Intel Core i5-8600K vs Apple M3 Max 14-Core
Intel Core i5-8600K
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The Intel Core i5-8600K is a high-end desktop processor with six cores based on the Coffee Lake architecture and was announced in September 2017. The processor clocks at between 3.6 and 4.3 GHz and can execute up to six threads simultaneously (no HyperThreading). According to Intel, the CPU is manufactured in an improved 14nm (14nm++) process. The i5-8600K is comparatively easy to overclock thanks to the unlocked multiplier.
Performance
Due to the two additional cores, performance has increased significantly compared to the Core i7-7700K when all cores are in use. Single-core performance has not improved since its Kaby Lake predecessor. As a high-end model, the i5-8600K is suitable for the most demanding applications and games.
Graphics
The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 iGPU is basically identical to the previous generation Intel HD Graphics 630. Only some low demanding games are playable with this graphics card (see GPU page linked above).
Power Consumption
Intel specifies the TDP with 95 watts. Therefore, well-dimensioned cooling systems should easily manage to deal with the created heat. We expect increased efficiency due to the higher performance.
Apple M3 Max 14-Core
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The Apple M3 Max 14 core CPU is a system on a chip (SoC) from Apple for notebooks that was introduced towards the end of 2023. It integrates a new 14-core CPU with 10 performance cores with up to 4.06 GHz and 4 efficiency cores with 2.8 GHz. There is also a more powerful 16-core variant with 40 GPU cores.
Thanks to the higher clock rates and architectural improvements, the processor performance is also significantly better than the M2 Max in benchmarks and can keep up with the fastest mobile CPUs.
The M3 also integrates a new graphics card with dynamic caching, mesh shading and ray tracing acceleration via hardware. In the cheaper model, 30 of the chip's 40 cores are used and support up to 5 displays simultaneously (internal and 4 external).
GPU and CPU can jointly access the shared memory on the package (unified memory). This is available in 36 and 96 GB variants and offers 400 GB/s maximum bandwidth (512 bit bus).
The integrated 16-core Neural Engine has also been revised and now offers 18 TOPS peak performance (compared to 15.8 TOPS in the M2 but 35 TOPS in the new A17 Pro). The video engine now also supports AV1 decoding in hardware. H.264, HEVC and ProRes (RAW) can still be decoded and encoded. Like its predecessor, the Max chip offers two video engines and can therefore encode and decode two streams simultaneously.
Unfortunately, the integrated WLAN only continues to support WiFi 6E (no WiFi 7), unlike the small M3 SoC thunderbolt 4 is also supported (max 40 Gbit/s).
The chip is manufactured in the current 3nm process (N3B) at TSMC and contains 92 billion transistors (+37% vs. Apple M2 Max).
| Model | Intel Core i5-8600K | Apple M3 Max 14-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Codename | Coffee Lake-S | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series | Intel Coffee Lake | Apple M3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series: M3 |
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| Clock | 3600 - 4300 MHz | 2748 - 4056 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L1 Cache | 384 KB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L2 Cache | 1.5 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| L3 Cache | 9 MB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cores / Threads | 6 / 6 | 14 / 14 10 x 4.1 GHz Apple M3 P-Core 4 x 2.7 GHz Apple M3 E-Core | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TDP | 95 Watt | 78 Watt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology | 14 nm | 3 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Socket | FCLGA1151 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Features | Dual-Channel DDR3(L)-1600/DDR4-2666 Memory Controller, HyperThreading, AVX, AVX2, AES-NI, TSX-NI, Quick Sync, Virtualization, vPro | ARMv8 Instruction Set | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| iGPU | Intel UHD Graphics 630 (350 - 1150 MHz) | Apple M3 Max 30-Core GPU | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Architecture | x86 | ARM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announced | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | ark.intel.com | www.apple.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transistors | 92000 Million |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks Intel Core i5-8600K → 0% n=0
Average Benchmarks Apple M3 Max 14-Core → 0% n=0
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
