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The battle of Intel vs AMD in the CPU department has been a heated one since the latter’s 386 microprocessor from 1991. With the release of Intel’s 13th series and AMD’s 7000-family, the public faced a difficult choice that more often than not boiled down to what brand the consumer loved the most. Below, we will pit both firms against one another in a bout between the Core i9-13900KS vs the Ryzen 9 7950X, a flagship vs flagship contest that will see which chipmaker has the most avid tech.
We will make sure to include a deep specs comparison, discuss price points, and take a peek at performances amongst both processors. We know both brands have different approaches in the way they perceive and achieve performance, so we will cover that as well.
i9-13900ks vs 7950X: Specs
Both brands have developed different architectures for their respective CPUs. Intel decided to improve over the advances of the Alder Lake architecture dividing their cores into P-cores that take the more power-hungry and demanding tasks while the E-cores help with background jobs to let the P-core focus on the most demanding ones available.
We’ve seen through many charts how much this approach helps with multitasking activities, especially in the content creation field. On the other side, AMD keeps loyal to its cache improvements. The firm realized what its public wants and knows exactly how best to make it work.
| Specs | i9-13900KS | Ryzen 9 7950X |
|---|---|---|
| Cores / Threads | 24 / 32 | 16 / 32 |
| P-Core Base / boost clock speed | 3.0GHz / 6.0GHz | 4.5GHz / 5.7GHz |
| E-Core Base / boost clock speed | 2.2GHz / 4.3GHz | – |
| Cache (L2 / L3) | 68M (32+36) | 80MB (16+64) |
| TDP | 150W | 170W |
| Memory | DDR4-3200 / DDR5-5600 | DDR5-5200 |
Because of that difference, we can see how Intel provides 24 total cores divided into 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, while AMD only features 16 total cores. The larger the number of cores, the easier it is for the unit to perform multi-threaded activities. However, anything above 16 is a lot. In this same aspect, we can see that both units have the same number of threads (32 vs 32) and threads are important in a CPU because they allow the computer to perform more tasks simultaneously, which can lead to improved multitasking, multithreading, and overall performance.
On the other hand, AMD shows its claws in the cache. Team Red provided the 7950X with 80MB of cache, 16MB for the L2 and 64MB for the L3, while Intel has 32MB for L2 and 36MB for the L3. That is a 44% advantage in the L3 cache of AMD against Intel. The cache is important because it improves the performance of the CPU by providing fast access to frequently used data, reducing the time it takes to access data stored in main memory, and allowing the CPU to work more efficiently.
However, not everything is shiny for AMD. Even though the 13900KS reaches a higher boosted clock speed, it does this by using less power than the 7950X. Team Red’s CPU has a TDP of 170W, while Intel’s has 150W. This is a low blow to the company that specified it cares the most about the performance-per-watt ratio.
i9-13900ks vs 7950X: Price
Price is a big deal in this comparison. AMD has been known for offering incredibly low prices. However, with the release of the earlier 13th gen CPUs, Intel decided to go all in. Back in September of last year, when Intel revealed its new technology, the firm addressed the rise in CPU prices over the last few years and thus made it its job to cut down on those prices.
The MSRP of the Ryzen 7950X was $699 while the Intel Core i9-13900K was released at $589. Spec and performance-wise, it was quite a close battle already, so it’s mesmerizing how the now-improved 13900KS has been launched with an MSRP of $699 equal to AMD’s 7950X.
This will mark the deciding difference, especially when AMD releases the 3D V-cache version of its CPU because it won’t be able to go lower than the $699 on a chip that will be a direct comparison of the 13900KS.
i9-13900ks vs 7950X: Performance
The new AM5 platform from AMD has seen significant improvements in power delivery, enabling the company to achieve higher performance during demanding multi-core workloads. A notable feature of the Ryzen 9 7950X is its support for hardware acceleration of AVX-512 instructions, which is not available on the Intel Core i9-13900KS. The effect this has over the multithread and single-threaded performance of the 7950X is notably high. All of this, of course, remains at the cost of a higher TDP – a sacrifice AMD has to make to achieve great performance.
High clock frequencies are a crucial aspect when it comes to performance. However, that is not all that matters. The 6.0 GHz boost clock speed of the 13900KS will aid the CPU, and the division of P-cores and E-cores make it more power efficient as well. Due to the way Intel built its processor, the 13900KS is better than the 7950X in single-threaded activities.
In contrast, though, AMD’s focus on cache memory and instruction per second give it a strong advantage in gaming and multithreaded tasks. The extra 28MB of L3 cache and the hardware acceleration AMD uses to speed AVX-512 workloads help the 7950X to at least tie in this regard.
Last thoughts
In conclusion, Both are strong CPUs that lead the gaming and productivity fields. Although they might seem overpriced for gaming and you would be better off with cheaper options, these processors will deliver the strongest performance you’ll ever see.
Considering the price difference and overclocking opportunities, we would have to tilt toward the Intel i9-13900KS as the most suited option for people looking for the strongest and fasted CPU on the block.
