Custom PC - UK (2021-05)

VERDICT

As quick as a Zen 3 CPU when it’s overclocked, and

it offers much better value than Intel’s other 10-core

K-series CPUs.

OVERALL SCORE

84 %%

PERFORMANCE

40 / 50

FEATURES

14 / 15

VALUE

30 / 35

TEN CORES

+^ Good overclocker

+^ Matches Core^

i9-10900K in

most tests

+^ As quick as AMD^

CPUs when

overclocked

TEN GREEN

BOTTLES

-^ AMD CPUs faster^
at stock speed
-^ Poor power^
efficiency
-^ No PCI-E 4 support

two chips in the Cinebench multi-threaded test too. The

single-threaded test of 522 was a little way behind the

Core i9-10900K’s result of 532, but the game results were

very similar.

Overclocking also proved very fruitful, and our sample

actually managed to better the 5.1GHz all-core overclock

we achieved with the Core i9-10900K, reaching 5.2GHz

with 1.35V, although we did need to apply some fairly high

loadline calibration to get there. Still, this means we see

no drop in peak boost frequency, since 5.2GHz is the same

clock the CPU can achieve at stock speed. The already hefty

power draw rose from 341W for the system under load to

481W though.

The boost from overclocking was significant, with the

Core i9-10850K leapfrogging the Core i9-10900K in the

image editing and video encoding test, and coming within

the margin of error overall.

In games, while the Core i9-10850K was slower than

the Ryzen 9 5800X at stock speed in Far Cry New Dawn,

it leapfrogged all the AMD CPUs we’ve tested once it was

overclocked, with the 99th percentile frame rate rising

from 97fps to 111fps, compared to 104fps for the Ryzen 9

5800X. Metro Exodus, meanwhile, saw the 99th percentile

frame rate rise from 43fps to 47fps – again, a faster result

than the AMD CPU.

Conclusion

The Core i9-10850K is an interesting CPU for a few

reasons. Firstly, as it has two more cores than the Ryzen 7

5800X, it offers similar multi-threaded performance for

less cash. AMD is clearly offering far more performance

per core here, but in terms of bang for your buck, Intel has

a strong case. It’s also not likely to be noticeably slower

in games, but even our comparatively modest RTX 2070

Super showed a definite advantage over the AMD CPUs at

1080p. Above this, though, the differences will get smaller.

The issue for Intel is that its IPC and single-threaded

performance – while excellent at launch – is no match for

Zen 3. The Core i9-10850K also has no support for PCI-E

4 for the latest SSDs either, unlike AMD’s Zen 3 chips.

AMD’s CPUs had massive leads in our image editing test,

and will have leads in other games and lightly threaded

applications too.

For a pure gaming system, the Ryzen 5 5600X is a better

bet for the money, while the Ryzen 7 5800X costs £

more but has that extra lightly threaded grunt. Still, if £

is your limit, the Core i9-10850K offers great performance

when it’s overclocked, where it can still match AMD’s

latest chips.

ANTONY LEATHER

BENCHMARK RESULTS

Stock speed 99th percentile Stock speed avg

Overclocked 99th percentile Overclocked avg

FAR1,920 CRYx 1,080, NEW Ultra settings DAWN

0 40 80 120 160

Intel Core i9-10850K 97fps 135fps

111fps 140fps

Intel Core i9-10900K 98fps 135fps

111fps 140fps

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 104fps 135fps

105fps 135fps

METRO EXODUS1,920 x 1,080, Ultra settings, HairWorks off

0 40 80 120 160

Intel Core i9-10850K 43fps 82fps

47fps 83fps

Intel Core i9-10900K 42fps 78fps

42fps (^) 79fps
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 43fps 82fps
47fps 82fps
GIMP IMAGE EDITING
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,
Intel Core i9-10850K 62,366 71,
Intel Core i9-10900K 62,790 67,
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 74,98676,
HANDBRAKE H.264 VIDEO ENCODING
0 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,
Intel Core i9-10850K 726,017 794,38 0
Intel Core i9-10900K 730,663 755,
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 719,524726,
HEAVY MULTITASKING
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,
Intel Core i9-10850K 290,052 300,
Intel Core i9-10900K 295,870 311,
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 324,507330,
SYSTEM SCORE
0 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,
Intel Core i9-10850K 275,594 327,
Intel Core i9-10900K 319,985 331,
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 285,740289,
0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,
Intel Core i9-10850K 6,111 6,
Intel Core i9-10900K 6,325 6,
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 5,989 6,
Stock speed Overclocked
Stock speed Overclocked
0 200 400 600
Intel Core i9-10850K 341W^ 481W
Intel Core i9-10900X 345W^ 465W
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 237W 262W
LOAD TOTAL SYSTEM POWER CONSUMPTION
Lower is better
Stock speed Overclocked
CINEBENCH R20 MULTITHREADED
0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,
Intel Core i9-10850K 522544
Intel Core i9-10900K 523532
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 595624
CINEBENCH R20 SINGLETHREADED