Intel Core i9-10900K Review: Can It Beat Ryzen 9?

[Julio Franco]

Today we're checking out Intel's new enthusiast and gaming flagship CPU, the Core i9-10900K. This is a 10-core, 20-thread processor sporting a base frequency of 3.7 GHz and a single core turbo of 5.3 GHz. As the successor of the i9-9900K, Intel's latest flagship is set to go head to head against AMD's Ryzen 3900X.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2028-intel-core-i9-10900k/

 

[yeeeeman]

A tough sell tbh. If 3900x didn't exist, this would be a good sell, but with competition it is hard for Intel to keep pushing Skylake any longer. Nevertheless, amazing uArch, how much performance they squeezed out of it is just mind boggling.

 

[Irata]

So we are looking at $530 for the i9-10900k plus $320 for the cooler for a total of $850.

The Ryzen 3900x can be had for $410 (Amazon or Newegg using the promo code) including a useable HSF, so that‘s less than half. And that is not even taking into consideration motherboards, case fans, PSU.....

 

[Irata]

Quick question: Does the Asus board use on board fans ? Asking because other Z490 boards (like the one used by Anandtech for their review) do.

If not, what were the board / VRM temps like ?

 

[harby]

While I love you guys I think you're in error when it comes to testing this with just a very expensive high end AIO. In the end you cannot compare prices without including the cooler (410 vs 530 as you say). And of course we'd like to see how this thing performs on air.

 

[DZillaXx]

Costs more, requires an expensive cooler, and is slower than the AMD equivalent(even when a good cooling allowing it to boost to max).

Things don't look good for intel.

Zen3 should massively improve AMD's gaming performance. With AMD moving from 4 core CCX's to 8, along with all the other improvements. Intel may loose that last edge. They've maxed out on clock speeds and won't be able to push much further than what they've achieved currently.

AMD's laptop chips are looking great as well.

Hope this forces Intel to step up.

 

[Achaios]

Ιmagine that we will see at least two more generations of Intel desktop CPUs on 14nm before they move to 10nm or 7nm desktop chips, if they ever make it.

I wouldn't want to have any Intel stock right now nor in the foreseeable future.

 

[Defuze]

Nope, sorry Intel..

edit: actually, I'm not sorry Intel you milked us with 4c/8t for 8 years, until Ryzen came out. Keep burning Intel, not even a 360mm will save you.

 

[enemys]

So we are looking at $530 for the i9-10900k plus $320 for the cooler for a total of $850.

The Ryzen 3900x can be had for $410 (Amazon or Newegg using the promo code) including a useable HSF, so that‘s less than half. And that is not even taking into consideration motherboards, case fans, PSU.....

$320 for a cooler? Even H150i Pro used in the review, which currently seems hard to get in US, is about $240 - and in Europe it's much cheaper. Ryzen is still much, much cheaper overall, but where'd you get such high cooler price from?

 

[candle_86]

So Intel's 10th gen is doa. This smells like Intel looked at 2003 and said let's repeat the Prescott launch

 

[Vulcanproject]

For gaming at 1440p or better right now it seems academic whether you have a $500 10900k or a stock $175 Ryzen 3600. Just 10 percent between them. Presumably if you're at 1080p with such a high end GPU like the 2080Ti it's all about the frames, but we all know that configuration is a small niche across PC users. 1440p or better is where it's at now and the bottom end of where we'll all be in another 2 years.

For productivity surely you're going to go with the 3900x for circa $400, not least because you also know you can just drop a 3950x in as an upgrade later, or something even faster from Zen 3.

That's it really. If my budget was this level I would plump for a 3900x on a quality board, and then see what 16 core Zen 3 goodness I can plop in there in a year or so for a simple tangible upgrade.

 

[CobraJet50]

I am running 2 ea. 34" 4K monitors, I do movie editing, while at times (and sometimes both at the same time) using AutoCad on the other monitor for my engineering work, it will render drawings and moving simulations, while at the same time having a Zoom Video streaming window open showing others the work I do for them. I've never had so much as a flicker (as I knock wood), using an older I9900K intel processor and twin Nvidia 2080Ti cards. I am done buying multiple AMD processors and/or Graphics Cards. Mind you, I am overclocked by 20%.

The chiller I use can cool the processor to 0 degrees if desired, but never need that much, I keep the inside of my case around 34-35 degrees F.

 

[CapNemo72]

Hi TechSpot team,
Thanks for the review. Great as always.

I too am joining others regarding "cooler solution" omission.

Pricing is important. And cooling that CPU will require some serious cooler. That adds at least 10% to its price.

That skews the whole realistic perfomance/price ratio.
Plus, we do not know, how that CPU would work under 50$ air cooler (cause, there will be people buying this for their 10900K).

 

[DukeJukem]

LTT benchmarks show this processor beating AMD in gaming by a larger margin shown here.

 

[Irata]

While I love you guys I think you're in error when it comes to testing this with just a very expensive high end AIO. In the end you cannot compare prices without including the cooler (410 vs 530 as you say). And of course we'd like to see how this thing performs on air.

Especially considering that this cooler costs $320 at Newegg....
Not sure if Anandtech used an air cooler. All it said was „True Copper (2 kg)“.

 

[Irata]

$320 for a cooler? Even H150i Pro used in the review, which currently seems hard to get in US, is about $240 - and in Europe it's much cheaper. Ryzen is still much, much cheaper overall, but where'd you get such high cooler price from?

I did check Newegg and that was their price. Amazon.com only has a refurbed unit („renewed“ as they call it) for $ 170 or the successor, the icue H150i XT Pro for $308.
I did notice now that it‘s cheaper @ Mindfactory.

 

[enemys]

Especially considering that this cooler costs $320 at Newegg....
Not sure if Anandtech used an air cooler. All it said was „True Copper (2 kg)“.

You do realize that a) Newegg isn't the only HW vendor in the world, b) this cooler doesn't usually cost that much - there's an apparent shortage of it in the States right now, c) it's much cheaper outside US (about ~$200 in most of Europe), d) it's not the only 360mm AIO in the world - other, comparable cooling is available for less than $320?

 

[amstech]

Pretty impressive, this 10 core is hanging with AMD's 12 core in application benchmarks!
And Intel still rules the roost when it comes to gaming, and now the multi-thread stuff is very close again.
Also, one tidbit....the 8700K is faster then the 3950X for gaming? Yikes!
Is Intel's 10 year old architecture with a paint job battling, beating and matching AMD's new Ryzen? Looks like it!

 

[Irata]

You do realize that a) Newegg isn't the only HW vendor in the world, b) this cooler doesn't usually cost that much - there's an apparent shortage of it in the States right now, c) it's much cheaper outside US (about ~$200 in most of Europe), d) it's not the only 360mm AIO in the world - other, comparable cooling is available for less than $320?

Usually check both Amazon and Newegg to get a rough price indication and normally their prices are representative. In this case apparently not.

But even if we say that you can get an AIO that performs as well as the unit used used by Techspot for $170, that would still put you at $700 vs. 410 for Ryzen 3900x, so roughly 60% more expensive.

 

[enemys]

I did check Newegg and that was their price. Amazon.com only has a refurbed unit („renewed“ as they call it) for $ 170 or the successor, the icue H150i XT Pro for $308.
I did notice now that it‘s cheaper @ Mindfactory.

Understood. That's strange, though, Amazon.com shows me a vendor selling it for $248 brand new. It estimates 2-3 weeks for shipping, though, so I'm basically sure it's either in shortage or being phased out of market completely.

Anyway, you can get comparable AIOs closer to $200 - which still looks bad for Intel, though.

Usually check both Amazon and Newegg to get a rough price indication and normally their prices are representative. In this case apparently not.

But even if we say that you can get an AIO that performs as well as the unit used used by Techspot for $170, that would still put you at $700 vs. 410 for Ryzen 3900x, so roughly 60% more expensive.

Agreed. Sorry for a possibly offensive tone, by the way.

 

[Alfatawi Mendel]

I am running 2 ea. 34" 4K monitors, I do movie editing, while at times (and sometimes both at the same time) using AutoCad on the other monitor for my engineering work, it will render drawings and moving simulations, while at the same time having a Zoom Video streaming window open showing others the work I do for them. I've never had so much as a flicker (as I knock wood), using an older I9900K intel processor and twin Nvidia 2080Ti cards. I am done buying multiple AMD processors and/or Graphics Cards. Mind you, I am overclocked by 20%.

The chiller I use can cool the processor to 0 degrees if desired, but never need that much, I keep the inside of my case around 34-35 degrees F.

So you keep your case 2 degrees above freezing...LOL.
Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the new Quantum Physics.

 

[Alfatawi Mendel]

Understood. That's strange, though, Amazon.com shows me a vendor selling it for $248 brand new. It estimates 2-3 weeks for shipping, though, so I'm basically sure it's either in shortage or being phased out of market completely.

Anyway, you can get comparable AIOs closer to $200 - which still looks bad for Intel, though.
Agreed. Sorry for a possibly offensive tone, by the way.

Yep. The EKWB 360 AIO can be had for about $160, and fares well against the competition.
Mind you...It hit 88 degrees in Aida64 on an 8700k. The 10900k would probably be over 90 degrees in the same circumstances. But do-able if your workload is stressing the chip.

 

[Fuzzy Dunalap]

Pretty impressive, this 10 core is hanging with AMD's 12 core in application benchmarks!
And Intel still rules the roost when it comes to gaming, and now the multi-thread stuff is very close again.
Also, one tidbit....the 8700K is faster then the 3950X for gaming? Yikes!
Is Intel's 10 year old architecture with a paint job battling, beating and matching AMD's new Ryzen? Looks like it!

No.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Pretty impressive, this 10 core is hanging with AMD's 12 core in application benchmarks!
And Intel still rules the roost when it comes to gaming, and now the multi-thread stuff is very close again.
Also, one tidbit....the 8700K is faster then the 3950X for gaming? Yikes!
Is Intel's 10 year old architecture with a paint job battling, beating and matching AMD's new Ryzen? Looks like it!

If by "hanging", you mean losing by a notable margin while costing $100 more, then sure you can interpret that way. Your choice of words is interesting as a smaller margin of victory for Intel in gaming is suddenly "ruling the roost."

So which is it? Does AMD Rule The Roost™ in applications, or is AMD Hanging™ with Intel on gaming?

 

[pcnthuziast]

This is a flex by Intel. It demonstrates the power of their branding and the loyalty of their userbase. Intel shamelessly releases an inferior product at a higher price with no trepidation and despite early availability issues, sales are good.