When Intel declared their ninth Gen Core i9-9900K was the world’s quickest gaming CPU on the finish of 2018, it got here at an astronomical price. £600 / $580 was the asking value for the best gaming CPU cash may purchase on the time, which at present may get you a whole RTX 2080 Super GPU. Thankfully, Intel have reined within the pricing for his or her brand-new crop of 10th Gen desktop CPUs, with their flagship Core i9-10900Ok receiving one of many greatest value cuts throughout all the Comet Lake household. It will nonetheless set you again a sizeable $488 within the US (UK pricing TBC), however with its closest AMD rival, the Ryzen 9 3900X, coming in slightly below it at $440 at time of writing, it does no less than look extra aggressive than it was a technology in the past.
Indeed, a cursory look on the i9-10900Ok’s headline specs – its 10 cores, 20 threads and 14nm manufacturing course of – may make it seem to be Intel’s newest and best is already a bit outdated hat in comparison with 12 cores and 24 threads of the 7nm Ryzen 9 3900X. And in some respects it’s. AMD nonetheless have the quickest CPU for juggling a number of multimedia duties, however by way of uncooked gaming efficiency, the Core i9-10900Ok is in a category of its personal, blazing previous its AMD rival with frames to spare. It is, no doubt, one of the best gaming CPU you should purchase proper now.
Clock velocity has been an enormous focus for Intel’s 10th Gen Comet Lake CPUs, and nowhere is that this extra prevalent than the Core i9-10900Ok. While the Core i9-9900Ok ushered in an period of achievable 5.0GHz increase speeds, the Core i9-10900Ok goes even additional by pushing that up to an enormous 5.3GHz. This is right down to Intel’s Thermal Velocity Boost know-how, which robotically permits the Core i9-10900Ok to transcend its regular Turbo Boost velocity when there’s sufficient thermal headroom.
I ought to notice that you simply’re in all probability not going to see that high velocity of 5.3GHz plenty of the time, as Intel’s Thermal Velocity Boost tech solely kicks in throughout very particular situations. You want model 1909 of Windows 10, for starters, and Intel’s testing steering additionally states that the CPU’s temperature should stay beneath 70 levels Celsius as nicely. Liquid cooling is due to this fact a should, as common tower coolers simply gained’t minimize it. However, even you then’re unlikely to get a lot profit when enjoying games, as duties which require a couple of core will see that high velocity fall to 4.9GHz.
That’s nonetheless fairly nippy in comparison with the Ryzen 9 3900X’s max increase velocity of 4.6GHz, but it surely does come at a value: energy. Whereas the Core i9-9900Ok had a thermal design level (TDP) of 95W and the 3900X had one in all 105W, Intel’s Comet Lake successor raises that quantity to a substantial 125W. As a outcome, you’re additionally going to want a comparatively beefy energy provide at your disposal, too – and possibly one with two energy connectors to benefit from your accompanying 400-series motherboard as nicely, which is the one chipset that’s appropriate with Intel’s 10th Gen Comet Lake CPUs proper now as a consequence of their new LGA-1200 sockets. That’s proper. Another technology of Intel desktop CPUs gained’t be appropriate along with your current motherboard. Again.
Admittedly, I solely ever noticed a high velocity of round 5.04GHz once I fired up Cinebench’s R20 single core benchmark on the Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master motherboard Intel despatched me for evaluate, and that was with the proper model of Windows 10 put in, my 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro RAM clocked at its high XMP profile of 4000MHz, and Corsair’s H150i RGB Pro XT all-in-one liquid cooler retaining the i9-10900Ok’s temperature at a positively cool 50-odd levels. Perhaps my SSD was letting me down, or maybe it was the shortage of a second energy connector on my PSU. It’s laborious to say. There will, nevertheless, be a brand new model of Intel’s Extreme Tuning Utility software coming quickly, although, and I’ll be placing the Core i9-10900Ok by some additional testing as soon as it’s correctly accessible to see precisely what’s attainable once you begin overclocking it.
Hoping to reuse your current motherboard for Intel’s Comet Lake CPUs? Alas, Intel’s launched a brand new LGA1200 socket for his or her next-gen CPUs, that means the Core i9-10900Ok (left) gained’t be appropriate with the identical motherboards because the Core i9-9900Ok (proper).
Still, even with out these headline-grabbing speeds in proof, the Core i9-10900Ok nonetheless makes for a positively stonking gaming CPU, kicking AMD’s Ryzen 9 3900X into the center of subsequent week. Of course, as I’ve talked about in earlier CPU evaluations, testing a processor’s gaming efficiency remains to be a little bit of a tough endeavor, as plenty of in-game benchmarks both don’t check your CPU correctly or simply aren’t very correct within the first place. Fortunately, a handful of gaming benchmarks have gotten loads higher at this not too long ago, with the likes of Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, Forza Horizon 4, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and the Total War games all offering an in-depth have a look at your CPU’s efficiency in addition to what your graphics card is doing.
However, as you might have surmised already, there are different components that may have an effect on your CPU’s gaming efficiency as nicely, equivalent to your graphics card, the kind of RAM you’ve obtained and the kind of storage you’ve obtained your games put in on. I’ve tried to mitigate these issues as a lot as attainable by utilizing a WD Black 3D NAND NVMe SSD for my games storage in addition to at present’s greatest graphics card, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. As for my RAM, I’ve examined the Core i9-10900Ok on the Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro’s default velocity of 2133MHz for the sake of parity with all my different CPU benchmarks, however I’ve additionally examined it at its high 4000MHz velocity to see precisely what it’s able to as nicely.
And the outcomes are spectacular. Even when it’s paired with a primary RAM velocity of 2133MHz, the Core i9-10900Ok reveals some appreciable good points over AMD’s Ryzen 9 3900X and its Coffee Lake predecessor, significantly at 1080p. In Shadow Of The Tomb Raider and Forza Horizon 4, for instance, the Core i9-10900Ok gives an enormous increase in efficiency, which alone may virtually be compelling sufficient to persuade current i9-9900Ok house owners they’re in want of an improve. However, the inter-generational leap was much less marked in a few of my different benchmark outcomes, equivalent to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Total War: Warhammer II, and the hole between them at 1440p and 4K narrows even additional.
Of course, bung in some higher RAM speeds and the Core i9-10900Ok completely soars, reaching a median of 155fps in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, 134fps in Total War, 85fps in Assassin’s Creed and an enormous 181fps in Forza Horizon Four at 1920×1080. Alas, these good points rapidly fade away once more when you begin shifting up by the totally different resolutions (probably the most it managed at 1440p was an additional 3-4fps over its 2133MHz scores, whereas its 4K outcomes had been virtually equivalent), but it surely was a really comparable story over with the Ryzen 9 3900X once I re-tested it with some 3600MHz RAM.
Alas, I not have my 3900X pattern (or certainly the 3600MHz RAM) to see how it will fare on a extra stage enjoying subject, however when it solely managed 132fps in Tomb Raider, 124fps in Total War, 81fps in Assassin’s Creed and an equivalent 142fps in Forza with the 3600MHz in tow, I can’t see it catching the Core i9-10900Ok even when I did get one again in for added testing.
To cap issues off, the Core i9-10900Ok’s basic desktop efficiency is correct up there with its Ryzen rival as nicely. Indeed, whereas I could not have seen that heady peak of 5.3GHz once I ran Cinebench’s R20 benchmark, the Core i9-10900Ok’s single core results of 517 remains to be one of the best I’ve ever recorded, placing it 4% forward of the 3900X and 9900Ok. The greatest good points, nevertheless, are to be present in its multicore efficiency, the place its further two cores put it a powerful 36% forward of its Coffee Lake predecessor with a rating of 6296. That’s simply 7% behind my Ryzen 9 3900X results of 6786, which might be the closest Intel have ever come to matching AMD’s monstrous multitasking capabilities.
Ultimately, the numbers converse for themselves. Intel’s Core i9-10900Ok is, certainly, the quickest and greatest gaming CPU cash can purchase proper now, and its gaming efficiency far outshines its mildly cheaper Ryzen 9 3900X rival. Whether you really need such monstrous speeds for enjoying PC games is up for debate, in fact. The Core i9-10900Ok does, admittedly, have value on its aspect in comparison with the 9900Ok, whose ludicrous value and solely modest gaming efficiency good points made the Core i7-9700K (or certainly, AMD’s Ryzen 7 3700X) a way more wise buy for high-end PC players. However, till Intel ship out evaluate samples of their Core i7-10700Ok, it’s laborious to say whether or not the Core i9 will find yourself in the identical boat.
Still, even at its decrease asking value of $488, the i9-10900Ok nonetheless entails a substantial price. Given its excessive TDP and restrictive thermal necessities for hitting these high speeds, you’ll have to consider the price of a beefy cooling resolution if you happen to don’t have already got one (the H150i RGB Pro XT that Corsair offered me for this check would set you again one other £150-odd, for instance), to not point out a brand new 400 collection motherboard. If you desire a high of the road Gigabyte Z490 Aorus Master just like the one Intel despatched me for evaluate, for instance, then put together to spend one other £380. Altogether, it’s an undeniably costly improve. The Ryzen 9 3900X, however, does, no less than, include its personal, fairly respectable cooler within the field to assist delay a few of the price of upgrading if don’t have the money to purchase an all-in-one liquid job on the identical time, and it’s appropriate with all present AM4 boards, too (though you’ll naturally get one of the best speeds by choosing AMD’s dearer X570 collection).
The Ryzen might be a better and friendlier promote, then, however when the Core i9-10900Ok is just one other $50-odd at time of writing, it does additionally appear a bit foolish to lumber your self with its inferior gaming speeds for the sake of saving a bit of cash. The i9-10900Ok often is the best gaming CPU round proper now, however we’ll have to attend till the Core i7-10700Ok arrives to see whether or not it’s actually price its weight in gold.
