Intel Core i9-13900KS - Core i9 13th Gen Raptor Lake 24-Core (8P+16E) 3.2 GHz LGA 1700 - Intel UHD Graphics 770 - Unlocked Desktop Processor - BX8071513900KS

Pros: Easily boosts up to 5.2Ghz all P-cores with a 120mm Noctua cooler.
Really fast single core & IPC performance
New architecture & instruction sets optimize performance in modern software.

Cons: So far its the best new platform value on the market. No cons.

Overall Review: This is the first time I've upgraded in 10 years, last build I made was around 2012 with a 2600k and GTX 660TI. Over time I upgraded the GPU but kept the same platform cause it was serving my needs and saw no reason to upgrade. But recently my old I7 was getting long in the tooth, with even general computing feeling sluggish. So I decided to invest in a new platform.

Looked around for what the new tech was and found LGA 1700, was about to pull the trigger on a 12600k when the 13600k was announced the next day. So waited for a month and here I am with a new build that offers great price to performance. This processor is a beast and crushes anything I throw at it without even trying, pushing 165+fps in anygame with an RTX 3080.
It has more power than I need to be honest, but should be good for another 10 years haha.

Now I know this platform is at end of life, but that really didn't matter to me as I'm not planning on upgrading anytime soon, so any new hardware that comes out doesn't interest me. Beyond that I know support for Intel CPU's has always been great unlike AMD which tends to have bugs or glitches across games and programs.

I also went with a DDR4 platform cause DDR5 is just way too expensive for me right now, its atleast 100% more expensive and only performs about 20% better in synthetic memory benchmarks. Just doesn't make sense to me.

So anyways highly recommend the 13600k, pair it with a Z690 DDR4 board and you'll be good to go.

Pros: This Intel Core i9-13900KF worked great until it failed suddenly after a year. There was no simple way to diagnose that it was this CPU that had dies, it still looks like new, and the way it failed I was just working and then the system shut down abruptly. The motherboard would not boot into the BIOS, just LED lights and it displayed the 00 error. Finally after eliminating everything else, thankfully ASUS motherboard support were responsive, then I tried another graphics card, then I bought a cheap CPU and installed that in its place, and with the cheap CPU the system was immediately back. So it was clear that this CPU was the culprit.
Intel has a warranty that is still covering it, but Intels support is excruciating, and has so many steps, from downloading a special app just to read the serial number on the CPU, to setting up an Intel account that does not show my support case, so i always have to use their special link to access it, and then there is the endless slowness of it all, I am still waiting for them to get back to me, even though I quickly provided all the evidence that the CPU was at fault, they just go days on end without responding to the case, then there is another thing I have to do, and I do it immediately, then I wait and wait. So I would definitely go with AMD over Intel in the future. A sudden failure like this is a major disruptor to my work and life, and it has been long enough that I found another computer to use instead and the warranty feels like Intel wants to make it more trouble than it is worth. Maybe that is why Intel has fallen from grace, I know AMD stock has been recommended over Intel by Motley Fool. Sudden hardware failure is not okay to begin with, but the difficulty of diagnosing it and then making the warranty process into a kind of torture, that put me off Intel for good.

Cons: It failed, without warning and I never overclocked, just normal desktop use. Then getting support and warranty coverage is excruciating. Even though they acknowledge that it is the CPU will be covered, they just stopped responding to the warranty case, with so many steps to go through and several days for them to respond to even the smallest update, I would not go through Intels support again, definitely going with AMD next time.

Overall Review: Sudden total CPU failure, then stuck in warranty hell.