Intel Official Rocket Lake CPU Slides Show Than Core i9-11900K Is 11% Faster Than Core i9-10900K In Gaming, Full Lineup Specs Confirmed

 

11th Gen Intel Core desktop processors (code-named "Rocket Lake-S") will deliver increased performance and speeds. They will launch in the first quarter of 2021. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

The official Intel Rocket Lake 11th Gen Desktop CPU family slides have leaked out which not only confirm the specifications we reported a while ago but also show the gaming potential of the top Core i9 CPU vs the last-gen flagship.

Intel Core i9-11900K Is 11% Faster Than Core i9-10900K CPU In Gaming According To Official Intel Slides, Full Lineup Specs Confirmed

The performance slides show the Intel Core i9-11900K 8 Core Rocket Lake flagship CPU pitted against the Intel Core i9-10900K 10 Core Comet Lake flagship CPU. The Intel Core i9-11900K & Intel's Core i9-10900K share the same boost clock of 5.30 GHz but the former comes with brand new Cypress Cove cores which deliver double-digit performance gains.

The game titles selected by Intel including Total War: Three Kingdoms, Gears 5, Grid 2019, and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. All games were tested at 1080p with the high settings preset. Intel's own benchmarks show that the Core i9-11900K Rocket Lake CPU is up to 14% faster than Core i9-10900K. The average performance gain over the previous generation is around 11% and that's a decent increase over the last generation but at the cost of much higher power draw and power consumption as recently reported in various leaks.

Intel Core i9-11900K 8 Core & 16 Thread Rocket Lake Desktop CPU

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). In terms of boost clocks, we have already seen the CPU running at base frequencies of 3.5 GHz but as for boost, the CPU will feature a maximum boost clock of 5.2 GHz (1-core) while the all-core boost frequency will be maintained at 4.8 GHz.

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 Core i7-11700K 8 Core & 16 Thread Rocket Lake Desktop CPU

Moving over to the Core i7, we see that Intel won't be segmenting the core/thread count on a tier below Core i9. The Core i7-11700K features the same core configuration as the Core i9-11900K but comes with reduced clock speeds. The chip is said to feature a boost clock of 5.0 GHz on a single & 4.6 GHz across all of its 8 cores. The CPU will even carry the same amount of cache so nothing has changed but the main difference should come from the clocks and power limits. This lower-binned chip will sit at around 225-250W (PL2) limit while the PL1 limit will be standard at 125W.

It will be interesting to see how Rocket Lake CPUs overclock since the minute difference between the Core i9 and Core i7 chips can be overcome by a small overclock. As for pricing, the Core i7 will also be cheaper than the Core i9 variant but we don't know yet how Intel will price its 8 core Rocket Lake-S Desktop CPUs yet. There are reports that Intel could aggressively price the chips at around $400 US for the Core i9 and $300 US for the Core i7 which could prove to be a great decision if they really want to go against AMD's Zen 3 based parts in the sub-$500 US segment.

Intel Core i5-11600K 6 Core & 12 Thread Rocket Lake Desktop CPU

The Core i5-11600K is a 6 core chip with 12 threads. The Core i5-11600K should be going up against the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X which is a phenomenal CPU in its own right. The Core i5-11600K is said to feature a clock speed of 4.9 GHz on a single and 4.6 GHz across all cores.  Do note that TVB won't be available on SKUs below the Core i9 models so we shouldn't expect an extended frequency limit on Core i7 and Core i5 SKUs. The chip will feature 12 MB of L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache.

Now the main proving ground for this chip against the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X will be its performance to price value. The Ryzen 5 5600X with a $299 US MSRP is slightly higher in terms of pricing when we compare it to its predecessor. The Core i5-11600K on the other hand will be replacing the Core i5-10600K which has a retail price of around $260 US.

    

If Intel sticks to its existing price strategy, then the Core i5-11600K could indeed become a hot selling chip in the mainstream gaming market. With that said, we also have to take into account the availability of the Core i5-11600K. Technically, mainstream SKUs aren't affected a lot by supply issues as is the case with the Ryzen 5 5600X but a small delay in stock could result in Intel missing an opportunity to create a dent in AMD's Ryzen 5 segment. Consumers have already seen what AMD delivered as a successor to its Ryzen 5 3600X so now it's time to see what the Core i5-10600K's successor can do.

The Intel Rocket Lake Desktop CPUs launch on the 30th of March however pre-orders will be open on the 16th of March. Do note that reviews for the chip will also not be published until the 30th of March.

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)
Core i9-11900K	8 / 16	3.50 GHz	5.30 GHz	4.80 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	125W
Core i9-11900	8 / 16	2.50 GHz	5.20 GHz	4.00 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	65W
Core i9-11900T	8 / 16	1.50 GHz	4.90 GHz	3.70 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	35W
Core i7-11700K	8 / 16	3.60 GHz	5.00 GHz	470 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	125W
Core i7-11700	8 / 16	2.50 GHz	4.90 GHz	4.40 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	65W
Core i7-11700T	8 / 16	1.40 GHz	4.60 GHz	3.60 GHz	16 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	35W
Core i5-11600K	6 /12	3.90 GHz	4.90 GHz	4.60 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	125W
Core i5-11600	6 /12	TBC	TBC	TBC	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	65W
Core i5-11600T	6 /12	TBC	TBC	TBC	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	35W
Core i5-11500	6 /12	2.70 GHz	4.60 GHz	TBC	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	65W
Core i5-11500T	6 /12	TBC	TBC	TBC	12 MB	Intel Xe 32 EU (256 Cores)	35W
Core i5-11400	6 /12	2.60 GHz	4.400 GHz	4.20 GHz	12 MB	Intel Xe 24 EU (192 Cores)	65W
Core i5-11400T	6 /12	TBC	TBC	TBC	12 MB	Intel Xe 24 EU (192 Cores)	35W

Source: wccftech