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Intel Best Value CPU! $1500-1600 Intel i5-13600K DDR5 Gaming Build

Henrique 
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Intel high-end CPU lineup is vast, with options like the i9-13900K and i7-13700K, options that doesn’t make much sense for gaming only builds, something that the more affordable i5-13600K shines at, delivering excellent gaming performance, good productivity performance, with lower power consumption, that can be cooled by less expensive cooling solutions.

The Intel i5-13600K has great gaming performance for it’s price point, trading blows with the competition, like the more expensive Ryzen 7 7700X, and also with Intel CPUs, like the i7-13700K. For those who need multi-threaded performance, the i5-13600K comes with 6x performance cores and 8x efficient cores, so it’s also a good option for some CPU intensive workloads.

  • The i5-13600K competes in both price and performance with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700/7700X, also consider taking a look at an AMD Ryzen 7700 Build

CPU

The 13th Intel i5 unlocked CPU comes in two versions, the i5-13600K with integrated graphics, and one without, the i5-13600KF. Other than that they are the same CPU, with the same capabilities, clock, cache and performance.

Our Recommendation: Intel i5-13600K (The iGPU is worth having, and usually price difference is almost negligible)

CPU Cooler

The i5-13600K can easily be cooled by a good Air Cooler, the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120, be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5 and many others are all you need for a cool operation while gaming.

For those who want to overclock the i5-13600K, or use the CPU in intensive applications, a good 360mm AIO would be a better pick, for that, options like the ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 360 (compatible case required) would be the main recommendation,

Our Recommendation: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 & Thermalright Peerless Assassin 140, or similar in the $35-60 price range.

Air Cooler

Water cooler

  • Be aware that the ARCTIC radiator thickness is 38mm (Without Fans) and might not fit in all cases.

Motherboard

A $200 Z790 DDR5 Motherboard for a i5-13600K build is all you need, it doesn’t take much to run the i5-13600K, and most Z790, even a few higher-end B760 motherboard, like the Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX DDR5, will do the job really well. Spending too much money on a motherboard is not really recommended.

The Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite X WIFI7 and Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX, the MSI MAG Z790 TOMAHAWK WIFI and MSI Z790 Gaming Plus WIFI or the ASUS TUF Gaming Z790-Plus WIFI are all excellent motherboards to choose from.

Our Recommendation: ASUS TUF Gaming Z790-Plus WIFI (or similar Z790 DDR5 motherboard in the $200 price range)

RAM

Intel can benefit a bit from high frequency RAM, of course, at some point you start having diminishing returns, and with 2x16GB 6000 CL30 and 2x16GB 6400 CL32 kits in the $95-120 range, it makes sense to stay in that price range for optimal performance and stability for the money.

Our Recommendation: G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB 2x16GB 6400 CL32 (Or similar 2x16GB kit, 6000MT/s or better, CL32 or lower, in the $95-120 price range)

Storage

For games, a good SSD is a must have, faster loading times, faster access times, better usability of your new PC, everything will be faster and more responsive. Intel 13th gen CPUs and Z790 Motherboards can make use of PCIe 5.0/4.0 SSDs, and since PCIe 5.0 SSDs won’t bring a significant improvement in gaming, it makes sense to look into a high-end 1TB or 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.

Our Recommendation: Any 1TB SSD if you want to be close to the $1500 budget, and still have $500-550+ for the GPU.

1TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD

2TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSD

Cases

For a high-end build a good airflow case is extremely necessary, not only that, but you also need one that fits all the components you choose, like PSU, CPU Cooler, AIO, GPU etc. A good mid or full-tower airflow case around $100-150 would be recommended for a build like this.

In order to ensure overall compatibility, all cases listed here are ATX in size, have enough clearance for even the tallest Air Cooler in the list, the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5, at 168mm (with the exception of the NZXT H9 Flow). All are compatible with 360mm AIOs and most have more than 400mm of GPU clearance, more than enough for even the largest RTX 4090 models.

Our Recommendation: Lian Li Lancool 216 (Excellent cooling and value) or NZXT H5 Flow (Space, quality), or similar case in the $100-150 price range.

PSU

The GPUs listed bellow are quite efficient, and easy on the power supply requirements, but the recommended spec is to buy at least a 850W ATX 3.0 & PCIE5 PSU for this build, so you have some headroom for improvements and upgrades later. Power supplies like the Thermaltake GF3 850W, MSI MPG A850G PCIE5 Corsair RM850e and others, are great examples of high quality PSUs to pair with this build.

Our recommendation: Corsair RM850e or MSI MPG A850G PCIE5 (Or similar quality ATX 3.0 & PCIE5 850W PSU in a similar price range).

850W PSUs

GPU

For the GPU, there is a few options worth considering for this build and budget:

It is possible to get the GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER with this budget. It is an excellent GPU, with great 1440p gaming performance, great Ray Tracing performance and it benefits from Nvidia DLSS.

The Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16GB is the next best thing, with similar gaming performance to the RTX 4070 SUPER, lower prices, more VRAM. It won’t be in the same level of Ray Tracing performance, so if you do want to experience that in games, Nvidia might be the best option.

The Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB is one of AMD’s most competitive GPUs, with aggressive pricing and performance not far from the Radeon RX 7900 GRE and GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER. It offers 16GB of VRAM and excellent 1440p gaming performance.

The last option is for those who prioritize performance above all else. If you don’t mind a more affordable case, like the Montech AIR 903 Base, a B760 motherboard like the Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX DDR5, a 1TB SSD like the Crucial T500 1TB and 2x16GB 6400 CL32 RAM without RGB, it should be possible to easily get the more powerful Radeon RX 7900 XT 20GB within the $1500 budget.

Our Recommendation: Radeon RX 7900 GRE (Value and Performance) or GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (Ray Tracing).

Nvidia

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12GB

AMD

AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE 16GB

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB

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