Core i5-11600 vs Core i7-10700K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i5-11600 and the Core i7-10700K are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i5-11600 has 6 cores and 12 threads, and the Core i7-10700K has 8 cores and 16 threads. The extra cores of the Core i7-10700K help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 4.8 GHz and 5.1 GHz.

Platform, power and price

Both chips use the LGA1200 socket, so they fit the same motherboards. You can swap one for the other without changing the board.

Rated power is 65 W for the first and 125 W for the second. That difference changes the cooler you need, and it shows up in heat and noise.

At launch the Core i5-11600 cost $213 and the Core i7-10700K $374, which gives 25.4 and 14.2 points of gaming performance per $100. Today's prices will differ.

Which graphics cards each one can feed, and which to buy

At 1080p the Core i5-11600 can feed a card up to the Radeon RX 7800 XT before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i7-10700K reaches the Radeon RX 6800 XT. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i5-11600 if you want the faster gaming chip. Choose the Core i7-10700K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.