Black Friday sales are rapidly coming to an end as December approaches, but they’re going out with a bang. Intel’s beefy 24-core i9-13900K has been hit with the discount hammer, dropping the former flagship CPU down its lowest price ever. Better be quick, though, as they won’t last long on digital shelves.
Sporting a massive 40% off on Amazon, you can grab Core i9-13900K for just $379.91 during the holiday. This is the cheapest price I’ve ever seen in the US and there’s nothing quite like it outside of North America. However, turn your attention to the graphics-less 13900KF, and you’ll net up to 26% off, costing just €456.91 in Europe.
Intel Core i9-13900K
Intel’s 24-core, 32-thread leader of the Raptor Lake pack is a genuine contender as one of the best all-round CPUs. Read our review.
It may be two generations old at this point but I can’t describe Core i9-13900K as anything other than an absolute beast. Its 24 cores, split between eight P-cores and double the E-cores, alongside 32 threads handle just about anything you throw at it. Rounded out with 5.8GHz max frequencies and 36MB of L3 Cache, the only processors that surpass it are Intel’s and AMD’s newer flagships – each of which cost a pretty penny more.
The K variant features Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 770 to power any LGA1700 motherboard’s HDMI port up to 1.65GHz. That said, it’s always best paired with a discrete graphics card so you can tear through games and workloads like they’re bread. You’re looking at easy triple digit frame rates in most games when paired with an RTX 3080, all running at max settings and HD resolution. Take a look at our Intel Core i9-13900K review to see for yourself.
Most people will probably run it close to its 125W base power profile, but a 253W ceiling gives you ample room to stretch if you fancy pushing it to its limits. Just keep in mind you can’t sustain it at full load without a trade-off and will definitely need a great cooler to handle the heat.
When you get your hands on the CPU, the first thing you’ll need to do is perform a BIOS update. Intel has fixed instabilities that once plagued its high-powered processors, giving you protection to prevent degredation. And in the unlikely event anything does go wrong with your chip, you could end up with a 14900K replacement anyway.
Intel Core i5-13600K deal
Should an i9 be too rich for your blood, Intel Core i5-13600K also has a huge 36% reduction bringing it down to $210. Unlike its bigger brother, this one has discounts all over the show, costing just £200.38 in the UK. Both regions are at an all-time low and probably won’t stay that way forever.
Intel Core i5-13600K
A brilliant processor offering oodles of performance for a little over $300, Core i5-13600K is a no-brainer. Read our review.
Trimming back to 14 cores (six P-cores and eight E-cores), 13600K isn’t far behind the i9 with a 5.1GHz boost clock and 24MB L3 Cache. It even features the same Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 770 chip for visuals, albeit with a slightly slimmer 1.5GHz max dynamic frequency. You only need to look at its gaming performance to see it’s within spitting distance of its superior sibling, making it a winner in my books.
Since both of these deals are on Amazon, you have a safety net. The retailer is committed to an extended return window that stretches all the way to January 31, 2025, just in case you have second thoughts about your purchase. With that in mind, it’s worth grabbing one and trying it out for yourself.