How Good Is Intel Core I9 10900k Actually? All Results
Topic introduction
It has been more than 2 years since Intel released the Intel Core i9 10900k. It’s well known that this processor is one of the best processors on the market for the whole time since its release, and although the price of this CPU is “reasonable”, this processor has huge power consumption, which turns off some people before purchasing it.
Today, I have this powerful processor in my hands for testing and I will try to give you a full revisit of this processor in mid-2022.
Stay here and find out how good this CPU is right now.
Intel Core I9 10900k Specifications
| Number of Cores | 10 cores |
| Number of Threads | 20 threads |
| Base Frequency | 3.7 GHz |
| Boost Frequency | 5.3 GHz |
| Process Size | 14nm |
| TDP | 125W |
| Socket | LGA 1200 |
Best Intel Core I9 10900k Offer At The Moment
How Good Is Intel Core I9 10900k Actually? Short Topic Answer
Intel Core I9 10900k is more than a good processor in any category you try it on in 2022. With 10 cores and 20 threads, the only bad side of this CPU is power consumption, which is high considering other CPUs in this range. Pair this CPU with an equally powerful GPU and you will have your dream PC.
How Good Is Intel Core I9 10900k For Gaming?
How Good Is Intel Core I9 10900k in 1080 Gaming?
The First benchmark that I did with more than powerful Intel Core I9 10900k was in the resolution which is the best for the CPU tests – 1080p. In order to get the most out of this processor, I paired it with the Nvidia RTX 3090, which is probably more than you need for your build.
As you can see in the table below, I tested Intel Core i9 10900k in 5 different games, and every game had increased graphics settings. The results from the test really amazed me. Every game that I tested averaged well above 100 fps, which really shows us how good of a processor Intel i9 10900k is, especially when paired with a graphics card this good.
If you take a look at the Average FPS in Fortnite, you will see how powerful this processor actually is.
Take a look at the table yourself.
| Specs: Intel Core I9 10900k, Nvidia RTX 3090, 32GB DDR4, 1TB SSD | AVERAGE FPS | 1% LOW FPS |
|---|---|---|
| Doom Eternal (Ultra Nightmare settings - 1080p) | 421 fps | 229 fps |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (Ultra settings - 1080p) | 135 fps | 93 fps |
| Far Cry 5 (Ultra settings - 1080p) | 161 fps | 127 fps |
| ARK (Epic settings - 1080p) | 133 fps | 73 fps |
| Fortnite (Competitive settings - 1080p) | 396 fps | 299 fps |
How Good Is Intel Core I9 10900k in 1440p Gaming?
The second benchmark that I did with Intel core i5 10900k is in the sweet spot for most gamers – 1440p. Have in mind, that in 1440p resolution the graphics card is the one that is doing more work, but you definitely need a powerful CPU to maintain good performance.
Once again, I paired the Intel i9 10900k with the Nvidia RTX 3090, which will have a lot of impact on the 1440p testing, but don’t worry, If you have a less expensive GPU you will still enjoy gaming in 1440p with the Intel i9 10900k.
As you can see, I benchmarked these two in the same 5 games, and all 5 games were run on the same graphics preset, so you can see the difference clearly between the 1080p and 1440p.
If you take a look at the table below, you can see that 4 out of 5 games averaged more than 100 fps, which is pretty amazing considering the graphics settings and resolution.
See the table yourself!
| Specs: Intel Core I9 10900k, Nvidia RTX 3090, 32GB DDR4, 1TB SSD | AVERAGE FPS | 1% LOW FPS |
|---|---|---|
| Doom Eternal (Ultra Nightmare settings - 1440p) | 284 fps | 184 fps |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (Ultra settings - 1440p) | 118 fps | 85 fps |
| Far Cry 5 (Ultra settings - 1440p) | 154 fps | 114 fps |
| ARK (Epic settings - 1440p) | 94 fps | 64 fps |
| Fortnite (Competitive settings - 1440p) | 385 fps | 226 fps |
Intel Core I9 10900k vs AMD Ryzen 9 5900x – Results in 1080p
Since there is the whole debate about which processor is actually better, I wanted to test and compare the Intel i9 10900k with its biggest rival AMD Ryzen 9 5900x.
We all know that both of these two processors are very powerful, but a lot of people are interested in head-to-head gaming results. Intel i9 10900k is 10 cores and 20 threads CPU, while AMD Ryzen 9 5900x has 2 more cores and 4 more threads (and much less on-paper power consumption)
In order to get the most out of both processors, this time I paired them with Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB, which is more than good to perform at the high level.
As you can see in the table below I tested these two processors in 7 popular video games, and most of these games were hard to run and a bit unoptimized. If you take a closer look, you can see that framerates were similar in basically all games, and if one CPU performed better – it’s by only a few fps.
That alone tells us that there are no better processors between these two. Of course, AMD Ryzen 9 5900x has more cores and threads, and less power consumption, but when we test it head to head with Intel i9 10900k – the difference is minimal, at least in 1080p resolution.
So what CPU should you buy? That completely depends on you. If you are an AMD fan, or you already have the motherboard or RAM that can be paired with Ryzen 9 5900x, you should buy Ryzen CPU. The same applies to Intel.
Take a look at the table yourself!
| Specs: Intel Core I9 10900k/AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, Nvidia RTX 3080 10GB, 32GB DDR4, 1Tb SSD | Intel I9 10900k - AVERAGE FPS | Intel I9 10900k -1% LOW FPS | AMD Ryzen 9 5900X - AVERAGE FPS | AMD Ryzen 9 5900X - 1% LOW FPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Dead Redemption 2 (High settings - 1080p) | 151 fps | 112 fps | 148 fps | 111 fps |
| Mafia Definitive Edition (High settings - 1080p) | 153 fps | 99 fps | 158 fps | 102 fps |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator (High settings - 1080p) | 90 fps | 76 fps | 90 fps | 79 fps |
| Watch Dogs Legion (Ultra settings - 1080p) | 115 fps | 87 fps | 118 fps | 86 fps |
| Battlefield V (Ultra settings - 1080p) | 197 fps | 117 fps | 194 fps | 115 fps |
| Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Very High settings - 1080p) | 121 fps | 78 fps | 123 fps | 83 fps |
| Hitman 2 (Ultra settings - 1080p) | 159 fps | 116 fps | 159 fps | 114 fps |
Best Graphics Card To Pair With Intel Core I9 10900k
Nvidia RTX 3080 is the best graphics card that you can pair with the Intel Core I9 10900k. With 10Gb of GDDR6 VRAM, this graphics card has enough to support more than the powerful I9 10900k. If you pair them together, you will have an amazing experience in any program or game you try to use or play.
You can read my post about this graphics card by pressing the button below.
Best Nvidia RTX 3080 Offer At The Moment
Is Intel Core I9 10900k Future-Proof
Intel Core I9 10900k is definitely a future-proof processor. Although it has been more than two years since Intel released this CPU, the Intel i9 10900k has much more working time ahead in the future. Since it has 10 cores and 20 threads, you can use it for at least 6 more years without any problems
