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Intel’s recent 11th-generation desktop processors hit cabinets on Tuesday, and as you’ll locate in our comprehensive overview, Rocket Lake does zip along. But ought to quiet you employ it barely than the old generation of Comet Lake chips? We pitted the discontinue part from every line towards every varied, with a supreme close result.
Gaming
Intel boasted an as much as 19 p.c magnify in IPC performance for its shimmering recent Core i9-11900Sufficient processor, and it largely delivers that in video games. Across the eight titles we benchmarked, the 11th-gen i9 chip outperformed its 10th-gen predecessor by an moderate of about 7 p.c, however a number of video games peaked around that 19 p.c plateau. In Ashes of the Escalation, the 11900Sufficient steamed forward by about 21 p.c, whereas in Gears Ways, it posted an 18 p.c enchancment.
IDG / Hayden DingmanOur eight-game benchmark spanned Ashes of the Escalation, Shadows of the Tomb Raider, Horizon Zero Crack of break of day, Purple Tiresome Redemption 2, Counter-Strike: World Offensive, Metro Exodus, Gears Ways, and A long way Issue Fresh Crack of break of day. Gears Ways confirmed even handed one of Rocket Lake’s greatest increases in performance over Comet Lake.
That stated, undergo in mind that the better the choice you play at, the less you’ll locate this distinction in performance. Pass as much as a extensive part ratio, 1440p, or even 4K speak, and the gap will narrow. The 11900Sufficient’s vital bewitch when it involves gaming is re-organising Intel’s competitiveness with AMD’s similar Ryzen processor.
Winner: 11th-gen Rocket Lake
Tell material advent
The 11900Sufficient has two less cores than the 10900Sufficient, however whether or now no longer you even leer that is dependent upon the receive of speak advent work you attain.
The 10900Sufficient wins in some multi-threaded 3D rendering benchmarks, however now no longer all. It has the brink, by 5 to 9 p.c, in older benchmarks or folks who don’t lean on more moderen instruction sets. But in a benchmark cherish Cinebench R20, the 11900Sufficient triumphed by about 4 p.c. The chip that prevails here is dependent upon which benchmark your workload aligns with. Shall we embrace: Cinebench R20 may perhaps perchance perhaps also occupy more relevance whenever you’re employed with Adobe products, as Adobe licenses Cinebench’s industrial engine for use.
PCWorldReckoning on the receive of speak advent you attain, the Core i9-10900Sufficient may perhaps perchance perhaps also very properly occupy the brink over the logo-recent Core i9-11900Sufficient. But folks who lean on Adobe products will take advantage of Rocket Lake’s performance gains.
You can perhaps perhaps also better locate how this performs out in our Photoshop, Lightroom, and Premiere benchmarks: in the Photoshop and Lightroom tests, the Rocket Lake CPU continuously outpaced its Comet Lake equal. Reckoning on the benchmark, you’ll locate an magnify of about 2 to 13 p.c in total performance.
Winner: Tie
Aspects
Fresh processor traces continuously contain upgraded gains to counterpoint quicker cores, however their usefulness can vary from generation to generation. Rocket Lake now no longer only builds on Intel’s strengths, however corrects the firm’s one fat weakness compared to the competitors, too. The 11900Sufficient supports PCIe 4.0 moreover involves a recent media encoder engine, quicker QuickSync, and quicker AES and SHA-1 encryption. We furthermore saw better increase scores all the blueprint thru our tests compared to the 10900Sufficient.
CorsairFor the time being, PCIe 4.0 cherish minded ingredients are sparse on the floor, little to a handful of SSDs. You’ll be attempting to search out this selection largely as a future-proofing measure.
Earlier than Intel faced the specter of AMD’s Zen processors, incremental feature trends had been the norm. No longer now. The transfer to more moderen microarchitecture provides the 11900Sufficient a actual bewitch over the 10900Sufficient on this entrance.
Winner: 11th-gen Rocket Lake
Vitality blueprint
PCWorldOur strength consumption ends in Handbrake. Comet Lake consumes less energy than its successor, however now no longer near to as little as Ryzen’s rival ingredients.
Earlier than its official launch, Rocket Lake received a repute for drinking a host of strength compared to its Ryzen counterpart. But what about when compared to its predecessor?
Ryzen’s more strength ambiance friendly, so the gap isn’t quite so exceptional between the two Intel generations. Nonetheless, you’ll quiet locate more modest strength consumption when running the Core i9-10900Sufficient than with the more moderen 11900Sufficient. In Cinebench R20, the Comet Lake CPU’s maximum complete-machine strength blueprint stayed faithful below 300W, whereas the Rocket Lake processor stretched to virtually 380W. (Ryzen, for its part, retains below 240W—even when all 24 threads on the 5900X are in use.) The story modified into an identical in Handbrake, which is a more likely actual-world jam: Comet Lake assuredly remained below 300W for complete machine strength blueprint, whereas Rocket Lake hovered around 370W.
For most folks in areas with sensible electricity, this distinction received’t subject that exceptional. But when or now no longer it’s vital to scrutinize your strength consumption, the older part will place you more money over time.
Winner: 10th-gen Comet Lake
Mark
No longer too system back, the one checklist prices that mattered for Intel processors had been those of the most up-to-date generation. Earlier generations didn’t plunge exceptional in mark despite being supplanted—reductions had been quite anemic. But at the moment time, the 10th-gen Core i9-10900Sufficient’s $488 mark designate issues, especially as that that you just would be in a position to perhaps also scoop up this chip for $460 at most foremost retail outlets. Bewitch the older processor CPU and also you’ll place about $80, which is sufficient to veil half the worth of a Z490 motherboard.
Rush extra down the stack, and the financial savings ramp up. Gross sales on Comet Lake ingredients were dramatic in the lead as much as Rocket Lake’s launch: The Core i9-10850Sufficient tumbled to $340 in early March and now hovers at $380. The Core i7-10700Sufficient fell to below $300 in leisurely March, then rose to $320. And the Core i5-10600Sufficient dipped to $225 and stayed there.
PCWorldAs illustrated by this search on Slickdeals.net for previous gross sales on the 10700Sufficient, shopping a Comet Lake CPU as a replace of a Rocket Lake part provides so much bang for the buck.
Anyone living shut to a Micro Center saw even decrease prices—in spite of every thing, the 10700Sufficient modified into quiet $250 at the time of this article’s publish. Bewitch it as a replace of the $400 11th-gen Core i7-11700Sufficient, and also that that you just would be in a position to perhaps also fully fund a Z490 mobo.
With Intel adopting AMD’s follow of marketing its old-gen chips at a scale back mark, the rising checklist prices on the most up-to-date generation are a more challenging promote. Rocket Lake faithful can’t beat Comet Lake in worth.
Winner: 10th-gen Comet Lake
Overall winner
Picking one winner between the Core i9-10900Sufficient and Core i9-11900Sufficient (exceptional less everything of the 10th- and 11th-gen lineups) is difficult. The real likelihood for one person may perhaps perchance perhaps now no longer be so for one other.
Focal level predominantly on 3D rendering in non-Adobe gains cherish POV-Ray? You’d likely be better off with Comet Lake, and sinking that saved money into an enhance in your eventual GPU employ. The older CPU advantages from its extra cores in that specific receive of initiatives. But whenever you’re an Adobe person, the script flips—a little. You’ll quiet be better off specializing in the GPU whenever you don’t care about PCIe 4.0 reinforce.
Gordon Mah UngDon’t receive us terrifying—a worth buyer can receive a host of mileage out of Comet Lake CPUs quiet. Rocket Lake, however, has a tiny edge when specific wants are unknown.
The story’s an identical for video games whenever you play above 1080p. Basically, PCIe 4.0 reinforce may perhaps perchance perhaps also very properly be essentially the most influential factor on whether or now no longer to streak along with an 11th-generation Rocket Lake part.
In the destroy, the likelihood boils down as to if or now no longer you’re a worth buyer, otherwise you like having the better of the staunch. Other folks pondering even handed one of many two high chips we involved on in this showdown are likely in the latter camp, which propels the Core i9-11900Sufficient to the discontinue.
Indeed, we’re going to name this contest for Rocket Lake total, despite Comet Lake’s actual showing as an out of this world replace. Obviously, your deepest cases ought to quiet dictate which chip is the better buy, and even then the excellence isn’t fully obvious scale back. But finally, the more moderen, shinier silicon has the brink. More performance and better future-proofing occupy worth, too.
Winner: 11th-gen Rocket Lake
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