Intel budget 13th gen processors are here, i5-13500 vs Ryzen 5 7600

Intel has silently released their low-powered 65W processors and the i5-13500 stands out as a worthy contender in the budget segment. Intel i5-13500 directly competes with the recently released 65W Zen 4 processors.

Intel i5-13500 costs similar to the Ryzen 5 7600 and is now available to purchase. Here is a detailed performance breakdown of the i5-13500 and how it stacks up against the Ryzen 5 7600.

Intel i5-13500 specifications

Intel i5-13500 is a 14-core (6 P cores and 8 E cores), 20-threads CPU with 65W base power. Priced at ₹23,500 it directly competes with the 6-core Ryzen 5 7600 processor. Mainly targeted towards gaming and top-class multi-core performance at this budget, this is a compelling processor.

Core-heavy productivity performance of 13500 (Multi-core)

Intel i5-13500 manages to trump the Ryzen 5 7600 and even the Ryzen 7 7700 in some applications in multi-core performance and applications that are core-heavy.

In Cinebench, i5 13500 is 46% faster than the Ryzen 5 7600 and 5.5% faster than the Ryzen 7 7700X. Similarly, in Blender, the Intel i5 13500 is 31% faster than the Ryzen 5 7600. 

If you are primarily into coding, the Intel i5-13500 does provide you with 17% more performance than the Ryzen 5 7600 and is very similar to the Intel i5-13600K.

Intel i5-13500 benefits from DDR5 memory providing performance compared to DDR4 memory. In Chromium Code Compile, the DDR5 does fetch 6% more performance compared to the DDR4.

Also read: DDR4 vs DDR5. Is it time to upgrade?

If you find yourself using these applications primarily or any other application that relies on multi-core performance, the Intel i5-13500 is an amazing processor at this price point.

Single Core Performance of Intel i5-13500

When single-core performance is compared, the Intel i5-13500 loses its edge against the Ryzen 5 7600 although it does perform similarly or slightly better depending on the application.

In Cinebench R23 single core performance, the performance is equal and within the margin of error. In Adobe Photoshop, the 13500 loses to the Ryzen 5 7600 but the DDR5 performance does close the gap significantly.

In the case of Adobe Premier Pro, the Ryzen 5 7600 beats the i5-13500 with DDR4 memory but with DDR5 memory, it does overtake the Ryzen 5 7600 with 10% more performance.

While there is no clear performance gap in single-core performance, I would still consider the i5-13500 a better performer compared to the Ryzen 5 7600.

Gaming Performance of Intel i5-13500

Gaming performance is where the Intel i5-13500 loses to the Ryzen 5 7600. Ryzen 5 7600 trumps the 13500 in almost all games at 1080p and 1440p. Intel i5-13500 is still slower than the Ryzen 5 7600 by 10% with DDR5 memory in 1080p.

In 1440p, Ryzen 5 7600 is still stronger than the i5-13500 by about 9% with DDR5 memory. The performance gap widens more with DDR4 memory.

Who wins? Intel i5-13500 vs Ryzen 5 7600

For productivity, the Intel i5-13500 is a solid processor at this price point and is even better than the Ryzen 5 7600 from the sole perspective of performance. 

In gaming performance, the Intel i5-13500 loses against the Ryzen 5 7600.

Problems with Intel i5-13500

While the i5-13500 does look like the best processor in this price range (<₹25,000), it does have some major drawbacks. 

• Its cooling performance is worse out of the box when compared to the Ryzen 5 7600. Both of them come with an included cooler but the Intel’s cooler does nothing to avoid thermal throttling on the i5-13500. Whereas, the Ryzen Prism Stealth does an amazing job at cooling down the Ryzen 5 7600.

• Ryzen 5 7600 does provide increased performance by simply turning on the PBO at the expense of power consumption but the performance does get better in both gaming and productivity whereas 13500 is not overclockable at all. (BCLK is completely locked)

• Buying a processor at this price, the platform’s longevity is an important factor. Intel i5-13500 is at the dead end of the current platform and you will not be able to upgrade to 14th gen Intel processors on the same platform. Whereas, the AM5 platform will continue to support at least 2 more generations of processor upgrades.

Also read: How to choose the best motherboard for your PC build

Conclusion

Intel i5-13500 is a compelling choice for production workload at the price of ₹23,500 but Ryzen 5 7600 does prove to be an overall better choice considering every factor at a slightly lower price of ₹22,650.

If you are on 12th gen Intel processor, this upgrade will only make sense if you are coming from i5-12100F and you want a processor for faster production. For gaming, there is no point in upgrading from the 12th generation.

If you are building a new PC, I see no reason to jump on a dead platform with an entry-level processor that you can’t upgrade later. For new PC builds, AMD Ryzen is a more sensible choice.