ChipFlip
Just $25.99 separates a used Core i7-12700K from a used Core i7-13700KF, $219 against $244.99. One generation apart, same "i7" badge, same core-heavy hybrid design. At a gap this small, the usual question flips: not "is it worth more," but "is there any reason not to pay it."
The core counts aren't actually identical
Both chips use Intel's hybrid performance-plus-efficiency core layout, but the 13700KF packs more E-cores onto the die than the 12700K. That's a real, measurable jump in multi-threaded throughput, not a marketing footnote. If you run anything that scales across many threads, rendering, compiling, heavily multitasked workloads, the 13700KF pulls ahead by a real margin.
What the missing "F" costs you here
None of it costs anything, because the 12700K already has integrated graphics and the 13700KF doesn't. If you're comparing these two for a build with a discrete GPU already locked in, that difference is irrelevant. It only matters if you'd ever want the fallback of onboard graphics, in which case the 12700K keeps that option and the 13700KF doesn't.
Gaming performance is close either way
At this tier, both chips are well past the point where a GPU becomes the actual bottleneck in most games. The multi-threaded gap matters far more for production and multitasking workloads than it does for gaming frame rates, where the two land close enough that other parts of your build matter more.
Bottom line
At $25.99 apart, the 13700KF's extra multi-threaded headroom is worth it for anyone doing production work, and the price gap is too small to be a real deciding factor either way. Only pick the 12700K if you specifically want the integrated graphics fallback.