Intel may not be offering the insane multi-threaded performance that Ryzen 5000 CPUs from AMD have to offer, but they are coming back hard in the single-threaded segment with the leaked benchmarks of the 8 Core Rocket Lake Core i9-11900K featuring a huge performance improvement that would be enough for them to regain their CPU throne for gaming faster.
The Intel Core i9-11900K 8 8-core CPU benchmark is launched, rocket faster than AMD’s Zen 3 ‘Ryzen 5000’ in single-core performance
The Intel Core i9-11900K is the flagship chip in the 11th generation Rocket Lake family of desktop CPUs. It will be the first family after Skylake to make use of an entirely new core architecture and still use the 14 nm process node. The new Cypress Cove architecture offers double-digit gains in IPC, which should be enough to put Intel back on the throne of single-core performance, as AMD and its Zen 3 line completely destroyed Intel’s Comet Lake CPUs in that Department.
Intel Core i9-11900K 8 Core and 16 Thread Rocket Lake desktop CPU specifications
The Intel Core i9-11900K will be the flagship of the 11th Generation Rocket Lake Desktop CPU. The chip will have 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 basic frequencies of 3.5 GHz, but as for the boost, the CPU will have a maximum boost clock of 5.2 GHz (1 core) while the boost frequency of the entire core will be maintained at 4.8 GHz.
The chip will also have Thermal Velocity Boost, which is expected to provide a 100 MHz jump at the maximum clock frequency. This should lead to a single core 5.3 GHz boost clock, making it the first CPU to reach such a high frequency out of the box. However, keep in mind that, regardless of using Cypress Cove cores, Core i9-11900K will have lower cores and threads than Intel Core i9-10900K. This is partly due to the backporting of Cypress Cove on the refined 14 nm process node.
Left: 10th Generation Comet Lake, Right: 11th Generation Rocket Lake
The CPU is said to have a 125W first stage power limit, which is standard for an Intel SKU, and the second stage or PL2 power limit is rated at 250W. This means that by reaching its advertised maximum clock speed, the CPU could in fact be extracting the said amount of watts from the PSU, making it one of the most energy-efficient 8-core chips ever produced. This may also explain why Intel has made no more than 10 cores and 20 threads in its 11th generation line, as it would be a power hungry monster chip breaking even beyond the 250W limit.
11th generation Rocket Lake Desktop CPU line specifications (preliminaries):
| CPU name | Colors / 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 | 1.80 GHz | 4.50 GHz | 4.00 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 cores) | 65W |
| Core i9-11900T | 8/16 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 cores) | 35W |
| Core i7-11700K | 8/16 | 3.60 GHz | 5.00 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 cores) | 125W |
| Core i7-11700 | 8/16 | 2.50 GHz | 4.90 GHz | TBC | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 cores) | 65W |
| Core i7-11700T | 8/16 | TBC | TBC | 16 MB | Intel Xe 32 EU (256 cores) | 35W | |
| Core i5-11600K | 6/12 | TBC | 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 | TBC | TBC | 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 colors) | 65W |
| Core i5-11400T | 6/12 | TBC | TBC | TBC | 12 MB | Intel Xe 24 EU (192 colors) | 35W |
Intel Core i9-11900K 8 Core and 16 Thread Rocket Lake desktop CPU performance comparisons
Sighted by HXL, Bilibili posted a screenshot of the CPU-z benchmark with the Intel Core i9-11900K. The CPU reportedly scored 695.4 points in single-thread tests and 6522.1 points in multi-thread tests. The multi-thread score places the Core i9-11900K 15% faster than the Core i7-10700K and on par with the Ryzen 7 5800X.
Everything changes in single-core tests, as Core i9-11900K ends up 25% faster than Intel Core i7-10700K, 19% faster than Core i9-10900K and also 5-7% faster than the Ryzen 7 5800X and the Ryzen 9 5950X. The following is a table showing performance comparisons between CPUs:
If those results are close to the real thing, Intel will definitely have a powerful chip for gamers in 2021. This means that AMD does not offer its own update or new Zen line next year. But we have to take into account the higher energy consumption and also the energy input that will be a direct result of the 14 nm architecture. In the efficiency department, AMD will still have great leadership over Intel and is not expected to be stopped anytime soon or at least until Intel introduces its own 10nm SF CPUs (Alder Lake-S) on the market, planned for 2H 2021.
Intel Core i9-11900K, Core i9-11900 and Core i7-11700 ES Rocket Lake benchmarks
In addition to the leaked CPU-z result, the Chiphell forums also posted full tests of various Intel Rocket Lake ES CPUs that include Core i9-11900K, Core i9-11900 and Core i7-11700. Note that these chips are not final variants and have lower clock speeds.
For example, the i9-11900K works on a 3.4 GHz base and 4.8 GHz boost, the Core i9-11900 works on a 1.8 GHz base and 4.5 GHz boost while the Core i7-11700 works with 1.8 GHz base and 4.4 GHz increase. These are tests similar to the ones we saw a few days ago, so, without doing anything else, the benchmarks are as follows:
Intel Rocket Lake ES CPU benchmarks:
Intel Rocket Lake ES CPU temperature and power
Intel Rocket Lake ES CPU IPC tests:
🚀 postponed for 2 weeks?
New dates 3/15 and 2/4
: /
– Hassan Mujtaba (@ hms1193) December 28, 2020
As we reported, Intel Rocket Lake CPUs will ship months after the 500 series cards, which will be available on January 11th. CPUs are expected to be announced at CES 2021, but a heavy launch is not planned until March-April.