The Intel Comet Lake Core i9-10900K, i7-10700K, i5-10600K CPU Review: Skylake We Go Again
by Dr. Ian Cutress on May 20, 2020 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- Skylake
- 14nm
- Z490
- 10th Gen Core
- Comet Lake
Test Bed and Setup
As per our processor testing policy, we take a premium category motherboard suitable for the socket, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the manufacturer's maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible. It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
| Test Setup | |
| Intel Core 10th Gen | Intel Core i9-10900K Intel Core i7-10700K Intel Core i5-10600K |
| Motherboard | ASRock Z490 PG Velocita (P1.30a) |
| CPU Cooler | TRUE Copper (2kg) |
| DRAM | Corsair Vengeance RGB 4x8GB DDR4-2933 Corsair Vengeance RGB 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| GPU | Sapphire RX 460 2GB (CPU Tests) MSI GTX 1080 Gaming 8G (Gaming Tests) |
| PSU | Corsair AX860i |
| SSD | Crucial MX500 2TB |
| OS | Windows 10 1909 |
Please note we are still using our 2019 gaming test suite for CPU reviews with a GTX 1080. We are in the process of rewriting our gaming test suite with some new tests, such as Borderlands and Gears Tactics, as well as changing the settings we test and moving up to an RTX 2080 Ti. It's going to take a while to do regression testing for our gaming suite, so please bear with us.
Many thanks to...
We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this test bed specifically, but is used in other testing.
| Hardware Providers | |||
| Sapphire RX 460 Nitro | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC | Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs |
Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs |
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| G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX |
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 |
Silverstone Coolers |
Silverstone Fans |
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Scale Up vs Scale Out: Benefits of Automation
One comment we get every now and again is that automation isn’t the best way of testing – there’s a higher barrier to entry, and it limits the tests that can be done. From our perspective, despite taking a little while to program properly (and get it right), automation means we can do several things:
- Guarantee consistent breaks between tests for cooldown to occur, rather than variable cooldown times based on ‘if I’m looking at the screen’
- It allows us to simultaneously test several systems at once. I currently run five systems in my office (limited by the number of 4K monitors, and space) which means we can process more hardware at the same time
- We can leave tests to run overnight, very useful for a deadline
- With a good enough script, tests can be added very easily
Our benchmark suite collates all the results and spits out data as the tests are running to a central storage platform, which I can probe mid-run to update data as it comes through. This also acts as a mental check in case any of the data might be abnormal.
We do have one major limitation, and that rests on the side of our gaming tests. We are running multiple tests through one Steam account, some of which (like GTA) are online only. As Steam only lets one system play on an account at once, our gaming script probes Steam’s own APIs to determine if we are ‘online’ or not, and to run offline tests until the account is free to be logged in on that system. Depending on the number of games we test that absolutely require online mode, it can be a bit of a bottleneck.
Benchmark Suite Updates
As always, we do take requests. It helps us understand the workloads that everyone is running and plan accordingly.
A side note on software packages: we have had requests for tests on software such as ANSYS, or other professional grade software. The downside of testing this software is licensing and scale. Most of these companies do not particularly care about us running tests, and state it’s not part of their goals. Others, like Agisoft, are more than willing to help. If you are involved in these software packages, the best way to see us benchmark them is to reach out. We have special versions of software for some of our tests, and if we can get something that works, and relevant to the audience, then we shouldn’t have too much difficulty adding it to the suite.
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Khenglish - Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - link
Ian, for the Crysis CPU render test you'd probably get higher FPS disabling the GPU in the device manager and set Crysis to use hardware rendering. Disabling the GPU driver enables software rendering by default on Windows 10. The Win10 rendering does stutter worse than the reported FPS though, so take from it what you want.shaolin95 - Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - link
"But will the end-user want that extra percent of performance, for the sake of spending more on cooling and more in power?"Such retarded comment. More power...do you actually know who little difference this makes in a year. Wow this place is going down hill fast.
Oh and a cooler you know we don't have to change our cooler with every CPU purchase so don't make it seem like this HUGE issue...your AMD fanboy colors are showing VERY clearly.
schujj07 - Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - link
If you think you can use the 212 EVO you have from a 6700k or 7700k to keep the 10900k cool you are absolutely nuts. "Speaking with a colleague, he had issues cooling his 10900K test chip with a Corsair H115i, indicating that users should look to spending $150+ on a cooling setup. That’s going to be a critical balancing element here when it comes to recommendations." This isn't any form of fanboyism. This is stating a fact that to squeeze out the last remaining bits of performance in Skylake & 14nm Intel had to sacrifice massive amounts of heat/power to do so.Maxiking - Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - link
If you have issues cooling 10900k with H115i, the problem is always between the monitor and chair.They were able to cool OC 10900k with 240m AIO just lol
Incompetency of some reviewers is just astonishing
schujj07 - Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - link
All depends on the instructions that you are running. From Tomshardware: "We tested with the beefier Noctua NH-D15 and could mostly satisfy cooling requirements in standard desktop PC applications, but you will lose out on performance in workloads that push the boundaries with AVX instructions. As such, you'll need a greater-than-280mm AIO cooler or a custom loop to unlock the best of the 10900K. You'll also need an enthusiast-class motherboard with beefy power circuitry, and also plan on some form of active cooling for the motherboard's power delivery subsystem." https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i9..."While Intel designed its 250W limit to keep thermals 'manageable' with a wide variety of cooling solutions, most motherboard vendors feed the chip up to ~330W of power at stock settings, leading to hideous power consumption metrics during AVX stress tests. Feeding 330W to a stock processor on a mainstream motherboard is a bit nuts, but it enables higher all-core frequencies for longer durations, provided the motherboard and power supply can feed the chip enough current, and your cooler can extract enough heat.
To find the power limit associated with our chip paired with the Gigabyte Aorus Z490 Master motherboard, we ran a few Prime95 tests with AVX enabled (small FFT). During those tests, we recorded up to 332W of power consumption when paired with either the Corsair H115i 280mm AIO watercooler or a Noctua NH-D15S air cooler. Yes, that's with the processor configured at stock settings. For perspective, our 18-core Core i9-10980XE drew 'only' 256W during an identical Prime95 test." https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i9...
Think it is still a pebkac error?
alufan - Thursday, May 21, 2020 - link
try this he doesn't slate the intel or amd just a proper review with live power draw at the socket OMG lol you need your won power plant when you run these let alone over clock ithttps://www.kitguru.net/components/leo-waldock/int...
Spunjji - Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - link
"They were able to cool OC 10900k with 240m AIO just lol"Who were? Everyone I've read indicates that with a 240mm AIO, CPU temps hit 90+
Pathetic comment troll is pathetic.
Retycint - Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - link
It is, in fact, a huge issue because most people won't have high end coolers necessary to keep the thermals under control. Personal attacks such as accusing people of being a "fanboy" just degrades your argument (if there was any in the first place) and make you look dumbSpunjji - Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - link
"Such retarded comment."The pure, dripping irony of using a slur to mock someone else's intelligence, but screwing up the grammar of the sentence in which you do it...
Some people build from scratch. Some people have uses for their old system. larger PSUs and suitable cooling to get optimal performance from this CPU don't come cheap. Go home, troll.
watzupken - Wednesday, May 20, 2020 - link
Not surprising, Intel managed to keep their advantage in games by pushing for higher frequency. However the end result is a power hungry chip that requires some high end AIO or custom water cooler to keep cool. I agree that Intel is digging themselves deeper and deeper into a hole that they will not be able to get out so easily. In fact I don't think they can get out of it until their 7nm is ready and mature enough to maintain a high frequency, or they come out with a brand new architecture that allows them to improve on Comet Lake's performance without the crazy clockspeed. Indeed, they will not be able to pull another generation with their Skylake + 14nm combination looking at the power consumption and heat generation issue. Intel should consider bundling that industrial chiller they used to cool their 20 core chip during the demo.