Product Listing

Intel Core i9-11900K Review: A disappointing finale for 14nm processors

By Aaron Yip - 10 Oct 2021

Benchmarks & Conclusion

Performance Benchmarks

Before we dive into the benchmark scores, let’s see how the Intel Core i9-11900K stacks up alongside its predecessor and AMD’s flagship processors:-

Key Specifications
  Intel Core i9-11900K Intel Core i9-10900K AMD Ryzen 9 5900XT AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Base Clock 3.5GHz 3.7GHz 3.7GHz 3.4GHz
Boost Clock 5.3GHz 5.3GHz 4.8GHz 4.9GHz
Cores 8 10 12 16
Threads 16 20 24 32
L2 Cache 4MB 2.5MB 6MB 8MB
L3 Cache 16MB 20MB 64MB 64MB
TDP 125W 125W 105W 105W
SRP (est) S$899 S$899 S$849 $1,249

In terms of clock speed, we are looking at a processor whose base clock is slower than its Core i9-10900K brethren. Even its peak of 5.3GHz is the same as the i9-10900K at best. But if my review of the Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X processors is anything to go by, then we know that clock speed alone only tells half the story – Intel does have a few tricks up its sleeve in the Rocket Lake architecture.

For instance, there is a greater amount of cache at different levels of the Rocket Lake processor. Notice the 4MB on the more important L2 cache on the i9-11900K versus 2.5MB on the i9-10900K? Rocket Lake architecture is also capable of delivering a higher Instructions Per Cycle (IPU) – which Intel is claiming a 19% performance over Comet Lake – for greater speed and efficiency over its predecessor. 

That’s the theory anyway. Now for the benchmarks numbers.

For the sake of parity I have used the following components across both Intel and AMD’s platforms in our benchmarks with the exception of motherboards for optimum compatibility:

  • Memory: G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DD4 3200 32GB (4x8GB)
  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Founders Edition 10GB
  • SSD: Samsung 980 Pro 1TB
  • HSF: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120R ARG
  • Motherboards
    • Gigabyte Aorus Xtreme Z590: Intel Core i9-11900K
    • ROG Maximus XII Formula Z490: Intel Core i9-10900K
    • MSI MEG X570 Godlike: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X

 

Gaming Benchmarks

My game list includes a mixture of old and recent games new test processor performance. The focus will be on CPU performance, where possible, like Ashes of Singularity: Escalation and Horizon Zero Dawn. The list isn’t exhaustive by any measure but there are enough different game engines and APIs variety to give us an idea of broader performance trends.

  • Horizon Zero Dawn
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • Total War: Three Kingdoms (Battle)
  • Ashes of the Singularity: Escalations (CPU Focused)
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
  • Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
  • Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands

 

1080p Performance (Max Settings)

1080p benchmarking is a great measure of a CPU’s prowess, no thanks in part to high-performance gaming cards such as the GeForce RTX 3080 used in the benchmarks here. You see, at lower resolutions, the GPU can process and transfer data much quicker than at higher resolutions. A CPU bottleneck happens here because the processor cannot keep up with the processing speed of the graphics card. The CPU, after all, is responsible for processing real-time game actions, physics, UI, audio and other complex CPU-bound processes.

 

1440p and 4K Performance (Max Settings)

Conversely, the opposite happens at higher resolutions when the GPU takes more time to process the higher data load (more textures, etc..) and becomes the bottleneck. With 1440p, we start to see this happening, where the difference in performances pared down. Then in the 4K benchmark results, we can see how all processors achieved performance parity because, at such high-resolution, it’s what graphics card you use that matters.

 

Productivity Benchmarks

The Core i9-11900K is clearly targeted at enthusiasts and gamers, but games aren’t always a true measure of a CPU's capabilities – especially when it comes to sizing up the processors’ core performance. For non-gaming benchmarks, I’ve used CineBench R20 and CPU Mark to measure all processors single-core and multi-core theoretical throughput standings.

We can see that the Core i9-11900K offers decent gains from the Core i9-10900K for single-core workloads, but it all starts to fall apart for multi-core use cases. Intel's latest flagship doesn't really hold its own in this area, and that is evident from the scores.

When it comes to gaming, the i9-11900K didn’t quite convince in any of the benchmarks above. In the 1080p tests for instance, the i9-11900K offers almost identical performance to last year's i9-10900K and the Ryzen 9 5900X. For 1440p and 4K gaming, the uptick is marginal at best for the i9-11900K from the rest of the processors, and when you consider just how much more power the Intel processor consumes when running under load, it doesn’t look good for Intel.

AMD is in a league of its own when it comes to energy efficiency, with the 7nm Ryzen 9 5900X and 5950X matching, if not surpassing, the i9-11900K in these tests while running at a lower power.

 

Conclusion

If high-end gaming is what you’re after, then your focus should still be a GPU upgrade. With a good graphic card having so much more impact on gaming frame rates than your CPU, even an 11th Gen Core i7 or an AMD Ryzen 7 processor will provide plentiful processing juice for you.

But let’s discuss the elephant in the room. As Intel’s flagship gaming processor, the Core i9-11900K simply doesn’t offer any substantial value over existing offerings by AMD or even Intel itself. I cannot emphasise this enough: there’s really no tangible benefit to upgrade to the Core i9-11900K, much less build an entirely new PC around it. If you're firmly entrenched in the Intel ecosystem (really, for whatever reasons), then the smarter thing to do would be to wait out for the upcoming Alder Lake.

If you already own last year’s Core i9-10900K, then there’s little performance incentive to jump over to the latest processor – unless the technology upgrades that a Z590 chipset comes with are extremely important to you (then it would have made sense to jump ship to AMD’s X570 platform last year anyway). Meanwhile, AMD Ryzen 9 owners can rest assure that you still hold the bragging rights to having the more superior CPU.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
6.0
  • Performance 7
  • Features 7.5
  • Value 6
The Good
Good single-core performance
Adaptive Boost Technology is promising
It's actually available in market
The Bad
No tangible performance benefits over previous generation
High TDP
Requires a Z590 motherboard for full performance benefits
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.