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Both Intel and AMD have launched multiple CPUs in the $200 range. These chips offer improved single-core performance to gamers on a budget while still being power efficient and easy to cool. These chips do not bottleneck even the most powerful graphics cards, making them a solid alternative to their costlier siblings.
Team Blue's Core i5 -400 lineup has some of the most popular processors since 2018. The same applies to AMD's Ryzen 5 non-X CPUs. To top this off, the 12400 and the 7600 have recently been discounted, making them even more alluring.
This makes choosing the best option among these processors a bit difficult. Thus, in this guide, we will compare the processors and try to figure out the best option among them.
The Core i5 12400 and the 13400 offer solid competition to the Ryzen 5 7600
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Before we dive into the differences in performance, let's check out the specs of these processors and what each of them brings to the table.
Specs
Starting with this generation, Intel has bundled its Core i5 13400 with efficient 'E' cores. Thus, it's the only chip with more than six cores among the three chips. However, it packs the same six high-performance 'P' cores as the last-gen model.
According to AMD CEO Lisa Su, Team Red chips bundle both performance and efficiency on a single core. Thus, the 7600 comes with no more than six Zen 4-powered cores. Like all other Ryzen 7000 processors, this chip boosts to over 5 GHz, making it the fastest-clocked CPU among the three.
However, the Ryzen CPU doesn't support cheaper DDR4 memory, and motherboard availability for the chip is quite limited. These disadvantages might tilt things in Intel's favor, but there are a few more factors to consider.
Performance differences
With the latest Raptor Lake lineup, Intel has fine-tuned its process node to maximize the performance you can get out of it. It is expected that the latest processor will beat the last-gen Core i5 12400. However, on a budget, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 seems to steal the heat from the 13th gen Team Blue offering.
In every single-core performance test, the Intel CPU lags by a decent margin. Although the 13400 catches up in multi-core tests due to its higher core count, most modern video games don't utilize the power of more than two or three cores.
Thus, it's no surprise that the Ryzen 5 7600 pulls ahead of the Core i5 13400 in almost every video game. Although the difference may not be significant right now, it is expected that the performance gap will become more noticeable in future games. This could potentially render some games unplayable on the Core i5 13400 a couple of years down the line.
The Team Red chip takes the crown in terms of performance. However, we should also look at the pricing of the chips to determine which is better value for money.
Pricing
Currently, the Core i5 13400 and the Ryzen 5 7600 both sell for $229. The last-gen Alder Lake processor has been discounted to $185, and the Core i5 12400F sells for just $154.
In its segment, the six-core Team Blue chip is unbeaten. However, those with extra cash should settle for the Ryzen 5 7600. The chip can easily run on a cheap A620 motherboard, the majority of which are available under $90 these days. DDR5 RAM prices are on a downward trend as well and won't cost significantly more than last-gen DDR4 memory. Thus, a 7600-based system won't be much costlier and is more likely to be future-proof.
