Consider moving to 7800X3D for your 13900K to lower heat output, improve power efficiency, and enhance gaming speed.
Consider moving to 7800X3D for your 13900K to lower heat output, improve power efficiency, and enhance gaming speed.
Temperature is subjective and doesn't really matter in this conversation. Still, roughly half the energy use from about 200W to 100W can be a concern, particularly where electricity prices are high. I'd trust you on the smoother side if I hadn't had real experience with consistent performance. It's doable but it could cost close to $5k including accessories. I'm not sure if claiming you're willing to spend a lot for small improvements is bragging—it usually signals poor financial planning in most cases.
It’s also releasing too much heat into the case. Intel appears to be significantly worse in this area, causing CPU temperatures to spike to the 80s and sometimes reaching the 90s. This isn’t about electricity bills. During a hot summer, sitting near a PC while trying to keep the room cool even with air conditioning. If performance is genuinely better or there’s no drop in gaming quality—meaning frame rates and smoothness remain solid—I might be willing to make the change if I can recoup costs. The 13900KS P core SP 124 and E core SP 97 are top-tier chips, which could fetch a good price if I sell them. I’ve been working hard to reduce temperatures, but it’s tough especially on air cooling. I’d prefer to stick with air cooling and maintain 8 P cores at 5.6 to 5.7GHz.
G-sync exists when performance drops, but it ensures you always get a usable frame. I often boost performance by 1.5 to 2 times for this purpose. In games with wild frame rate changes, enabling it guarantees the most frames available during refresh, whether they’re at full or fluctuating rates. The problem you mentioned with G-sync hasn’t appeared in the five monitors I’ve tested since 2014, starting with a Nvidia DIY kit for an Asus VG248QE. Back then I disabled V-sync globally via Nvidia Control Panel settings—a tip I still follow. Whether it’s still relevant in 2023 is uncertain, but I sometimes turn it off temporarily for different reasons. Since its release, G-sync has performed as advertised, though early versions had minor fixes before launch. It’s important not to ignore power usage versus performance trends, which tend to follow an exponential curve; at some point you hit a balance where power consumption matches efficiency needs. As expected, it’s not ideal—there are valid concerns about high draw from components like the 13900k or RTX 4090 even at 80% TDP. The recommended power target is around 105W. Core i9-13900K & Ryzen 9 7950X Scaling Performance: CPU Short Form - A Lighter Touch: Exploring CPU Power Scaling On Core i9-13900K and Ryzen 9 7950X (anandtech.com)
Certainly, the situation isn't straightforward. Voltage and performance aren't consistent. No one seems to have applied a mathematical model to this data, but CPUs can deliver strong results with sufficient power, though scaling varies across tasks. Cinebench probably won't capture most games accurately. Considering the OP's gaming focus, that's what matters. The review suggests the 7800X3D doesn't consume much power in typical gaming scenarios—under 250W for most titles. Even with its lower average usage, switching to a more efficient model might not yield significant gains. Reading the OP again, it appears the system was clocked differently, possibly running at a higher or lower baseline than normal. It's unclear if performance is affected by the manual adjustment. I recommend checking the actual power draw during gaming before evaluating the 7800X3D.
It's not worthwhile considering the current averages and consistent lows. Adding a -100mv adjustment to your 13900k will significantly reduce power use and heat, probably bringing it down to under 1.2v for non-AVX tasks. For stability, you might only need around 1.2v, with optional tweaks of ±1 or ±2 if issues arise.
I don't think moving from a 9th generation with 24 cores and 32 threads to a 7th generation with 8 cores and 16 threads makes sense as an upgrade. Yes, I understand they're from Intel and AMD, but the main benefit seems to be reduced heat and power consumption.
It's okay if you don't notice the delay—I feel it too. That's why I stick to a fixed frame rate or fast sync, and no, you definitely don't require a $5000 setup for that.