Intel's new Adaptive Boost technology will allow the Rocket Lake S Core i9-11900K and 11900KF to hit 5.1 GHz on all eight cores

Intel recently unveiled a new, exclusive clock boosting technology for its top-tier Rocket Lake S Core i9-11900K and i9-11900KF, called Adaptive Boost. Adaptive Boost will work alongside Turbo Boost and Thermal Velocity Boost. When temperatures are below 70 degrees, Adaptive Boost will help the top-tier Rocket Lake S silicon hit 5.1 GHz on all cores, and up to 5.3 GHz on two cores. 

This would mean that the i9-11900K will be able to manage significantly better all-core boost clocks than the i7-11700K, without any "actual" overclocking. If a great cooling solution is in place, the i9-11900K will potentially hit 5.1 GHz on all cores with no additional tweaking. 

The i7-11700K hits just 4.6 GHz on all cores, which is a bit lower than the Comet Lake S i7-10700K. Rocket Lake S's IPC improvements weren't quite enough to translate into meaningful gains in gaming workloads, with Comet Lake occasionally beating out the newer part. On the other hand, a 5.1 GHz all-core clock could give the 11900K the edge it needs. Considering the fact that it's an eight-core part replacing the 10-core i9-10900K, Adaptive Boost becomes even more important to close the gap.