Intel seems set to challenge AMD’s Ryzen 3000 CPUs in the coming months with the imminent launch of the 10th Gen Comet Lake chips, packing up to 10 cores for the mainstream market. Keep in mind, that these are the 14nm+++ CPUs and not the newer 10nm Ice Lake parts planned for a mobile launch this Q4. So, you are looking at more cores per chip, slightly higher clocks, higher TDPs, as well as temps. However, considering Intel’s high IPC, they should be able to beat the Ryzen 3000 chips in gaming, but at what cost?
According to an ECC listing (now taken down), the 10th Gen Intel chips are in the qualification stage and might hit retail as early 2020. There have been many software development kits floating around on Twitter, so it’s highly plausible in my opinion.
The Comet Lake CPUs are expected to support the newer LGA 1200 socket, a shift from Intel’s traditional 115x naming scheme, and given the modest performance gains, most enthusiasts won’t be too tempted to upgrade. However, for people with the pre-Kabylake chips, this might be a viable upgrade as you’re essentially getting double the cores and much higher operating clocks, although it’s going to cost you.
Intel Comet Lake Desktop CPUs expected Specifications
| Processor | Cores /Thr | Base Clk | Boost Clk | TDP | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i9-10900K | 10/20 | 3.4 GHz | 5.2 GHz | 105W | $499 |
| Intel Core i7-10700K | 8/16 | 3.6 GHz | 5.1 GHz | 95W | $339 |
| Intel Core i7-10700 | 8/16 | 3,1 GHz | 4.9 GHz | 65W | $329 |
| Intel Core i5-10600K | 6/12 | 3.7 GHz | 4.9 GHz | 95W | $269 |
| Intel Core i5-10600 | 6/12 | 3.2 GHz | 4.8 GHz | 65W | $229 |
| Intel Core i5-10500 | 6/12 | 3.1 GHz | 4.6 GHz | 65W | $199 |
| Intel Core i5-10400 | 6/12 | 3.0 GHz | 4.4 GHz | 65W | $179 |
| Intel Core i3-10350K | 4/8 | 4.1 GHz | 4.8 GHz | 91W | $179 |
| Intel Core i3-10320 | 4/8 | 4.0 GHz | 4.7 GHz | 91W | $159 |
| Intel Core i3-10300 | 4/8 | 3.8 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 62W | $149 |
| Intel Core i3-10100 | 4/8 | 3.7 GHz | 4.4 GHz | 62W | $129 |
So basically, the Core i9-10900K will go up against the Ryzen 9 3900X at the same price point with two cores less but a higher frequency, so we can expect better gaming performance but worse multi-threaded scores. The i9 gets a core increment while the i7 and i5s will most likely sport the same counts with some frequency boosts. All in all, Comet Lake will essentially be limited to the i9-10900K thanks to the additional two cores while the rest of the lineup will more or less be identical to the Coffee Lake-S parts, albeit with hyperthreading (at the cost of thermals and the power draw). The prices should be directly in line with the competing Zen 2 offerings, so we can expect relatively affordable blue processors after quite a while.
What do you think about Intel’s 5th consecutive desktop lineup based on the 14nm manufacturing process? How will it fare against AMD’s much more efficient 7nm Ryzen 3000 chips?
Further Reading:
Any Idea About 10th for Gaming Laptop?