Meet Intel Core i9 11900K and i5 11600K - 11th Generation's best?

Intel announced the 11th-generation Intel Core i5 11600K and i9 11900K in early 2021 and in this article we share our experience with the new processors.

11th Generation Intel Core processors

In the Philippines, the new 11th Generation Intel Core i9 11900K and i5 11600K rocket lake chips have been available for purchase for several months now and the price starts at PHP 15K for the i5 and at PHP 32K for the i9.

One of the key new features of the 11th-generation processors is the new Xe Graphics Intel UHD 750 graphics that the company claims will provide 4K playback and AI features.

In this article, we will share our experience with the new Rocket Lake processors after three weeks of use including synthetic benchmarks.

Let's dive in.

Meet Intel Core i5 11600K and i9 11900K!

Intel Core i9 and i5 with cooler and motherboard

Intel sent us a press kit that includes both the i9 and i5 Rocket Lake processors. When you purchase either processor, it will come in a bright blue box with the new Intel packaging design. The box includes the processor and documentation. It does not include a cooler so when you purchase this, you will need to purchase a cooler separately.

Installing either processor is familiar with previous Intel platforms. It is worth noting that you will need the new Z590 socket for the new Rocket Lake processors. These new 500 series boards also bring several new features alongside the new processors that include 20 CPU PCIe Gen 4.0 lanes, integrated 3.2 20G and Memory overclocking (at up to 5000MHz). 

On the new Z590 socket

Pull the metal lever towards the side to release it from the lock. Then pull it back to open the CPU bracket. Align the CPU with the Motherboard by lining up the indicator on the CPU and on the motherboard then carefully drop the CPU into the socket.  Once it is in, pull the lever back towards the lock. This will lock the bracket in and the black cover of the bracket should come off.

Cooler Master CPU cooler

We then added some thermal paste and attached the third-party CPU cooler. Other components of the test bench include the ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Z590, PNY XLR8 DDR4 32GB (2x 16GB. 3200MHz), SanDisk SSD 1TB, Gigabyte RTX 3060, Cooler Master MasterAir MA624 Stealth cooler on an open-air case.

We ran the rig with the Intel i5 11600K and i9 11900K through several synthetic and gaming benchmarks in both the stock configuration and in overclocked scenarios. Below are our results.

Synthetic Benchmarks at stock configuration

Synthetic Benchmarks when overclocked

Blender and Rainbow Six Siege scores

We ran both CPUS thru GeekBench, Cinebench (R15, R20, R23), 3D Mark Time Spy Extreme, and PCMark 10. In terms of single-core performance in GeekBench and Cinebench, it is clear that both processors can provide exceptional single-core performance and provide competitive multi-core performance but at the cost of more power draw.

When overclocked to 4.8GHz, the i9 11900K was able to offer an average of 35 percent more performance but at a significantly higher operating temperature. The i5 11600K was able to offer an average of 11 percent more performance when over-clocked but at the cost of significantly higher operating temperature. 

Game Benchmarks at 1080p stock

Game Benchmarks at 1080p with Overclocking

In Gaming benchmarks, the i5 and the i9 were able to perform well because of their single-threaded performance and as such were never a bottleneck for our GPU. When overclocked, there is minimal improvement as most games are GPU-dependent. It was only in Hitman 2 did we got a significant 5 percent improvement in overall performance.

Rainbow Six Siege on Intel Xe Graphics

Tomb Raider on Intel Xe Graphics

Aside from the new processor, we also tested the new Xe Graphics Intel UHD 750 graphics where we ran Tomb Raider and Rainbow Six: Siege with the new integrated graphics. When dropping the resolution to 1366 x 768, we were able to get an average frame rate of 28 in Tomb Raider and an average of 69 frames per second in Rainbow Six: Siege. This is an improvement over previous Intel integrated graphics but it is clear to not be a true replacement for a discreet GPU.

Intel i5 11600K Specs

Lithography: 14nm

Base Frequency: 3.9GHz

Max Turbo Frequency: 4.9GHz

Number of cores: 6

Number of Threads: 12

Cache: 12MB

Bus Speed: 8GT/s

TDP: 125W

Processor Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 750 with 4K 60Hz support

Intel i9 11900K Specs

Lithography: 14nm

Base Frequency: 3.5GHz

Max Turbo Frequency: 5.3GHz

Number of cores: 8

Number of Threads: 16

Cache: 16MB

Bus Speed: 8GT/s

TDP: 125W

Processor Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 750 with 4K 60Hz support

Quick Thoughts

In summary of the processor performance, the single-core performance of both processors are strong but do not expect to gain significantly more performance when overclocked for gaming. While in multi-threaded performance both processors were able to perform competitively. Our biggest concern is that you will need a high-performance air cooler when not overclocking and if you are overclocking, we suggest getting a 240mm or a 360mm AIO water cooler as it really gets hot.

While in the integrated graphics department, the new Intel Xe Graphics UHD 750 offers significant performance improvements over the previous Intel iris graphics and would be invaluable in a pinch situation. It is not a true replacement for a discreet graphics card but it is very capable.

Overall, the new Intel 11600K and 11900K are powerful processors in terms of single-core performance while offering decent multi-core performance. The new Intel UHD 750 Xe Graphics also shows promise as it can be useful in a pinch.

Our only concern is that it draws a lot of power in order to perform and that it has fewer cores than the previous generations. Otherwise, it's a decent offering from Intel.

What do you guys think?