Intel Core i5 11600K 11th Gen Rocket Lake Processor
This Core i5-11600K Processor comes with Intel UHD Graphics 750. This new 11th gen Rocket Lake microarchitecture is manufactured with the 14nm process that comes with six cores and twelve threads. As this chip is updated to the latest BIOS revision, it nicely fits into any Intel 400 and 500 series motherboards. Focusing on this, all the major motherboard manufacturers have already started BIOS updates for their 400 and 500 series lineup. These Processors also support 64-bit computing on Intel architecture require an Intel x86-64 (64 bit) architecture-enabled BIOS.Core Benefits of the ProcessorIntel 11th Generation Core i5-11600K Processor having a base frequency of 3.90 GHz that can be reached as max turbo frequency at 4.90 GHz. The processor has a compatibility socket of LGA 1200 that is supported by 400 and 500 series Intel motherboards. It has a SmartCache of 12 MB containing 6 cores and 12 threads. With a bus speed of 8 GT/s, it has thermal design power (TDP) rating of 125W. This latest microchip has few expansion options such as 4.0 PCI express revision having configured up to 1x16, 2x8, 1x8+2x4, and a maximum of 20 lanes. Considering the memory this processor has a dual-channel of max 128GB of the size that supports up to DDR4-3200 bus speed.
Intel Core i5 11600K Review
The Intel Core i5-11600K is based on Intel's 11th-generation Rocket Lake-S architecture, yet again based on a 14nm manufacturing process. However, unlike the past few generations, which were all based on 2015's Skylake architecture, Intel instead took the 7nm Ice Lake architecture and ported it back to 14nm, to a new core architecture it's calling Cypress Cove. The main reason Intel did this was to be able to push clock speeds higher than it is currently able to on 7nm, which is important for PC gaming. Now, for the Core i9-11900K, this was a big downgrade, as it forced Intel to move back down to an eight-core, 16-thread design, but for the Core i5, it leads to huge jumps in performance generation-over-generation, which we'll go into later.
However, this added performance doesn't come for free. The Intel Core i5-11600K consumes way more power and gets way hotter than the Intel Core i5-10600K, and it's not even close. Without putting the Intel Core i5-10600K through something like Prime95, it reaches a peak power consumption of just 95.15W. The 11600K, on the other hand, goes all the way up to 180.74W – nearly twice as much power. And as a result, temperatures are much higher. Even using the exact same cooler in the exact same tests, the Intel Core i5-11600K peaks at 76°C, a huge jump over the 61°C of the 10600K.
That means that for the first time, we're recommending that everyone that picks this processor up goes for a pretty robust CPU cooler. It's going to get hot. In the past, this tier of processor was basically made for folks that just wanted to make a mid-range PC, but with the amount of cooling and power that it requires, you're going to have to invest in both a beefy cooler and a power supply that can keep up with how much juice this thing sucks from the wall – especially if you're pairing it with a powerful graphics card like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. Probably the coolest thing about this generation of Intel processors, however, is the inclusion of PCIe 4.0 compatibility. Intel has finally caught up to AMD on desktop in that regard, and you're going to be able to use the fastest SSDs on the market – which is probably why we're starting to see more speedy SSDs starting to hit the market all of a sudden.
Performance
When we reviewed the Intel Core i9-11900K, we criticized it heavily because it fell behind not only its competition, but the previous-generation Intel Core i9-10900K. The Core i5-10600K does not have that problem. Now, it does fall behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X in a few workloads, namely heavy-duty creative workloads like Blender and Adobe Premiere. That's pretty much to be expected, AMD has been extremely strong in these applications for a couple years now. But because the Intel Core i5-11600K is priced the way it is, gaming performance is much more important, as creative professionals are likely going to be jumping for something a bit more expensive anyways. And the Intel Core i5-11600K doesn't exactly blow the Ryzen 5 5600X out of the water here, but it does trade blows quite effectively. Our CPU test suite includes three gaming workloads, 3DMark Time Spy, Metro Exodus at 1080p on low settings and Total War: Three Kingdoms at 1080p with low settings. Intel comes away with a win in both the 3DMark CPU score and in Metro Exodus. And even its loss in Total War: Three Kingdoms is just a 5% loss.
For a processor that's a whopping 30% cheaper than the Ryzen 5 5600X, you're really not missing out if your core focus is playing your favorite PC games. And even though the Core i5-11600K does fall behind a little bit in something like Premiere, there's still more than enough headroom here for doing some streaming through OBS – doubly so if you pair it with an Nvidia graphics card with the fantastic NVENC encoder.
What's more important, though, is how much of an improvement the Core i5-11600K brings over the Core i5-10600K. Again, this is mostly thanks to the way higher power consumption, but you're looking at a gigantic 24-44% jump in potential gaming performance. It's unlikely, of course, that you're going to be playing anything at 1080p low settings with this graphics card, unless you're really after the high framerates in esports titles, but it's way less likely that this processor is going to bottleneck a high-end graphics card, which means you're going to be more likely to drive the 360Hz gaming monitors we're starting to see hit the market. If all you're looking to do is build yourself a nice affordable gaming rig, and you don't think you're going to be going all-in on content creation, the Intel Core i5-11600K might be one of the best processors on the market right now. You do have to contend with the frankly out of control power consumption and temperatures, which will add to the cost of your build once you factor in cooling and power, but this is probably the Intel processor to buy. Hopefully next generation Intel will release more than just a Core i5 processor that's worth buying, but until then, the Intel Core i5-11600K will be a fantastic chip for any PC gamer, aspiring or otherwise.
This processor has 03 years warranty (no warranty for fan or cooler).
