What Does F Mean in Intel CPUs? The Gamer’s Guide to Choosing the Ideal Processor

As a hardcore gamer and PC building enthusiast, I’m constantly researching the best hardware for smooth, high-fidelity experiences. And the processor is one of the most critical components, acting as the “brain” of your system.

If you’ve shopped for Intel CPUs before, you may have noticed certain models designated with an “F” suffix – like the Core i9-13900KF or Core i5-12600KF. So what exactly does the F mean?

As the table shows, the F specifies that the processor lacks onboard graphics. As a result, you need to use a dedicated discrete GPU. But as we’ll explore throughout this guide, that omission comes with certain advantages that make F series a strong choice for gaming rigs.

A Brief History of Intel’s CPUs

To properly understand F series chips, let’s quickly recap some history…

The integrated graphics in Intel’s early mainstream CPUs were pretty weak. But around the launch of 9th-gen in 2018, Intel started producing “F” variants without iGPUs. This let them divert more die space and thermal headroom to the CPU cores and cache.

As you can see, we’re currently on the 13th generation with the Raptor Lake architecture debuting in late 2022. The flagship 13900K has up to 24 cores and 32 threads thanks to Intel’s hybrid design combining Performance cores (P-cores) and Efficient cores (E-cores).

But you’ll also notice the letters KF on certain models like the 13900KF – this means it has overclocking ability via unlocked multipliers but lacks integrated graphics. Now let’s see why gamers still may prefer these F series processors.

Why Choose an F Series CPU for Gaming Rigs?

Most gaming PCs utilize dedicated graphics cards anyway for smooth gameplay and high fidelity visuals. Even budget GPUs outperform Intel’s integrated graphics.

So why pay for onboard graphics you won’t even use? F series processors allow redirecting that die space and power budget towards more cores, cache, memory support, and higher clocks for the CPU itself.

And contrary to popular belief, F series CPUs often overclock just as well if not better than their non-F counterparts! For example, Silicon Lottery achieved an average overclock of 5.1 GHz on the Core i9-10900KF – beating out even the 10900K to become the world record for 10th gen.

Here are some other benefits for gaming:

And with architectural gains like increased IPC (instructions per clock) each generation, the F series scales well for gaming. Let’s take a look at recent SKUs.

Latest Intel F Series CPUs

For a high-end build today, some of the best Intel F series processors to consider are:

The table illustrates the excellent value delivered by F series. The flagship 13900KF only costs $20 more than the non-F 13900K. Yet it outperforms even AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X in 1080p and 1440p gaming according to benchmarks.

And the 13600KF beats the Ryzen 7 7700X again despite a lower price tag. You can achieve 100+ FPS in demanding titles across resolutions up to 1440p.

Even budget-focused builders will appreciate the unmatched value of the 12400F. It even outperforms last-gen flagship gaming chips like the i7-11700K and Ryzen 7 5800X!

Overclocking F Series Processors

For maximum performance, overclocking extracts every last drop of speed possible from a CPU. And F series models with KF allow you to push clocks way beyond stock speeds.

That’s because Intel sells “K” variants with an unlocked clock multiplier. So a KF chip gives you that coveted overclockability without the integrated graphics getting in the way.

For instance, here’s an expert overclocker pushing the Core i5-13600KF to an incredible 8.2 GHz across all performance cores! Of course, such records require exotic cooling like liquid nitrogen.

But even under conventional methods like air or AIO coolers, you can expect ~5.2 GHz on the 13900KF and ~5.0 GHz on the 13600KF. Pretty impressive for $589 and $319 retail pricing!

For non-KF models like the 12700F, CPU overclocking is locked out unfortunately. However, they still boost fairly high courtesy of Intel Turbo Boost technology:

So in summary, KF variants give you the best of both worlds – high auto boost speeds AND manual overclocking. While non-KF chips lose OC capability, their specs are still solid for gaming thanks to Intel’s IPC and architectural gains in recent years.

Latest Flagship Intel Processors

To give you a complete overview of Intel’s portfolio, here are specs for their latest enthusiast-class flagship CPUs on desktop:

So as you can see, Intel isn’t messing around with the new 13900KS! Thanks to further optimization and binning, it becomes the world’s first CPU to break 6 GHz out of the box without any overclocking required. Truly an overkill processor for gaming domination!

Meanwhile even the existing 13900K with just a 5.8 GHz boost easily defeats AMD’s best gaming chip in the 7950X. So team blue certainly brings the heat for high fidelity experiences.

Conclusion – F Series Delivers Optimal Gaming Performance Per Dollar

If you’re building or upgrading a gaming PC, Intel F series should be strongly considered. By sacrificing unused integrated graphics, these CPUsredirect precious die space and thermal headroom towards more cores, cache, memory controllers, and higher sustainable clock speeds.

Certain KF models give you the best of both worlds – all the overclocking potential paired with excellent thermals. And across the board, architectural gains like IPC improvements enable great single and multi-threaded performance.

I hope this inside look at Intel’s portfolio helps explain the F series advantage for gaming. Let me know your thoughts in the comments! And as both a gamer and creator myself, stick around for my next deep dive where I’ll be benchmarking these processors in Unreal Engine 5…