Get the Core i5 13400F for £200.87 w/ code TND-10 (was £243)
In terms of the specs, the 13400F is impressive - compared to last year’s 12400F, you get the same six performance cores but four additional efficiency cores, a higher turbo (4.6GHz vs 4.4GHz), more cache (20MB vs 18MB smart cache) and a higher turbo power limit (148W vs 117W). Going to a 6+4 configuration makes a lot of sense, as it ensures your six performance cores can be dedicated to gaming tasks while the four efficiency cores can either help out with the gaming or tackle background tasks like video encoding, web browsing or what-have-you.
So who would we recommend this CPU for? This is a great choice for gamers that are looking to keep or build a DDR4-based system on an inexpensive LGA 1700 motherboard (that includes the Z690/Z790, B660/B760 and H610/H710 plaforms). This combination will maximise your gaming performance while keeping costs down, especially compared to a similar system using an AMD Ryzen 7000 or Intel LGA 1700 motherboard that requires more expensive DDR5 memory. Note that the -F suffix here means that the 13400F doesn’t have integrated graphics, so you’ll need to be using a discrete graphics card in your system!
It’s rare to see a deep discount for a newly launched product, so I’d suggest considering this if you’re in the market for a new system - Intel’s Core i5 parts have been great over the last few generations, with the 11400F and 12400F being particular highlights, and this 13400F looks even stronger.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.
