Intel recently launched its Rocket Lake CPUs, which include the i9-11900K, the i7-11700K, and the i5-11600K. There are a tonne of reviews out there, including some highly entertaining videos which should not be missed. What follows is our take on this launch, including the changes it will be bringing to the Logical Increments build chart on our homepage.
So, let us take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly highlights of this launch.
AMD and Intel have been the desktop CPU duopoly for as long as we can remember, with the mantle of “best CPU manufacturer” having been worn by both. From about 2005 to 2017, Intel was king. AMD’s Ryzen series began stealing the multi-threaded marketshare with the launch of a large number of high-core-count CPUs at a moderate price. These CPUs did not make AMD the “best CPU manufacturer” though, since single-threaded performance was still behind.
Numerically, 2017 was 3 years ago, but the numbers do not match the emotion: 2017 feels like it was in the Dark Ages. Many centuries have passed since the year 2017, and AMD has been improving. With each revision to the Ryzen family, AMD’s multi-threaded superiority was extended, and Intel’s single-threaded lead was diminished.
With Intel stubbornly refusing to abandon the 14nm process that has been (reportedly) in use since the times of Genghis Khan, this day had to come. Intel’s single-threaded dominance is over, for no king can rule forever.
For the past few years, Intel has just barely been able to eke out a competitive edge against AMD’s wildly successful Ryzen chips. For straight gaming, Intel’s i7 and i9 chips have been the leader, albeit by a slim margin over AMD’s multitasking powerhouse lineup of CPUs.
Will Intel’s 10th generation, dubbed Comet Lake-S, change all that? Here’s what we know about Intel’s next generation of desktop CPUs.