Core i9-10900K vs Core i7-11700K

Gaming speed, cores and clocks

The Core i9-10900K and the Core i7-11700K are within a few percent of each other for gaming. In a game, you will not see the difference.

The Core i9-10900K has 10 cores and 20 threads, and the Core i7-11700K has 8 cores and 16 threads. The extra cores of the Core i9-10900K help with video editing, streaming while you play and heavy multitasking more than with the game itself. Boost clocks are 5.3 GHz and 5 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 125 W for the first and 125 W for the second. That is close enough that cooling needs will be similar.

At launch the Core i9-10900K cost $488 and the Core i7-11700K $399, which gives 11.9 and 14.3 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 i9-10900K can feed a card up to the GeForce RTX 4070 Super before it holds the card back by more than 10 percent. The Core i7-11700K reaches the GeForce RTX 5070. Both chips are in the same range for graphics card pairing.

Choose the Core i9-10900K if you want the faster gaming chip and the same or more cores. Choose the Core i7-11700K if you would rather spend the difference on a graphics card, which does more for frame rates in most games.