Introduction

Today we have for review the Intel Core i5-13400F—a processor that could end up being Intel’s best selling desktop product from this generation, given the market domination of its predecessors. The i5-13400 forms the point of entry to Intel’s middle-of-the-market Core i5 series, which powers everything from mid-range gaming desktops, to business PCs. Its -F SKU, which lacks integrated graphics, is targeted particularly at the gaming desktop crowd that have a graphics card installed at all times. The processor is technically 10-core/16-thread design, with 6 performance cores, and 4 efficiency cores.

Intel Core i5-13400F, like the rest of the 13th Gen Core desktop processor family, is codenamed “Raptor Lake,” but this processor has specs that align closely with the previous-gen “Alder Lake.” Each of the processor’s six P-cores has 1.25 MB of dedicated L2 cache, compared to the 2 MB present on the Core i5-13600K or higher processor models; and the processor’s E-core cluster has 2 MB of L2 cache shared among the four E-cores; compared to 4 MB per cluster on the i5-13600K or higher. While Intel is pretty transparent that the E-core architecture for both “Alder Lake” and “Raptor Lake” is the same “Gracemont” core architecture; things get a little vague with the P-cores. The company is yet to put out detailed block-diagrams of the “Raptor Cove” P-cores powering 13th Gen Core processors, besides mentioning that the core is designed to handle higher frequencies, and comes with a larger 2 MB L2 cache, which causes us to wonder if “Golden Cove” and “Raptor Cove” are essentially the same core, just with more cache and higher clocks. If this really is the case, then it opens up the possibility for Intel to harvest older-generation 8P+8E “Alder Lake” silicon to carve out mid-tier products in the 13th Generation, which is what the Core i5-13400F from this review appears to be, at least specs-wise.

There are three distinct kinds of 13th Gen Core i5 desktop processors you should know about. The first one is the top i5-13600K/KF, which has a core-count of 6P+8E, and is based on the same “Raptor Lake-S” 8P+16E die as the i7-13700K or i9-13900K, with two P-cores and two E-core clusters disabled, along with the shared L3 cache reduced to 24 MB. This kind has 2 MB of L2 cache per P-core, and 4 MB of L2 cache per E-core cluster. The second kind of 13th Gen Core i5 are the i5-13500 and i5-13600 (non-K). These are 6P+8E processors, but without an unlocked multiplier, only 1.25 MB L2 cache per P-core, and only 2 MB L2 cache per E-core cluster, but the same 24 MB shared L3 cache size as the first kind. The third kind, which is exclusive to the i5-13400 and i5-13400F, has a 6P+4E core-configuration, with 1.25 MB L2 cache per P-core, 2 MB L2 cache on the sole E-core cluster, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache.

The Core i5-13400F is available in two different steppings: C0 / SRMBN and B0 / SRMBG. While B0 is physically based on a Raptor Lake die, the C0 stepping is based on an Alder Lake die. All specifications are identical, including cache sizes, frequencies, power limits, memory support and compatibility. Our review sample, which was bought in Germany in retail a few weeks ago, is the C0 stepping.

Generationally, Intel has increased the core-counts for the i5-13400F (6P+4E), compared to its predecessor, the i5-12400F, which only has 6 P-cores, and no E-cores, but as detailed above, the i5-13400F has been significantly segmented apart from the i5-13500 and i5-13600 non-K, with the latter two giving you 4 more E-cores, and 4 MB of extra L3 cache, besides higher clock speeds. This move was probably done to ensure that the i5-13400 series don’t cannibalize sales of the other non-K Core i5 processor models, but this creates quite some confusion in the lineup. While the gamer-focused i5-13400F is priced at an MSRP of $200, the i5-13400, its sibling with the iGPU, is priced 10% higher, at $220. Pay just $12 more, and you get the i5-13500 with more cores and cache. See what I mean?

The Intel Core i5-13400F in this review runs the P-cores at a base frequency of 2.50 GHz, with 4.60 GHz maximum turbo boost. The E-cores tick at 1.80 GHz, with up to 3.30 GHz boost. The processor is configured with a 65 W base power value, and 148 W maximum turbo power. There’s no iGPU on offer, if you want one, you can get it with the 10% pricier i5-13400. The processor’s I/O is the same as the rest of the lineup, with a PCI-Express 5.0 x16 PEG interface, a CPU-attached PCI-Express 4.0 x4 for NVMe SSDs, and a DMI 4.0 x8 chipset bus.