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
CPU Performance: Synthetic Tests
As with most benchmark suites, there are tests that don’t necessarily fit into most categories because their role is just to find the peak throughput in very particular coding scenarios. For this we rely on some of the industry standard tests, like Geekbench and Cinebench.
GeekBench4: Synthetics
A common tool for cross-platform testing between mobile, PC, and Mac, GeekBench 4 is an ultimate exercise in synthetic testing across a range of algorithms looking for peak throughput. Tests include encryption, compression, fast Fourier transform, memory operations, n-body physics, matrix operations, histogram manipulation, and HTML parsing.
I’m including this test due to popular demand, although the results do come across as overly synthetic, and a lot of users often put a lot of weight behind the test due to the fact that it is compiled across different platforms (although with different compilers).
We record the main subtest scores (Crypto, Integer, Floating Point, Memory) in our benchmark database, but for the review we post the overall single and multi-threaded results.
LinX: LINPACK
The main tool for ordering the TOP500 computer list involves running a variant of an accelerated matrix multiply algorithm typically found from the LINPACK suite. Here we use a tool called LinX to do the same thing on our CPUs. We scale our test based on the number of cores present in order to not run out of scaling but still keeping the test time consistent.
This is another of our new tests for 2020. Data will be added as we start regression testing older CPUs.
Cinebench R20
The Cinebench line of tests is very well known among technology enthusiasts, with the software implementing a variant of the popular Cinema4D engine to render through the CPU a complex scene. The latest version of Cinebench comes with a number of upgrades, including support for >64 threads, as well as offering a much longer test in order to stop the big server systems completing it in seconds. Not soon after R20 was launched, we ended up with 256 thread servers that completed the test in about two seconds. While we wait for the next version of Cinebench, we run the test on our systems in single thread and multithread modes, running for a minimum of 10 minutes each.
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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.