Home > CPU Comparison > Core i5 13600K or Core i5 12600K: what's better?

Intel Core i5 13600K vs i5 12600K

67 out of 100
Intel Core i5 13600K
VS
58 out of 100
Intel Core i5 12600K
Intel Core i5 13600K
Intel Core i5 12600K

We compared two desktop CPUs: the 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5 13600K with 14-cores against the 3.7 GHz i5 12600K with 10-cores. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (3)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the NanoReview Score for desktop CPU.
NanoReview Final Score
Choose your main usage scenario to recalculate the Final Score and see which CPU suits your needs.
πŸ”Œ Usage Scenario:

Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click β€œCalculate".
Currency
VS
29.7
(Mediocre)
Value Index
84.4
(Good)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 12600K and 13600K
Advantages of Intel Core i5 13600K
  • Supports up to 192 GB DDR5-5600 RAM
  • Has 4 more physical cores
  • Newer - released 11 months later
  • Has 4 MB larger L3 cache size
  • Around 12.8 GB/s (17%) higher theoretical memory bandwidth
  • 4% higher Turbo Boost frequency (5.1 GHz vs 4.9 GHz)

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i5 13600K
vs
Core i5 12600K

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Cinebench 2026 (Single) 492 -
Cinebench 2026 (Multi) 5581 -
Cinebench Scores (94th and 167th place)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Core i5 13600K +32%
16101
Core i5 12600K
12200
File compression 1300 MB/sec 822.6 MB/sec
Clang compilation 134.7 Klines/sec 98.7 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 374.2 pages/sec 261.1 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 465.8 Mpixels/sec 347.9 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 277.2 pages/sec 258.5 pages/sec
Background blur 68.3 images/sec 58.9 images/sec
Photo processing 136 images/sec 103.5 images/sec
Ray tracing 30.1 Mpixels/sec 22.8 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 448 & 768 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i5 13600K +36%
37461
Core i5 12600K
27512
Integer math 122 GOps/sec 87.8 GOps/sec
Floating point math 90.2 GOps/sec 67.1 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 153M Primes/sec 90M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 50.8M Strings/sec 35.7M Strings/sec
Data encryption 26.9 GBytes/sec 18.4 GBytes/sec
Data compression 473.1 MBytes/sec 342.8 MBytes/sec
Physics 2245 Frames/sec 1515 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 28.6B Matrices/sec 22B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 5100 & 7007 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i5 13600K +32%
310.15
Core i5 12600K
234.96

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 10.3 PPW 7.6 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 128.8 PPW 97.6 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 299.7 PPW 220.1 PPW
Blender / Watt 2.48 PPW 1.88 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core i5 13600K
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2026-04-09 (Shinigami)Cinebench 2026492 / 5581
πŸ“˜ 2025-04-29 (DSMJohn)Cinebench 2024118 / 1289
πŸ“˜ 2025-04-20 (io)Cinebench 2024114 / 1206
πŸ“˜ 2025-04-09 (stuchi)Cinebench 2024124 / 1248
πŸ“˜ 2024-09-23 (Fireman12402)Cinebench 2024112 / 1258
Add View all (6)
Intel Core i5 12600K
DateBenchmarkResult
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-28 (Jin)Cinebench 2024108 / 910
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-28 (Jin)Cinebench 2024108 / 906
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-20 (Kierannosaurus)Geekbench 6 CPU2668 / 12254
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-20 (Kierannosaurus)Cinebench 2024118 / 1041
πŸ“˜ 2025-12-05 (Kierannosaurus)Cinebench 2024115 / 1017
Add View all (10)

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i5 13600K and i5 12600K

General

Vendor Intel Intel
Released September 27, 2022 October 27, 2021
Type Desktop Desktop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Raptor Lake Alder Lake
Model number i5-13600K i5-12600K
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics 770 UHD Graphics 770
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 5 7600X - AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus - Intel Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
Intel CPU rating (60th and 96th place)

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 6 6
P-Threads 12 12
Base Frequency (P) 3.5 GHz 3.7 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 5.1 GHz 4.9 GHz
Efficient Cores
E-Cores 8 4
E-Threads 8 4
Base Frequency (E) 2.6 GHz 2.8 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (E) 3.9 GHz 3.6 GHz
Total
Total Cores 14 10
Total Threads 20 16
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 35x 37x
L1 Cache 80K (per core) 80K (per core)
L2 Cache 2MB (per core) 9728K (shared)
L3 Cache 24MB (shared) 20MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier Yes Yes

Package

Fabrication Process 10 nm 10 nm
TDP (PL1) 125 W 125 W
Max. Boost TDP (PL2) 181 W 150 W
Socket LGA-1700 LGA-1700
Peak Temperature 100Β°C 100Β°C
Desktop CPU ranking (61st and 86th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 770 Intel UHD Graphics 770
GPU Base Clock 300 MHz 300 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1500 MHz 1450 MHz
Shading Units 256 256
TMUs 16 16
ROPs 8 8
Execution Units 32 32
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
Core i5 13600K +14%
0.8 TFLOPS
Core i5 12600K
0.7 TFLOPS
See: Intel UHD Graphics 770 benchmarks

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR5-5600
- DDR4-3200		 - DDR5-4800
- DDR4-3200
Max. Memory Size 192 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth 89.6 GB/s 76.8 GB/s
ECC Support Yes Yes

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i5 13600K official page Intel Core i5 12600K official page
PCI Express Version 5.0 5.0
PCI Express Lanes 20 20

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
783 (75.1%)
260 (24.9%)
Total votes: 1043

Competitors

1. Intel Core i5 13600K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
2. Intel Core i5 13600K vs Intel Core i7 12700K (6)
3. Intel Core i5 13600K vs AMD Ryzen 7 9700X (1)
4. Intel Core i5 13600K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (11)
5. Intel Core i5 13600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 7600X (16)
6. Intel Core i5 13600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 9600X
7. Intel Core i5 12600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 7600
8. Intel Core i5 12600K vs AMD Ryzen 5 7600X (3)
9. Intel Core i5 12600K vs Apple M1
10. Intel Core i5 12600K vs Intel Core i7 12700K (3)
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core i5 12600K or i5 13600K?
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Avatar
nothing here January 12, 2023 at 04:03 PM
I can find a 12600k for $100 - $120 less than a 13600k, would it be worth it to just spend the extra $ on the 13th gen or should I just go with the 12?
+202 Reply
Avatar
im not givin out my name March 10, 2023 at 09:51 PM
my 12600k hit 5.3 (5.1 all core) with 1.25v, often uses 1.3 at idle with barely any temp increase, just a hyper 212 BE RGB, and thats with a 290w 3070 ti in micro atx. 12th gen is plenty
+50 Reply
Avatar
Mikhail Krzywiniokow December 22, 2022 at 04:11 AM
I just think that there isn't much difference between the two other than optimization of the same technology, they both have the same TDP and 10nm, the same integrated graphics, and similar single-core performance. If you already have 12 gen there is no reason to upgrade to 13.
+96 Reply
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