Intel Rocket Lake (14nm) Review: Core i9-11900K, Core i7-11700K, and Core i5-11600K
by Dr. Ian Cutress on March 30, 2021 10:03 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- LGA1200
- 11th Gen
- Rocket Lake
- Z590
- B560
- Core i9-11900K
Intel’s New Adaptive Boost Technology for Core i9-K/KF
Taken from our news item
To say that Intel’s turbo levels are complicated to understand is somewhat of an understatement. Trying to teach the difference between the turbo levels to those new to measuring processor performance is an art form in of itself. But here’s our handy guide, taken from our article on the subject.
Adaptive Boost Technology is now the fifth frequency metric Intel uses on its high-end enthusiast grade processors, and another element in Intel’s ever complex ‘Turbo’ family of features. Here’s the list, in case we forget one:
| Intel Frequency Levels | ||
| Base Frequency | - | The frequency at which the processor is guaranteed to run under warranty conditions with a power consumption no higher than the TDP rating of the processor. |
| Turbo Boost 2.0 | TB2 | When in a turbo mode, this is the defined frequency the cores will run at. TB2 varies with how many cores are being used. |
| Turbo Boost Max 3.0 | TBM3 'Favored Core' |
When in a turbo mode, for the best cores on the processor (usually one or two), these will get extra frequency when they are the only cores in use. |
| Thermally Velocity Boost | TVB | When in a turbo mode, if the peak thermal temperature detected on the processor is below a given value (70ºC on desktops), then the whole processor will get a frequency boost of +100 MHz. This follows the TB2 frequency tables depending on core loading. |
| Adaptive Boost Technology | ABT 'floating turbo' |
When in a turbo mode, if 3 or more cores are active, the processor will attempt to provide the best frequency within the power budget, regardless of the TB2 frequency table. The limit of this frequency is given by TB2 in 2-core mode. ABT overrides TVB when 3 or more cores are active. |
| *Turbo mode is limited by the turbo power level (PL2) and timing (Tau) of the system. Intel offers recommended guidelines for this, but those guidelines can be overridden (and are routinely ignored) by motherboard manufacturers. Most gaming motherboards will implement an effective ‘infinite’ turbo mode. In this mode, the peak power observed will be the PL2 value. It is worth noting that the 70ºC requirement for TVB is also often ignored, and TVB will be applied whatever the temperature. | ||
Intel provided a slide trying to describe the new ABT, however the diagram is a bit of a mess and doesn’t explain it that well. Here’s the handy AnandTech version.
First up is the Core i7-11700K that AnandTech has already reviewed. This processor has TB2, TBM3, but not TVB or ABT.
The official specifications show that when one to four cores are loaded, when in turbo mode, it will boost to 4.9 GHz. If it is under two cores, the OS will shift the threads onto the favored cores and Turbo Boost Max 3.0 will kick in for 5.0 GHz. More than four core loading will be distributed as above.
On the Core i9-11900, the non-overclocking version, we also get Thermal Velocity Boost which adds another +100 MHz onto every core max turbo, but only if the processor is below 70ºC.
We can see here that the first two cores get both TBM3 (favored core) as well as TVB, which makes those two cores give a bigger jump. In this case, if all eight cores are loaded, the turbo is 4.6 GHz, unless the CPU is under 70ºC, then we get an all-core turbo of 4.7 GHz.
Now move up to the Core i9-11900K or Core i9-11900KF, which are the only two processors with the new floating turbo / Adaptive Boost Technology. Everything beyond two cores changes and TVB no longer applies.
Here we see what looks like a 5.1 GHz all-core turbo, from three cores to eight cores loaded. This is +300 MHz above TVB when all eight cores are loaded. But the reason why I’m calling this a floating turbo is because it is opportunistic.
What this means is that, if all 8 cores are loaded, TB2 means that it will run at 4.7 GHz. If there is power budget and thermal budget, it will attempt 4.8 GHz. If there is more power budget and thermal budget available, it will go to 4.9 GHz, then 5.0 GHz, then 5.1 GHz. The frequency will float as long as it has enough of those budgets to play with, and it will increase/decrease as necessary. This is important as different instructions cause different amounts of power draw and such.
If this sounds familiar, you are not wrong. AMD does the same thing, and they call it Precision Boost 2, and it was introduced in April 2018 with Zen+. AMD applies its floating turbo to all of its processors – Intel is currently limiting floating turbo to only the Core i9-K and Core i9-KF in Core 11th Gen Rocket Lake.
One of the things that we noticed with AMD however is that this floating turbo does increase power draw, especially with AVX/AVX2 workloads. Intel is likely going to see similar increases in power draw. What might be a small saving grace here is that Intel’s frequency jumps are still limited to full 100 MHz steps, whereas AMD can do it on the 25 MHz boundary. This means that Intel has to manage larger steps, and will likely only cross that boundary if it knows it can be maintained for a fixed amount of time. It will be interesting to see if Intel gives the user the ability to change those entry/exit points for Adaptive Boost Technology.
There will be some users who are already familiar with Multi-Core Enhancement / Multi-Core Turbo. This is a feature from some motherboard vendors have, and often enable at default, which lets a processor reach an all-core turbo equal to the single core turbo. That is somewhat similar to ABT, but that was more of a fixed frequency, whereas ABT is a floating turbo design. That being said, some motherboard vendors might still have Multi-Core Enhancement as part of their design anyway, bypassing ABT.
Overall, it’s a performance plus. It makes sense for the users that can also manage the thermals. AMD caught a wind with the feature when it moved to TSMC’s 7nm. I have a feeling that Intel will have to shift to a new manufacturing node to get the best out of ABT, and then we might see the feature on the more mainstream CPUs, as well as becoming default as standard.
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Qasar - Thursday, April 1, 2021 - link
" calling out Intel shills when I see them " ahh so you are calling out your self then ?the point you are making, is more like your own OPINION then any thing else. while YOU may not see the point in getting a cheap vid card so you can at least use the over all better cpu ( zen 3) then this dud, others may be fine with it. a few people i work with, are currently waiting for zen 3 to be in stock, and will upgrade to it, they have seen the reviews of rocket lake, and have no issues waiting, cause they know they will still be getting the better cpu.
" then there is zero value in any AMD CPU currently. " again YOUR opinion.
vanish1 - Friday, April 2, 2021 - link
Youre cherry picking words from my overall statement, nice try Intel shill. IF YOU ARE BUILDING A NEW PC RIGHT NOW THERE IS ZERO VALUE IN AMD CPUS. Some people actually care about spending their money frugally, not having to spend hundreds of dollars on a GPU they dont want just to make their CPU work.Beyond that, if E-peen matters so much to you and money is no object then why waste your cash in the first place on E-waste GPU, isnt it even more baller to buy a GPU when its most expensive? If you care so much about having the BEST cpu that does the BEST in every benchmark, how dare you grace its presence with such a lowly dGPU like a rx550 or gtx970? Hmmm conflict of interest, picks and chooses what part of the GPU crisis to support instead of skipping it completely.
Sorry you two, some of us live in the real world where money matters more than E-peen and video gaming addictions.
Qasar - Friday, April 2, 2021 - link
and you are trying to make an argument that so far, only YOU seem to be making, on here, and on other sites. YOU are the intel shill here, not me, nice try, if i was an intel shill would i be calling rocket lake a dud, or the better cpu being Zen 3 ? " IF YOU ARE BUILDING A NEW PC RIGHT NOW THERE IS ZERO VALUE IN AMD CPUS " and its YOUR opinion, plain and simple, while YOU see no value in them, i'd guess others see A LOT more value in them, then rocket lake." not having to spend hundreds of dollars on a GPU they dont want just to make their CPU work. " ahh so now, 50 bucks is hundreds if dollars ? and its doubtful someone buying the top, lets say 2 rocket lake cpus, is going to then use the IGP to play games on, that are recent, come on, get real.
with the way you keep crying about a 50 buck gpu being ewaste, you must have a comp that is quite old, so you can flex you own epeen, and not contribute e waste your self.
the fact that you are now, resorting to insults and name calling, proves nothing more then the fact you are probable just a child, have a good day, and i hope your old comp doesnt die on you, so you have to contribute to e waste yourself.
BushLin - Friday, April 2, 2021 - link
vanish1: OMG ewaste! OMG be frugal with money...Also vanish1: advocates buying 200w CPU on 6 year old 14nm process and a new motherboard which won't support future 10nm/7nm CPUs. Delivering about half the performance per watt of current AMD CPUs and needs custom water cooling or datacentre loud fans just to do that.
You're either an Intel shareholder, somehow trying to justify to yourself your bad purchase or just... you know, dumb.
vanish1 - Friday, April 2, 2021 - link
@qasar go home bud, you lost the argument days ago.@bushlin ahhh you, the shill, continues to spread FUD. You know nanometer size isnt a 1:1 standard across the industry right? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROS008Av4E4 Linus is asking you sit down now please.
Beyond that, most people actually use their computer for longer than a product cycle and could really care less what cpu upgrade path exists, if you genuinely think 5 years from now a 6 or 8 core processor will be out of date then you need to seriously need to get your head checked. PC industry standards move independently of each category. You think SK Hynix cares about Intel and AMDs CPU upgrade paths when theyre ready to push DDR5 onto the world? (the answer is no).
11600k + mobo + money in my pocket = winning
5600x + mobo - overpriced dGPU to make it work = losing
BushLin - Friday, April 2, 2021 - link
" You know nanometer size isnt a 1:1 standard across the industry right?"Yes, obviously since I talked about *future* 10nm/7nm CPUs which only applies to Intel's metric as TSMC are knocking out 7nm Zen3 and 5nm Apple SoCs.
"11600k + mobo + money in my pocket = winning"
You have an office PC for a couple of years, by the time GPU shortages end you've got a terrible value for money, inefficient platform to slot a GPU into; by then, the same money you spent today would buy you a 5nm/3nm CPU with better IPC, DDR5 and even bigger gulf in performance per watt compared to your space heater, factory overclocked build.
Qasar - Friday, April 2, 2021 - link
sounds more like you lost the argument as i have suggested counter point to you BS claims about ewaste and such. bottom line is, from what it sounds like you only prefer the intel cpus, cause of the iGPU, which is fine but there ARE other options, its just you sound to cheap to consider them. a discrete vid card, can and could be used in pretty much any comp, so its not a waste as you claim.11600k + mobo + money in my pocket = winning
5600x + mobo - overpriced dGPU to make it work = losing
this is YOUR opinion nothing more.
29a - Friday, April 2, 2021 - link
I just bought a brand new AMD processor.vanish1 - Monday, April 5, 2021 - link
https://youtu.be/KPgmeNstLa8?t=722Where the clip starts the first guy has a Ryzen system sitting unused, using his phone instead.
The next one after, same situation no GPU, but Intel build, and look its running.
step back fade away J for the win at the buzzer.....swooshhhhhh
vanish1 - Monday, April 5, 2021 - link
Seriously; outside of work, do not support the GPU industry currently in any form, shape, or manner.