Well, the latest benchmarks of Intel's Core i9-11900K 8 Core Rocket Lake CPU have just leaked out by a Chinese TechTuber and the results are a mixed bag for the 11th Gen flagship. The difference between these and the earlier benchmarks is that the previous results were evaluated using an ES chip while the latest benchmarks are performed on a QS chip which should be close to the retail unit.
Intel Core i9-11900K vs Core i9-10900K 5.2 GHz Overclock Benchmarks Leak Out - 8 Core Rocket Lake Flagship Only Faster In Single-Core Apps, Lacks in Gaming & Multi-Threaded Performance
The Intel Core i9-11900K is now confirmed as the flagship 11th Gen CPU. The company showed off some gaming performance numbers where it was outpacing an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X CPU by up to 8% but we always advise to take official performance metrics with a grain of salt. So here we are with the latest results that were done with a QS chip that gets rid of the stuck PCIe bug that was an issue on the ES chips. As such, the gaming performance you are looking at here should be close to the real thing.
Intel Core i9-11900K 8 Core & 16 Thread Rocket Lake Desktop CPU Specifications
The Intel Core i9-11900K will be the flagship 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPU. The chip is going to feature 8 cores and 16 threads. This will result in 16 MB of L3 cache (2 MB per core) and 4 MB of L2 cache (512 KB per core). The CPU has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5.2GHz (1-core) & 4.80 GHz (all-core).
The chip will also feature Thermal Velocity Boost which should deliver a 100 MHz jump in the max clock frequency. This should lead to a single-core boost clock of 5.3 GHz making it the first CPU to ever hit such a high frequency out of the box. However, do remember that regardless of using the Cypress Cove cores, the Core i9-11900K will feature lower cores and threads than the Intel Core i9-10900K. This is partially due to the backporting of Cypress Cove on the refined 14nm process node.
The CPU is said to feature a 1st stage power limit of 125W which is standard for a flagship Intel SKU and the 2nd stage power limit or PL2 is rated at 250W. This means that when hitting its maximum advertised clock speeds, the CPU could indeed be pulling the said amount of wattage from the PSU making it one of the most power-hungry 8-core chips ever produced. This might also explain why Intel didn't go 10 cores and 20 threads on its 11th Gen lineup since it would've turned out to be a power-hungry monster of a chip breaking even past the 250W power limit.
Intel 11th Gen Rocket Lake Desktop CPU Lineup Specs (Preliminary):
| CPU Name | Cores / Threads | Base Clock | Boost Clock (1-Core) | Boost Clock (All-Core) | Cache | Graphics | TDP (PL1) | TDP (PL2) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i9-11900K(F) | 8 / 16 | 3.50 GHz | 5.30 GHz | 4.80 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 125W | 251W | $539 US (K) $513 US (KF) |
| Core i9-11900(F) | 8 / 16 | 2.50 GHz | 5.20 GHz | 4.70 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 65W | 224W | $439 US $422 US (F) |
| Core i9-11900T | 8 / 16 | 1.50 GHz | 4.90 GHz | 3.70 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 35W | 115W | $439 US |
| Core i7-11700K(F) | 8 / 16 | 3.60 GHz | 5.00 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 125W | 251W | $399 US (K) $374 US (F) |
| Core i7-11700(F) | 8 / 16 | 2.50 GHz | 4.90 GHz | 4.40 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 65W | 224W | $323 US $298 US (F) |
| Core i7-11700T | 8 / 16 | 1.40 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 3.60 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 35W | 115W | $323 US |
| Core i5-11600K(F) | 6 /12 | 3.90 GHz | 4.90 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 125W | 224W? | $262 US (K) $237 US (KF) |
| Core i5-11600 | 6 /12 | 2.80 GHz | 4.80 GHz | 4.30 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 65W | 154W | $213 US |
| Core i5-11600T | 6 /12 | 1.70 GHz | 4.10 GHz | 3.50 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 35W | 92W | $213 US |
| Core i5-11500 | 6 /12 | 2.70 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 4.20 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 65W | 154W | $192 US |
| Core i5-11500T | 6 /12 | 1.50 GHz | 3.90 GHz | 3.40 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores) | 35W | 92W | $192 US |
| Core i5-11400(F) | 6 /12 | 2.60 GHz | 4.40 GHz | 4.20 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 24 EU (192 Cores) | 65W | 154W | $182 US $157 US (F) |
| Core i5-11400T | 6 /12 | 1.30 GHz | 3.70 GHz | 3.30 GHz | 12 MB | Intel Xe 24 EU (192 Cores) | 35W | 92W | $182 US |
Intel Core i9-11900K 8 Core vs Core i9-10900K 10 Core CPU Benchmarks With 5.2 GHz Overclock
Coming straight to the performance numbers, both CPUs were tested at an overclock frequency of 5.2 GHz across all cores. Do note that the Intel Core i9-11900K features a brand new architecture but has 2 fewer cores than the Core i9-10900K which relies on an enhanced Skylake architecture. Both CPUs were tested on a Z490 motherboard and the memory featured was 16 GB DDR4-3600 due to a lock on Rocket Lake. The Core i9-11900K voltage was set to auto and hit 1.48V. A chiller was required to maintain the 5.2 GHz overclock.
Intel Core i9-11900K vs Core i9-10900K 5.2 GHz OC App Benchmarks:
In CPU-z, the Intel Core i9-11900K is 11% faster than the Core i9-10900K in single-core tests but ends up 12% slower in multi-core tests. In Cinebench R15, the Intel Core i9-11900K once again takes a 12% lead over the Core i9-10900K but also ends up 12% slower in multi-core tests. The Cinebench R20 & Cinebench R23 results show a 16% gain for the Core i9-11900K over its Core i9 predecessor but again, when it comes to multi-threaded performance, the CPU is no match to its predecessor.
In x264 1080p, the Intel Core i9-11900K loses to the Core i9-10900K by 5 FPS. The same is true for V-Ray where the Core i9-10900K outpaces the Core i9-11900K by 14 more MPaths. Moving over to 3DMark results, our friend over at Twitter, Harukaze5719, has compiled a chart that compares the performance of the Core i9-11900K and Core i9-10900K in all said tests. The Core i9-11900K loses to the 10th Gen flagship in all tests.
Intel Core i9-11900K vs Core i9-10900K 5.2 GHz OC 3DMark Benchmarks:
Lastly, we have gaming performance tests and the results here are underwhelming for the Rocket Lake flagship. The Intel Core i9-11900K seems to be just slightly better or on par with the Core i9-10900K but there are also titles that show performance reduction versus the Core i9-10900K. The previous benchmarks also showed similar performance numbers and further mentioned how hot and power-hungry the flagship Rocket Lake CPU is going to be.
Intel Core i9-11900K vs Core i9-10900K 5.2 GHz OC Gaming Benchmarks:
As we reported, the Intel Rocket Lake CPUs will be shipping months after the 500-series boards that were unveiled at CES 2021. The CPUs were also announced at CES 2021 but a hard launch isn't planned till March-April.
