There are two Intel i5-13400F variants available on the market. One has Golden Cove cores from the Alder Lake generation, while the other has Raptor Cove cores from Raptor Lake. While the name of the CPU is the same, they can differ in terms of performance and power draw.
The Core i5-13400F with the last generation Alder Lake die has 8 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores natively (C0 stepping). The one with the Raptor Lake die (B0 stepping) is only available in tray form or without the cooler. So you are unlikely to get it by chance since it is intended for aftermarket PC sellers.
The C0 stepping is sold with a box and the RM1 cooler. Its order number is BX8071513400FSRMBN. The B0 variant is tray only and is CM8071504821107. This is popular in the OEM market. You can also differentiate between the two by the S-Spec code. The C0 stepping has the code SRMBN, while the B0 stepping has the code SRMBG.
Both CPUs were tested using the Asus ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi (BIOS v0502), Kingston Fury Beast (2×16 GB, 5200 MHz/CL40) memory, and the Noctua NH-U14S cooler.
According to hwcooling, the C0 variant is 4% faster while drawing up to 29% less power. The B0 is less efficient in Cinebench R23. It performs 1% better but has a 14% higher power draw. While gaming, the C0 stepping is a bit more efficient, but the B0 stepping has a 5% better performance in games such as Total War Saga: Troy.
At idle, both have a very similar power draw, which is unsurprising. If you are interested in getting an Intel i5-13400F CPU, then this is something that you should know about. Which stepping you go with is going to come down to what kind of work you are interested in going.
Let us know what you think about there being two variants of the Intel i5-13400F.
