Intel Core i7 13700K Review

Operating Costs

With the cost of living increasing across the world, especially when it comes to the cost of electricity, it’s worth looking at the cost of running a processor and how it compares to similar products on the market. By taking the average cost per kWh, we can calculate a rough running cost at idle, during a simulated workload test (Cinebench R23), to give us worst-case scenario costs, as well as gaming costs during a run of Cinebench R23.

US Dollars (USD)

British Pound (GBP)

Overall, what that means for operating costs is that in the UK at an average of 34 pence per kWh, the i7 13700K comes in around the same as the i9 12900K at less than half a penny per hour at idle, around 6 pence per hour during gaming and at just under 9 pence per hour during a rigorous Cinebench torture test and compared to the competition, AMD has it won here. In the US, based on $0.15 cents per kWh, we see the same pattern, though at a much closer margin, AMD still has Intel beat across the whole Zen 4 lineup.