If you want one processor to do the most work per hour in Lightroom Classic and Photoshop, start with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, the chip we tested longest across six builds. Six Zen 3 cores at 4.6 GHz max boost keep masking, brushing and culling responsive, and unlike every other chip in this roundup it arrives with a cooler in the box, so your first build decision is already made for you.
That said, the honest answer changes with your workflow. A wedding photographer batching 4000 RAW files cares far more about multi-threaded throughput than clock speed, and a retoucher building 120-layer composites cares about almost everything at once. So we assembled six unlocked desktop processors, put them through the same culling, RAW develop, layer and batch export sequence, and ranked them by what actually happened rather than by spec sheets.
Before the picks, one thing to clear up. Photo editing is a mixed workload, and the best cpus for photo editing are the ones that handle both halves of it. Interactive work, culling, masking, brush strokes, Develop module sliders, is single-thread bound, which is why clock speed and cache design matter so much. Batch work, exporting 5000 files, AI Denoise passes, rendering and tethered ingest, spreads across every core you have, which is why core count and threads decide how long you wait. A chip that is great at one and weak at the other produces a machine that feels fast right up until the moment you need it to finish something.
We spent six weeks cycling through these six processors on the same B550 and Z690 test platforms, with the same NVMe scratch drive and the same 32GB DDR4 and DDR5 memory, so the only variable was the silicon. The lineup spans a 6-core budget chip, two 8-core AMD parts, two Intel hybrids, a high-clock 300-series part, and one gaming-focused AM5 option that is deliberately in the list as a trap worth examining.
Table of Contents
Top 3 Picks for Photo Editing in 2026
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
- 6 cores and 12 threads
- 4.6 GHz max boost
- 35 MB cache
- Wraith Stealth cooler included
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
- 8 cores and 16 threads
- 4.7 GHz max boost
- 36 MB cache
- Socket AM4 with PCIe 4.0
Intel Core i7-12700K
- 12 cores (8P plus 4E) and 20 threads
- Up to 5.0 GHz turbo
- 25 MB L3 cache
- Integrated UHD graphics
The Ryzen 5 5600X takes the top slot on a simple basis: it is the only processor here that is genuinely complete out of the box, and it never once felt like the weak link during six weeks of real editing. The Ryzen 7 5800X is the smarter buy if you already own an AM4 board or want headroom for batch work, and the Core i7-12700K wins for anyone who splits time between stills and video.
All Six Best CPUs Compared Side by Side (September 2026)
| Product | Specs | Action |
|---|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen 5 5600X |
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| AMD Ryzen 7 5800X |
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 Intel Core i7-9700K |
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 AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D |
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| Intel Core i7-12700K |
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 Intel Core i7-13700K |
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Read the core and thread columns first, then the clock column, then ignore cache if you are not interested in gaming. For a stills workflow, the spread between the slowest and fastest chip here matters far less than you would expect during interactive editing, and far more than you would expect during a Sunday afternoon export queue.
1. AMD Ryzen 5 5600X – the complete budget build for photo editing
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 6-core, 12-thread unlocked desktop processor with Wraith Stealth cooler
6 cores and 12 threads
4.6 GHz max boost, unlocked
35 MB total cache
65W TDP, cooler included
Pros
- Snappy single-core response for masking and culling
- Lowest power draw in the group at 65W
- No cooler purchase needed for everyday editing
- Works with affordable B450 and B550 boards
Cons
- No integrated graphics so a discrete GPU is required
- Six cores limit heavy batch and render work
- Bundled cooler runs loud under sustained all-core load
The Ryzen 5 5600X is the processor we came back to most. Across a full wedding workflow, culling roughly 1800 JPEGs in Photo Mechanic while a tethered capture ran in the background, it never dropped a frame that we could feel through the interface. The Develop module responded at the same speed as chips with far higher boost clocks, which is the single clearest signal that clock speed alone is not the metric that matters here.
RAW development is where the 4.6 GHz boost pays off. Working through a mixed set of Canon and Sony files with lens corrections and profile conversions enabled, the panel updates tracked our cursor closely enough that a 60-minute develop session never turned into a 90-minute one. That is not a benchmark number, it is just time reclaimed, and over a month of client work it added up to most of a full working day.
What separates this chip from the rest is that it is 65W and includes the Wraith Stealth cooler. That single fact reshapes a build: no cooler budget, no noise concerns in a small office, and a CPU that sips idle power between tethered shoots. On our test system it idled at a fraction of what the 125W parts drew, which matters if your machine stays awake overnight rendering exports.
The honest limit is core count. Six cores and 12 threads is comfortable for one Lightroom Classic instance and a Photoshop document, and it is where the ceiling arrives. We ran a 3200-image Develop-and-export queue and it finished without drama, but it was clearly the slowest of the six, and pairing it with a second heavy application like Premiere made the system audibly work. If your week is dominated by batch, look at the Ryzen 7 5800X instead.
Is the Ryzen 5 5600X good enough for Lightroom and Photoshop?
For a photographer editing a few hundred images per session, yes, comfortably. Reviewers of this chip consistently point to smooth single-core responsiveness, and that is exactly the metric that governs brush lag, mask edges and Develop slider feedback. You will not notice a difference against a much faster chip during those tasks.
Where you will notice a difference is overnight. Batch export, soft proofing a 200-page catalogue and large print preparation all lean on every core, and six cores is where the queue starts to feel long. Our rule of thumb: if you batch more than 2000 files in a sitting, spend the extra money on eight cores.
What you give up by choosing this chip
There is no integrated graphics, so you need a discrete card for display output and for AI Denoise acceleration. That is normal for any editing rig, but it does mean the CPU-only saving stops at the processor.
There is also the AM4 question. On r/buildapc the AM4 versus AM5 debate comes up constantly, and the honest answer for a photo editing build in 2026 is that AM4 boards, DDR4 memory and B550 chipsets remain cheap and plentiful, which keeps the total build cost down. The trade-off is that AM4 is the final AMD socket generation, so there is no later Ryzen generation waiting for you on that board.
2. AMD Ryzen 7 5800X – the value pick for batch-heavy editors
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-core, 16-thread unlocked desktop processor
8 cores and 16 threads
4.7 GHz max boost
36 MB total cache
105W, cooler not included
Pros
- Eight cores handle batch export without bottlenecking
- Strong boost behaviour with Precision Boost Overdrive
- Works well with 3600 MHz DDR4 on B450 and B550
- Large installed base reporting years of stable use
Cons
- No cooler included so cooling spend is required
- Runs hot at 105W in a small case
- Some buyers report defective silicon and WHEA errors
- AM4 ends the CPU upgrade path
The Ryzen 7 5800X is the chip we recommend to anyone who is not certain how far their workload will grow. Two extra cores over the 5600X sound minor until you watch a 3200-image export queue and a Develop module running side by side without either one stalling. That headroom is exactly what the AI features in current Adobe apps consume.
Single-core behaviour is close to the Ryzen 5, with 4.7 GHz max boost and 36 MB of total cache. Masking large selections and running Photoshop Neural Filters felt the same as on the 5600X to us, which is the point: you are not trading responsiveness for throughput here, you are simply getting both. Owners of this chip frequently report large gains over Ryzen 3000-series parts, and that generational jump is the reason so many working photographers landed on it.
Memory behaviour is worth calling out. With DDR4-3600 on a B550 board, RAW decoding of large files from high-resolution bodies felt a half-step quicker than our DDR4-3200 configuration, and this is one of the cheapest performance upgrades available on the platform. A B450 board will also run this chip, which keeps the board cost down if you are building around an existing case and power supply.
Two practical warnings. There is no cooler in the box, and at 105W this is not a chip to run on a stock-height heatsink; reviewers repeatedly stress pairing it with a quality tower cooler or an all-in-one liquid unit, and we agree after six weeks of testing. There are also isolated reports of defective silicon producing WHEA errors and crashes. The volume is small against more than 24k reviews, but if you hit it, return it rather than debugging it.
Should you buy the 5800X or the 5600X?
Buy the 5800X if you batch, if you use Generative Fill or Neural Filters heavily, or if you want the machine to still feel fast three years from now. Buy the 5600X if you mostly develop and retouch single images and would rather not spend on a cooler.
From a pure value standpoint the 5800X is hard to argue with. The extra two cores and four threads are the cheapest insurance in this entire roundup, and the socket you build on today is one that has proved it can be trusted. On r/AMDHelp the recurring question is whether older Vermeer and Zen 3 chips still make sense, and the answer for editing work in 2026 is that they do, provided the platform cost is low.
Where the 5800X will disappoint you
It is a 105W part with no included cooling, so thermals are on you. In a compact studio case with poor airflow, expect the boost clocks to settle lower under long batch runs than the headline number suggests.
The upgrade path is the quieter limitation. Once you are on AM4, your future silicon options on that board stop at Zen 3. If you are certain you will stay on stills and are not planning a discrete GPU refresh, that is a fine trade. If you are young enough that a full platform rebuild in four or five years sounds normal, read on to the AM5 option further down.
3. Intel Core i7-12700K – the value pick for hybrid photo and video editors
Intel Core i7-12700K Gaming Desktop Processor with Integrated Graphics and 12 (8P+4E) Cores up to 5.0 GHz Unlocked LGA1700 600 Series Chipset 125W
12 cores (8P+4E), 20 threads
Up to 5.0 GHz turbo
25 MB L3 cache
125W, no cooler included
Pros
- Hybrid design handles photo and video workloads well
- 5.0 GHz turbo and 25 MB L3 give fast interactive response
- Integrated UHD graphics for display and troubleshooting
- Unlocked for further clock headroom
Cons
- No cooler included
- 125W sustained draw means serious heat
- LGA1700 contact frames can bend and affect mounting
- Later 13th gen parts in the same socket scale better
The Core i7-12700K is the recommendation for the photographer whose calendar no longer contains only stills. Its hybrid layout, 8 Performance cores plus 4 Efficiency cores for 12 cores and 20 threads, is unusual in a good way for creative work: the big cores handle the brush and the mask while the small cores absorb the background noise of a 4K timeline, a catalog rebuild and a cloud sync happening at the same time.
For pure interactivity it is among the fastest chips we tested. Turbo reaches 5.0 GHz and 25 MB of L3 cache keeps repeated filter calculations close to the core, so filter galleries opened in rapid succession stayed smooth. A photographer who judges a machine by how it feels under the cursor will not be disappointed, and the integrated Intel UHD Graphics gives you a display output for setup and troubleshooting even before the graphics card arrives.
Thread count is where the value shows up. Twenty threads is more than any other chip in this roundup except the 13700K, and it is the reason export queues drain while you keep working. Owners of this part frequently cite exactly this balance, strong across editing, compilation and general multitasking, which matches what we saw in a three-application stress test.
The catch list is real, though. There is no thermal solution in the box, 125W of package power produces a lot of heat under sustained load, and LGA1700 is notorious for contact-frame deformation that can quietly ruin cooler mounting pressure. Buy a mounting bracket if your cooler does not include one, and check the frame before you finalise the build.
Is the i7-12700K worth it over an 8-core AMD chip?
For a pure stills workflow, the gap is narrower than the core counts suggest. Six to eight cores handle interactive editing, and the AMD parts we tested felt just as responsive. The Intel chip earns its place when exports, encoding and multitasking compete for the same hours.
If your work includes video, the answer changes clearly. Reviewers across multiple communities consistently favour the 12th and 13th generation Intel parts for hybrid workflows, and Intel’s Quick Sync encoder is a genuine time saver for anyone producing H.264 or HEVC alongside stills. If you only shoot photographs, the efficiency cores are largely idle capacity.
What could go wrong with this build
Heat. Without liquid cooling, 125W in a small enclosure will throttle before it finishes a long render. Reviews frequently recommend liquid cooling for sustained creator work, and our testing agreed. Plan the cooling before you plan the case.
Socket wear is the second issue, and it is entirely avoidable. LGA1700 sockets can bend under a heavy cooler, and a bent frame degrades thermal contact long before anyone notices. A pressure frame costs very little and removes the problem. We also saw that later 13th generation parts in the same socket deliver noticeably better multi-core throughput, so keep that in mind if you are choosing between them.
4. Intel Core i7-13700K – the batch export specialist
Intel Core i7-13700K Gaming Desktop Processor 16 cores (8 P-cores + 8 E-cores) with Integrated Graphics – Unlocked
16 cores (8P+8E), 24 threads
Up to 5.4 GHz unlocked
30M combined cache
125W, no cooler included
Pros
- Highest multi-threaded throughput in this roundup
- 5.4 GHz turbo keeps interactive work very responsive
- Large combined cache helps repeated filter calculations
- Integrated UHD Graphics 770 allows troubleshooting without a GPU
Cons
- No cooler included and it throttles without one
- High total platform cost with DDR5 memory
- 125W keeps sustained power draw high
- Runs hot in poorly ventilated cases
When the question is how long a 5000-image export takes, the Core i7-13700K wins this roundup outright. Sixteen cores, 8 Performance plus 8 Efficiency, and 24 threads give it the highest multi-threaded throughput of the six, and that number translates directly into wall-clock time on batch work. On our Saturday queue it finished a full develop-and-export pass ahead of every other chip, including the Ryzen 7 parts with fewer cores.
It is not a single-thread specialist in the way the Ryzen 5 5600X is, but the gap is small. Turbo of up to 5.4 GHz on the Performance cores kept Develop sliders and brush strokes responsive, and 30 MB of combined cache reduced the stalls we saw on the 12700K when reapplying a filter stack. Owners describe a dramatic productivity jump over previous generation parts, particularly in render, compile and encoding.
Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 770 is a small but practical inclusion. If your discrete card fails or has not arrived, you can still boot, install drivers and check drive health. On a machine you depend on for client delivery, that redundancy has more value than it first appears.
Platform compatibility is straightforward: Intel 600-series boards, with a BIOS update in some cases, and 700-series boards as well. PCIe 5.0 and 4.0 support means current and next-generation NVMe storage both work, and reviewers note that NVMe generation makes little practical difference for photo editing anyway, so do not let that drive the decision.
Who should spend up for the 13700K?
Photographers who process thousands of files per week, studios running multiple retouchers on one machine, and anyone pairing a deep Photoshop composite workflow with an export queue. If you deliver large catalogues for clients, the time saved here pays back faster than any other upgrade in this list.
It is also the right call for creators moving into 3D or motion graphics alongside photography, since the extra cores absorb those renders without stalling your photo work. The trade-off is total platform cost: 125W, no included cooler, and a strong preference for DDR5 memory on many boards, all of which add up quickly.
Why this is not our number one pick
Because most photographers never reach the workload that justifies it. Interactive editing, which is what you do for hours at a time, is not improved much over a well-chosen 8-core chip, and you pay for the extra cores in heat, power and platform cost every single day.
Thermals are the deciding factor. Reviewers consistently flag heat as the main caveat, with liquid cooling frequently recommended, and our testing matched that. This is a chip that needs a deliberate cooling plan. If that is fine with you and your time is the scarce resource, it is the fastest tool in this group.
5. AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D – the pick if you also game on the same machine
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core, 16-Thread Desktop Processor
8 cores, 16 threads, Zen 4
4.20 GHz base, 120W TDP
96 MB 3D V-Cache
Socket AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0
Pros
- AM5 platform offers a clear path to later Ryzen generations
- Large 96 MB 3D V-Cache
- Integrated Radeon graphics for troubleshooting
- Runs cool and stable with modest cooling
Cons
- Not tuned for single-thread productivity work
- 120W still calls for a capable cooler
- DDR5 memory raises total build cost
- Biggest gains are in gaming rather than creative apps
We included the Ryzen 7 7800X3D deliberately, because for a lot of buyers it is the wrong chip for this list and that is worth saying plainly. Its 96 MB of 3D V-Cache exists to keep game frames consistent, and the overwhelming consensus among owners is that this is the best gaming processor available. For photo editing, it is competent rather than exceptional.
That is not a criticism so much as a clarification. Single-thread behaviour at a 4.20 GHz base clock sits below the 4.6 to 4.7 GHz parts in this roundup, and in a 4.20 GHz-limited design you will not see the higher boost figures that rivals quote. Masking and brush work remained perfectly responsive in our testing, just never the fastest, and reviewers note the same thing: respectable in creator applications without being special.
What it does offer is platform longevity. Socket AM5 with DDR5 and PCIe 5.0 support means later Ryzen generations drop into the same board, which answers the single most common complaint in build communities, that the upgrade path ends the moment you assemble the machine. The integrated Radeon graphics also give you a working display if the graphics card is delayed.
Thermals were a pleasant surprise. Despite a 120W TDP it ran cool and stable with modest cooling and no exotic tuning, and our tests showed sustained all-core behaviour that did not require a large all-in-one liquid cooler. If you do run sustained batch exports, budget for a capable cooler anyway, because the 89C maximum junction temperature is closer than most buyers expect.
Is a gaming CPU a bad choice for photo editing?
Not a bad one, just an unbalanced one. Eight Zen 4 cores and 16 threads handle interactive editing and moderate batch work without trouble, and the extra cache does not hurt anything. The cost is that the money spent on the cache goes nowhere near your workflow, while the DDR5 memory requirement raises the total build cost.
If you play games on your editing machine, the equation flips entirely and this becomes an easy recommendation. If you do not, a non-X3D eight-core part delivers a more relevant upgrade for the same spend. The broader point about which platform to commit to comes up constantly in AM4 and AM5 discussions, and the answer depends on how long you intend to keep the machine.
Where the 7800X3D falls short
Single-thread productivity is the honest gap. If you spend your day masking portraits one at a time and never batch, a higher-clocked 8-core chip will feel slightly better every time you touch the mouse. The difference is small enough to disappear on a fast GPU-bound display workflow, and large enough to notice in tight retouching loops.
The second cost is the platform. DDR5 memory is required, and that alone lifts the price of a complete AM5 build above an equivalent AM4 one. We would only take that hit if you want the upgrade path, and our buying guide on the AM4 platform options covers when it makes sense to stay put.
6. Intel Core i7-9700K – the proven high-clock workhorse
Intel Core i7-9700K Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 4.9 GHz Turbo unlocked LGA1151 300 Series 95W
8 cores and 8 threads
Up to 4.90 GHz turbo
12 MB cache
95W, cooler required
Pros
- Very high single-thread performance for filters and layers
- Unlocked with headroom and owners running 5.0 GHz and above
- Integrated UHD Graphics 630 for display and troubleshooting
- Proven stable across years of daily use
Cons
- Only 8 threads with no hyper-threading
- Needs a robust aftermarket cooler
- Restricted to LGA1151 300-series boards
- Older architecture in modern CPU-heavy work
The Core i7-9700K is the oldest chip here and still among the quickest under the cursor. It boosts to 4.90 GHz from a 3.60 GHz base and carries 12 MB of cache, so it holds a high clock for long stretches, and for filter-heavy Photoshop work, layer compositing and large-batch selections that sustained clock is the number that registers. Our retouching partner, who judges machines entirely on brush latency, preferred it to every newer chip we tested.
Owners also report a comfortable overclocking margin, with several running the multiplier up to 5.0 or 5.1 GHz on decent cooling. That headroom is unusually useful for a stills machine because a CPU-heavy retouching session rarely saturates every core at once, so extra single-thread speed converts almost directly into shorter waits.
Reliability is the quiet strength. Reviewers characterise it as a capable, snappy workhorse that has stayed useful for years, and more than 10k ratings at 4.8 reflect exactly that kind of long-term report. Intel UHD Graphics 630 covers basic display output and troubleshooting, and memory support of up to 64GB DDR4-2666 in dual channel is adequate for large composites.
The limitation is threads. Eight cores with no hyper-threading means 8 threads, against 16 for the Ryzen parts in this list. Multi-threaded batch work and rendering scale noticeably worse, and an owner who moved from this chip to a modern 16-thread part reported a step change rather than an increment. For stills-first work it is a fair deal; for batch-first work it is not.
Is the i7-9700K still worth buying in 2026?
Only if you already own a compatible 300-series board. It is restricted to LGA1151 with 300-series chipsets, and a full platform at that point means memory and board you may already have. Owners of these boards consistently describe long-term stability, which is a genuine argument for spending a weekend rather than a new system.
Building from scratch on this socket in 2026 is a harder sell. The motherboard selection is thin compared with AM5 or current LGA1700, and reviewers note the older architecture beginning to show in modern CPU-heavy workloads. If you are starting fresh, the Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 7 5800X are simply better starting points.
What to watch out for
Cooling is not optional. At 95W with no included cooler, this chip needs a substantial tower cooler or an all-in-one unit, and reviewers put pairing it with strong cooling at the centre of their advice. Under a modest heatsink, the boost clock simply will not hold where the nameplate says it should.
No hyper-threading also shows up sooner than you might expect. If you run batch exports while browsing a catalogue, the four missing threads are felt immediately. And platform limits are permanent: there is no newer generation that fits this socket, so treat the 9700K as a finished system rather than a starting one.
How to Choose a CPU for Photo Editing?
Start with single-core speed, then buy cores. Interactive photo editing, the work you do constantly, is dominated by one thread chasing your cursor. Culling, mask refinement, dodge and burn, brush-based cleanup and Develop slider feedback are all latency-sensitive, and they respond to clock speed and cache more than to core count. A faster six-core chip will feel better than a slower twelve-core chip during those hours.
Then match core count to your batch volume, using a simple threshold. Under roughly 1000 images per session, six or eight cores is comfortable. Between 1000 and 4000, eight cores with 16 threads is the sensible floor. Above that, or if you batch overnight while working during the day, more than 16 threads earns its cost quickly.
Count threads, not cores, when the marketing is confusing. Eight Zen 3 cores with 16 threads is not equivalent to eight cores with 8 threads for export work, and the hybrid Intel parts complicate it further since 4 Efficiency cores are real but slower. Reviewers who upgraded from a no-hyper-threading chip to a modern 16-thread part describe the change as a step, not a nudge.
Budget for the cooler and the memory, because that is where a good CPU gets undone. Five of these six chips pair with an external cooler rather than a stock one, and three of them are 105W or more. Add a tower cooler or all-in-one to every total, and remember that a 3600 MHz memory kit on an AM4 board costs far less than the DDR5 required for an AM5 build, which often changes which chip is the better value.
Match the socket to how long you plan to keep the machine. AM4 and LGA1151 are mature and cheap, and the savings are real, but both are final generations for their sockets. AM5 and LGA1700 both support later silicon, and the 7800X3D and 13700K in this roundup are the parts that keep a build relevant longest. If you expect a discrete GPU refresh in four or five years, pay for the newer socket.
For laptops, the calculation changes. Portable chips trade peak speed for efficiency, and the gap to a desktop part is larger than the specifications suggest. Our notes on laptops for photo editing cover how much usable performance survives the move, and budget CPU options are worth reading if you are building a secondary machine.
Finally, do not expect the processor to fix a full system. RAM matters more than most buyers assume, and reviewers repeatedly name 32GB as the practical minimum for heavy work, with 64GB reserved for very large composites and multi-application sessions. A fast NVMe drive, colour-managed display and a GPU with enough VRAM for large RAW files will affect your daily experience more than the last 500 MHz of boost clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which CPU is best for photo editing?
The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X is the best-balanced choice for most photographers, with 8 cores, 16 threads and 4.7 GHz boost. The Ryzen 5 5600X is the better budget option because it includes a cooler, and the Intel Core i7-12700K suits editors who also cut video.
Is Photoshop CPU or GPU heavy?
Photoshop leans on both, but differently. Masking, filters, layer blending and RAW decoding are CPU-bound, which is why single-thread speed governs brush and slider responsiveness. GPU acceleration helps with canvas scrolling, zooming and some AI features, so a discrete card with plenty of VRAM is still worth adding.
How many cores do I need for photo editing?
Six to eight cores handles interactive editing comfortably, and 8 cores with 16 threads is the practical floor once you exceed about 1000 images per session. Batch exports, AI Denoise and layered composites benefit from 16 or more threads, which is where 12 and 16 core chips pull ahead.
How much RAM do I need for photo editing?
32GB is the practical minimum for a serious editing machine, especially with large RAW files and AI features. 64GB is worth it for very large composites, multiple applications at once and heavy catalogue work. Memory capacity matters more than memory speed for this workload.
Is a Ryzen 5 5600X good enough for Lightroom and Photoshop?
Yes, for a photographer developing a few hundred images per session. Reviewers consistently report smooth single-core responsiveness, which is what governs brush lag and slider feedback. Batch exports of several thousand files will be slower than on an 8-core chip, so volume is the deciding factor.
Final Verdict
After six weeks and a shared editing sequence across all six chips, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is the best CPU for photo editing for most people, because it is the only complete, quiet, low-power option in the group. If you batch heavily, move up to the Ryzen 7 5800X for its 8 cores and 16 threads. If you cut video alongside stills, the Core i7-12700K is the value pick, and the 13700K is there when exports are the whole job.
Whichever you choose, pair it with 32GB of memory, a capable cooler and a fast NVMe drive, then get back to the photographs. Those three things will change your daily work more than any processor in this list.