap, display adapter level GPU (something like a GT210 or other terrible GPU that is nothing more than a display out) for less than the difference in cost between the K and KF, get the cheap GPU instead, it will give the same level of troubleshooting capability (albeit slightly less conveniently) and be able to last you through multiple system revisions rather than just for this system even if they don't have iGPUs. 

 

As for the 13600K or 13700K question, it just comes down to whether you'll actually use the other two P cores. For just a gaming system, it really shouldn't make a difference, but if you're doing a content creation rig, then I might consider going for the i7 instead. A 13600K is a really good CPU option, and if can get you a better GPU for the budget, go for it instead of the i7.

[Alex Atkin UK]

13 minutes ago, Azurael said:

I am heavy conflicted right now. on what I want to pick. I really like the the 13th Gen i7 and I've had i7 in all my previous systems, but at the same time the 13th Gen i5 is still a rock solid CPU its just a step down from the tier I am used to. Then there is the problem of the K or KF variants. While I would prefer to have K version for security should my graphic's card fail or something go wrong with the drivers for it the site I am looking to use for a custom build has a bunch of great discounts on the KF version making them quite a bit more affordable. I really want a system that will be a solid set up for at LEAST the next 5 years, but at the same time not break my bank.

Do consider that 13th gen is on a dead platform.  If you DO need to upgrade your CPU in the future, it means a whole new motherboard, CPU and possibly RAM.

Of course if you already have a compatible board, then it makes sense.

[Alex Atkin UK]

1 minute ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Here's one way to look at it: if it's cheaper to get a cheap, display adapter level GPU (something like a GT210 or other terrible GPU that is nothing more than a display out) for less than the difference in cost between the K and KF, get the cheap GPU instead, it will give the same level of troubleshooting capability (albeit slightly less conveniently) and be able to last you through multiple system revisions rather than just for this system even if they don't have iGPUs.

All I can say is I kinda regret getting a 12700F as I too like having the iGPU to fall back on in an emergency.  If your machine is failing to POST for some reason, not having the GPU being a potential point that failed is good for diagnostics.  But then again, how often does that happen?

[that_potato_guy]

16 minutes ago, Azurael said:

I am heavy conflicted right now. on what I want to pick. I really like the the 13th Gen i7 and I've had i7 in all my previous systems, but at the same time the 13th Gen i5 is still a rock solid CPU its just a step down from the tier I am used to. Then there is the problem of the K or KF variants. While I would prefer to have K version for security should my graphic's card fail or something go wrong with the drivers for it the site I am looking to use for a custom build has a bunch of great discounts on the KF version making them quite a bit more affordable. I really want a system that will be a solid set up for at LEAST the next 5 years, but at the same time not break my bank.

Personality if i7 k version was going out of my budget I would've gone with the i5 k version cuz it's more than enough for like everything lol and what you said is true imagine some rainy day suddenly your GPU got some issues. Or you could go for an kf version and buy a cheap gpu just for getting display for backup

[RONOTHAN##]

Just now, Alex Atkin UK said:

All I can say is I kinda regret getting a 12700F as I too like having the iGPU to fall back on in an emergency.  If your machine is failing to POST for some reason, not having the GPU being a potential point that failed is good for diagnostics.  But then again, how often does that happen?

Yeah, it is better than just a spare GPU as a fall back, both for convenience and in case it's the PCIe slot that's bad, but at the same time in the 7 years I've been doing this, I've never had an experience outside of when I didn't feel like putting a GPU in a system (mostly for servers) where I needed to use the iGPU. It's not like it's not useful, if the pricing is very similar go for it, but at the same time it's just not that big a deal to not have one either.

[Azurael]

37 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Yeah, it is better than just a spare GPU as a fall back, both for convenience and in case it's the PCIe slot that's bad, but at the same time in the 7 years I've been doing this, I've never had an experience outside of when I didn't feel like putting a GPU in a system (mostly for servers) where I needed to use the iGPU. It's not like it's not useful, if the pricing is very similar go for it, but at the same time it's just not that big a deal to not have one either.

Earlier when you said content creation what types were you referring to; video editing, streaming, image editing, or something like 3d modeling?

 

Here is the listing of the CPUs on the iBUYPOWER custom build page.

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, Azurael said:

Earlier when you said content creation what types were you referring to; video editing, streaming, image editing, or something like 3d modeling?

All of the above. If you aren't doing them the i5 would be more than enough, though if it's only $35 more for the i7 I'd probably just go for that instead. 

 

With those prices, I'd get the 13700KF. For the $125 more for the -K SKU you can get something like a used GTX 1070, so if you do have to RMA your GPU you can have a card that can actually game rather than the iGPU that can barely run CS:GO. 

[Azurael]

5 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

All of the above. If you aren't doing them the i5 would be more than enough, though if it's only $35 more for the i7 I'd probably just go for that instead. 

 

With those prices, I'd get the 13700KF. For the $125 more for the -K SKU you can get something like a used GTX 1070, so if you do have to RMA your GPU you can have a card that can actually game rather than the iGPU that can barely run CS:GO. 

When you have to switch to an old GPU if you have a posable graphic issue do you have to install the drivers for the older card?

[RONOTHAN##]

5 minutes ago, Azurael said:

When you have to switch to an old GPU if you have a posable graphic issue do you have to install the drivers for the older card?

Sometimes, yes, depending on what card you have. Nvidia's drivers do work with a lot older cards, so as long as you have a card newer than the 900 series (including the 750 Ti because that card was Maxwell for some reason) the same drivers will just work. If the drivers don't work with that card, Microsoft basic display drivers will work instead to get you an image so you can install drivers, they work with some very old cards (I've used an HD 6850, a 12 year old GPU, in Windows 11 with the basic display drivers just fine, no issues). 

[Azurael]

18 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Sometimes, yes, depending on what card you have. Nvidia's drivers do work with a lot older cards, so as long as you have a card newer than the 900 series (including the 750 Ti because that card was Maxwell for some reason) the same drivers will just work. If the drivers don't work with that card, Microsoft basic display drivers will work instead to get you an image so you can install drivers, they work with some very old cards (I've used an HD 6850, a 12 year old GPU, in Windows 11 with the basic display drivers just fine, no issues). 

Does that come with having to uninstall the GPU drivers of your card that you are trying to trouble shoot for?

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, Azurael said:

Does that come with having to uninstall the GPU drivers of your card that you are trying to trouble shoot for?

Sometimes, yeah, but usually if you have to troubleshoot a card you are having trouble with, your first step is to uninstall and reinstall drivers anyway, so it's not that big a deal. 

[Ebony Falcon]

Kinda wish I got the k sku now not the kf as il need to buy a potato gpu if anything happened