Black Friday usually doesn’t contain as many CPU offers because it does, say, SSD offers or gaming keyboard offers – most likely as a result of there simply aren’t that many CPUs. Nonetheless, a couple of alternative reductions have emerged for an unlikely group of chips: Intel’s thirteenth Gen Raptor Lake processors. These solely launched late in October, so it’s a welcome shock to them on the Black Friday chopping block so quickly.
Particularly since… effectively, I wasn’t overly glowing in regards to the Core i5-13600K after I reviewed it. However that was in the end as a result of I didn’t really feel the upper worth mirrored its efficiency positive factors over the Core i5-12600K, that are extra keenly felt in desktop multitasking than in gaming. To chop away the value is to chop away the underlying problem with Raptor Lake, making these chips a lot, significantly better buys within the course of.
To get even decrease costs, let’s stick principally to the ‘KF’ variations, that are similar to the flagship, overclockable ‘Okay’ chips however don’t have built-in graphics. These aren’t vital in a gaming PC with a devoted graphics card, in order that’s tremendous – although the usual Core i7-13700K is someway cheaper than the Core i7-13700KF proper now, so uhhhhh let’s simply depart that one in!
UK offers:
And sure, sadly these thirteenth Gen offers do appear to be UK-only. I can discover US listings with a couple of {dollars} shaved off right here and there, however nothing meaty like CCL’s Black Friday sale.
In the event you resolve to choose up one in every of these Intel chips, do not forget that they’ll want a motherboard with both a brand new Intel Z790 chipset or a twelfth Gen Intel 600 collection chipset (like Z690 or B660). The latter, last-gen motherboards may also want a BIOS replace first.
We’re maintaining monitor of all one of the best Black Friday PC gaming offers. Head over to the primary hub for highlights throughout every kind of PC {hardware}, or you possibly can take a look at our extra specialised guides, like one of the best early Black Friday SSD offers, one of the best Black Friday gaming keyboard offers, and extra.