What is a CPU?
Before we jump into this large debate between Team Red and Team Blue, which are Intel and AMD, you must first understand what these components do. CPU is a component in a computer or laptop whose job is to tell the other components what to do and thus is commonly called the brain of the computer. While buying or browsing for CPUs, you will most likely see how many cores or threads the CPU has, or the megahertz which is the clock speed. Most of the time you’ll see 6 cores and 12 threads, or 12 cores and 24 threads. A core is a single processing unit in the CPU, and a thread is a sequence of instructions given to the CPU.
In most CPUs, there are 2 threads of every core. Thus the more cores the more power, but cores and threads aren’t all to a CPU. The megahertz(MHz) of a CPU refers to the clock speed, and the higher the clock speed the more instructions that the CPU can do. There are also performance and efficiency cores. P-cores are usually for intense tasks, while E-cores are mainly for background tasks.
Intel and AMD
Intel and AMD are both companies that focus on creating parts for a computer, like Nvidia, which we will not cover. Intel and AMD have been rivals since the beginning of time, but Intel is known more to the public, because of the popularity of their chips in laptops. Intel has sold around 50 million CPUs this year compared to AMD’s 8 million. This seems like an easy choice – since Intel is more popular than the i9 13900k it must be better. But is it?
The Intel i9 13900k
The 13900k is one of Intel’s most powerful CPUs on the market. It came out in 2022. It has 24 in total (8 being performance and 16 being efficiency) with 32 threads. It has 5.80 GHz of max turbo frequency and also has a maximum memory size of 192 GB, and can support both the older ddr4 and newer ddr5 platforms. For the integrated graphics, the 13900k is using Intel’s UHD graphics 770. The base frequency is clocked in at 300 MHz, and the max dynamic frequency is 1.65 MHz. It is currently being priced at around $700.
The AMD Ryzen 9 7950x
The 9 7950x is the flagship CPU of the AMD lineup and was also released in 2022. Its maxed clock speed is 5.7 GHz. It has 16 cores and 32 threads and only uses ddr5 memory. The 7950x is rocking AMD’s Radeon integrated graphics. With a max memory size of 128GBs. The 9 7950x also uses AMD’s new EXPO Technology, which is AMD’s new way of enabling extended performance. Its average price currently is around $520. 
Comparing the two
While Intel’s 13900k seems to smash the 7950x on paper, it might not be for everyone.
Let’s start with the price. The 13900k has skyrocketed in price. Staring at around 600 dollars, and currently being 700. While AMD’s CPU is around 520 dollars, which is much more accessible for most people unless you have really deep pockets.
Temperature-wise it is a little finicky, for regular tasks the 13900k is only about 3 degrees hotter. but change the series to gaming and it is a whole different story. While gaming the 13900k is around 22% cooler than the 9 7950x. On Cinabench the 13900k only beats the 7950x by 1000 points, which isn’t very much.
Platform-wise, Intel does kill off the motherboard platforms quite fast, on the other end AMD is committed to the AM5 platform. This means if you go with the 13900k you will have significantly fewer upgrade paths compared to the 7950x.
For other benchmarks, the 7950x beats the 13900k in some, and the 13900k beats the 7950x in others. So overall these two CPUs are tied, but gaming is another story. The i9 13900k as seen in the benchmarks does beat the 7950. So, what should you pick? The i9 13900k or the 9 7950x? It all comes down to preference and budget; if you like the AMD platform better and you have a slimmer budget, go with the 7950x, but if you have deeper pockets go with the i9 13900k. But you can’t go wrong with either one as both are great choices.
Related Stories
https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-9-7950x
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?id=5022
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?id=5031&cpu=AMD+Ryzen+9+7950X
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-ryzen-9-7950x-vs-intel-core-i9-13900k
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https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i9-13900k-core-i9-13th-gen/p/N82E16819118412
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