Core i9-9900K vs 13th Gen Core i5-13600K

Short answer: which is best?

Core i9-9900K is 32.9 % stronger than 13th Gen Core i5-13600K. Core i9-9900K ranks #19 of 45 measured processors at WhatFPS (8,893 CPU score over 1 verified runs). 13th Gen Core i5-13600K ranks #29 of 45 measured processors at WhatFPS (6,694 CPU score over 1 verified runs). The numbers are measured in 2 verified WhatFPS runs — not estimated, not self-reported.

Measured comparison

MetricCore i9-9900K13th Gen Core i5-13600K
CPU score (the processor's own performance)8,8936,694
Best rig (GAMING — whole PC)8,45312,713
Integer (MT)6.5 Gop/s4.4 Gop/s
Single-thread (1T)0.59 Gop/s0.41 Gop/s
Draw calls/s (DX11)9,269,3936,035,316
Cores / threads8 / 1614 / 20
L3 cache16 MB24 MB

What the numbers mean

The CPU score is the processor's own performance — that is what we rank on. GAMING is the whole rig's score in the best PC we measured the processor in, and leans heavily on the graphics card. A strong processor in a weak PC gets a low GAMING score without being worse. We show both and never mix them.

All numbers come from our benchmark suite: four hand-built 3D scenes written directly against the graphics APIs in Rust, the same load on every PC. The methodology is open at https://whatfps.com/metodik

All measurements for Core i9-9900K · All measurements for 13th Gen Core i5-13600K