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Intel Core i5-10600K vs Intel Core i9-10900K

Intel Core i5-10600K

► remove from comparison Intel i5-10600K

The Intel Core i5-10600K is a mid-range processor for desktops with six cores based on the Comet Lake architecture (CML-S, 4th generation of Skylake). The processor clocks at between 4.1 and 4.8 GHz and can execute up to twelfe threads simultaneously thanks to Hyper-Threading. 

The processor is still manufactured in the old 14nm (14nm++) process. Thanks to the free multiplicator, the CPU can also be easily overclocked (but may not have much headroom).

The Comet Lake architecture is similar to Coffee Lake and offers the same features and is produced in the same 14nm process. Other than the improved clock rates, the memory controller now also supports faster DDR4-2933 RAM. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

Performance

Thanks to the high clock speeds (and possible TDP settings with most mainboards), the Core i5-10600K offers a similar speed than the old Core i7-9700K quad core. Compared to current AMD offerings, the multi-core performance is on par with a Ryzen 5 3600, single core and gaming performance with a faster Ryzen 9 3900.

Graphics

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 iGPU is supposed to offer a similar performance as the UHD630 in the Core i7-9900K. As a  low-end solution it will only run current games smoothly at reduced details - if at all.

Power Consumption

Intel specifies the TDP with 125 Watts (PL1) but under full load up to 250 Watt are consumed (PL2). In default mode these 250 Watt and therefore high clock speeds can be maintained for up to 56 seconds, however, all boards offer the option to alter these settings.

Intel Core i9-10900K

► remove from comparison Intel i9-10900K

The Intel Core i9-10900K is a high-end processor for desktops with ten cores based on the Comet Lake architecture (CML-S, 4th generation of Skylake). The processor clocks at between 3.7 and 5.3 GHz (all 10 cores up to 4.8 GHz) and can execute up to twenty threads simultaneously thanks to Hyper-Threading. The 5.3 GHz can be only achieved below 70°C core temperature (Thermal Velocity Boost of 100 MHz).

The processor is still manufactured in the old 14nm (14nm++) process. Compared to the predecessor, the Core i9-9900K, the 10900K offers increased clock speeds and two more cores. Thanks to the free multiplicator, the CPU can also be easily overclocked (but may not have much headroom).

The Comet Lake architecture is similar to Coffee Lake and offers the same features and is produced in the same 14nm process. Other than the improved clock rates, the memory controller now also supports faster DDR4-2933 RAM. More information on Comet Lake and all the models and articles on it can be found here.

Performance

Thanks to the high Turbo Boost, the CPU is the fastest gaming CPU available at the time of announcement. Using all cores, the i9 however is slower than the top Ryzen CPUs (like the Ryzen 9 3950X) which offer more cores.

Graphics

The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 iGPU is supposed to offer a similar performance as the UHD630 in the Core i7-9900K. As a  low-end solution it will only run current games smoothly at reduced details - if at all.

Power Consumption

Intel specifies the TDP with 125 Watts (PL1) but under full load up to 250 Watt are consumed (PL2). In default mode these 250 Watt and therefore high clock speeds can be maintained for up to 56 seconds, however, all boards offer the option to alter these settings.

ModelIntel Core i5-10600KIntel Core i9-10900K
SeriesIntel Comet LakeIntel Comet Lake
CodenameComet LakeComet Lake
Series: Comet Lake Comet Lake
Intel Core i9-10900K3.7 - 5.3 GHz10 / 20 cores20 MB L3
Intel Core i7-10700K compare3.8 - 5.1 GHz8 / 16 cores16 MB L3
Intel Core i7-10700 compare2.9 - 4.8 GHz8 / 16 cores16 MB L3
Intel Core i5-10600K « 4.1 - 4.8 GHz6 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-10400F compare2.9 - 4.3 GHz6 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i3-10100F compare3.6 - 4.3 GHz4 / 8 cores6 MB L3
Intel Core i9-10900K « 3.7 - 5.3 GHz10 / 20 cores20 MB L3
Intel Core i7-10700K compare3.8 - 5.1 GHz8 / 16 cores16 MB L3
Intel Core i7-10700 compare2.9 - 4.8 GHz8 / 16 cores16 MB L3
Intel Core i5-10600K4.1 - 4.8 GHz6 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i5-10400F compare2.9 - 4.3 GHz6 / 12 cores12 MB L3
Intel Core i3-10100F compare3.6 - 4.3 GHz4 / 8 cores6 MB L3
Clock4100 - 4800 MHz3700 - 5300 MHz
L1 Cache384 KB640 KB
L2 Cache1.5 MB2.5 MB
L3 Cache12 MB20 MB
Cores / Threads6 / 1210 / 20
TDP125 Watt125 Watt
Technology14 nm14 nm
max. Temp.100 °C100 °C
SocketLGA1200LGA1200
FeaturesDDR4-2666 RAM, PCIe 3, 8 GT/s bus, vPro, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX2, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, VMX, SMX, SMEP, SMAP, MPX, EIST, TM1, TM2, HT, Turbo, SST, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SGXDDR4-2933 RAM, PCIe 3, 8 GT/s bus, vPro, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX, AVX, BMI2, ABM, FMA, ADX, VMX, SMX, SMEP, SMAP, MPX, EIST, TM1, TM2, HT, Turbo, SST, AES-NI, RDRAND, RDSEED, SGX
iGPUIntel UHD Graphics 630 (350 - 1200 MHz)Intel UHD Graphics 630 (350 - 1200 MHz)
Architecturex86x86
$262 U.S.$488 U.S.
Announced
Manufacturerark.intel.comark.intel.com

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - CB R15 + R20 + 7-Zip + X265 + Blender + 3DM11 CPU - i5-10600K
35.1 pt (49%)
Performance Rating - CB R15 + R20 + 7-Zip + X265 + Blender + 3DM11 CPU - i9-10900K
40.4 pt (56%)
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Multi Core
10475 Points (10%)
15821 Points (15%)
Cinebench R23 - Cinebench R23 Single Core
1385 Points (59%)
1374 Points (58%)
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Single Core)
464 Points (52%)
min: 493     avg: 516     median: 524 (58%)     max: 532 Points
Cinebench R20 - Cinebench R20 CPU (Multi Core)
3443 Points (8%)
min: 5825     avg: 6129     median: 6181 (15%)     max: 6381 Points
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64 Bit
1452 Points (9%)
min: 2513     avg: 2555     median: 2533 (16%)     max: 2620 Points
Cinebench R15 - Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64 Bit
205 Points (62%)
min: 206     avg: 215.7     median: 217 (65%)     max: 224 Points
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 CPU Multi 64 Bit
15.8 Points (21%)
29 Points (38%)
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 CPU Single 64 Bit
2.2 Points (54%)
2.6 Points (64%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Single (32bit)
7343 Points (44%)
8127 Points (49%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (32bit)
40074 Points (29%)
59368 Points (43%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Multi (64bit)
51816 Points (36%)
80495 Points (56%)
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Rend. Single (64bit)
9594 Points (12%)
10625 Points (13%)
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 1024m *
113.2 s (1%)
66.3 s (1%)
wPrime 2.10 - wPrime 2.0 32m *
4.6 s (1%)
3.6 s (1%)
WinRAR - WinRAR 4.0
6536 Points (10%)
9739 Points (15%)
7-Zip 18.03 - 7-Zip 18.03 Multli Thread 4 runs
40379 MIPS (23%)
min: 67252     avg: 69402     median: 69987 (40%)     max: 70968 MIPS
7-Zip 18.03 - 7-Zip 18.03 Single Thread 4 runs
5289 MIPS (63%)
min: 5349     avg: 5705     median: 5811 (69%)     max: 5954 MIPS
X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 - x264 Pass 2
88.2 fps (31%)
149 fps (52%)
X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 - x264 Pass 1
251.5 fps (58%)
289.5 fps (67%)
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 - HWBOT x265 4k Preset
12.2 fps (21%)
min: 18.2     avg: 19.7     median: 19.8 (35%)     max: 21 fps
TrueCrypt - TrueCrypt Serpent
0.8 GB/s (0%)
1.5 GB/s (0%)
TrueCrypt - TrueCrypt Twofish
1.4 GB/s (24%)
2.6 GB/s (45%)
TrueCrypt - TrueCrypt AES
8 GB/s (21%)
14.6 GB/s (38%)
Blender - Blender 2.79 BMW27 CPU *
302.4 Seconds (2%)
min: 167.3     avg: 178.8     median: 179 (1%)     max: 190 Seconds
R Benchmark 2.5 - R Benchmark 2.5 *
0.6 sec (13%)
min: 0.528     avg: 0.5     median: 0.5 (11%)     max: 0.567 sec
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 1M *
7.8 s (2%)
7.2 s (2%)
Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 2M *
17.5 s (1%)
16 s (1%)
Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 32M - Super Pi mod 1.5 XS 32M *
438.7 s (2%)
403.4 s (2%)
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Physics
15961 Points (43%)
min: 20541     avg: 21539     median: 21935 (59%)     max: 22140 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Physics
68275 Points (55%)
74951 Points (61%)
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme Physics
68908 Points (56%)
75063 Points (61%)
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited Physics
70668 Points (60%)
76898 Points (65%)
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Physics
13014 Points (33%)
min: 19766     avg: 20118     median: 20117.5 (51%)     max: 20469 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Physics
20040 Points (36%)
min: 29145     avg: 29466     median: 29447 (53%)     max: 29805 Points
3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy CPU
8290 Points (35%)
min: 13028     avg: 13470     median: 13056 (55%)     max: 14326 Points
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Single-Core
1286 Points (54%)
min: 1336     avg: 1404     median: 1428 (60%)     max: 1449 Points
Geekbench 5.5 - Geekbench 5.1 - 5.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
7248 Points (13%)
min: 10725     avg: 11177     median: 11393 (20%)     max: 11414 Points
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Single-Core
1281 Points (6%)
min: 1330     avg: 1385     median: 1385 (6%)     max: 1440 Points
Geekbench 5.0 - Geekbench 5.0 64 Bit Multi-Core
7237 Points (23%)
min: 10714     avg: 11061     median: 11060.5 (35%)     max: 11407 Points
Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Single-Core
5821 Points (58%)
min: 5904     avg: 6126     median: 6126 (61%)     max: 6348 Points
Geekbench 4.4 - Geekbench 4.1 - 4.4 64 Bit Multi-Core
28391 Points (32%)
min: 40236     avg: 41647     median: 41647 (46%)     max: 43058 Points
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Kraken 1.1 Total Score *
760 ms (1%)
min: 709     avg: 720     median: 721 (1%)     max: 729 ms
WebXPRT 3 - WebXPRT 3 Score
239 Points (50%)
min: 243     avg: 251     median: 255 (53%)     max: 255 Points
Power Consumption - Prime95 Power Consumption - external Monitor *
204.4 Watt (35%)
275.7 Watt (48%)
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Consumption - external Monitor *
172.5 Watt (31%)
268.5 Watt (49%)
Power Consumption - Cinebench R15 Multi Power Efficiency - external Monitor
8.4 Points per Watt (6%)
9.8 Points per Watt (7%)

Average Benchmarks Intel Core i5-10600K → 100% n=43

Average Benchmarks Intel Core i9-10900K → 132% n=43

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)