Intel Core i9-10900K Listed With 5.1 GHz Boost Clock

By Zhiye Liu
published

The next-generation 10-core flagship chip has shown up in 3DMark.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The Intel Core i9-10900K is next in line to replace the i9-9900K (opens in new tab). And as spotted by Twitter user @_rogame (opens in new tab), it recently landed in the 3DMark database. 

Based on the Comet Lake microarchitecture, the i9-10900K could be the last flagship processor to come out of Intel's 14nm process node. The processor has 10 cores, 20 threads (opens in new tab), and rumors point to a 20MB cache (opens in new tab). 

The 3DMark result detected the i9-10900K with a 3.7 GHz base clock (opens in new tab) and 5.1 GHz boost clock, which coincide with the figures from a previous leak (opens in new tab). The 5.1 GHz reportedly corresponds to the 10-core chip's single-core boost clock. However, the i9-10900K is rumored to exploit Intel's Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 (opens in new tab) and Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) features, which will enable it to boost to 5.2 GHz and 5.3 GHz, respectively.

Intel Core i9-10900K (Image credit: _rogame/Twitter)

The i9-10900K will only fit inside Intel's new LGA1200 socket (opens in new tab), so it will require you to buy a new motherboard based on one of the 400-series chipsets (opens in new tab). However, you will be able to reuse your cooling solution since CPU coolers that support the LGA115x socket should work fine on the LGA1200 socket (opens in new tab) since both seeming  have identical dimensions and mounting holes. That should be the least of your worries though. The big question is whether your CPU cooler (opens in new tab) can handle the i9-10900K's hotness.

One early report (opens in new tab) suggests that the i9-10900K's maximum power consumption is off the charts. When pushed to the limit, the 10-core chip is rumored to draw over 300W. That's a jaw-dropping number considering that would put the i9-10900K's power consumption in the same ballpark of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X (opens in new tab) 32-core monster.

Intel is expected lo launch the Comet Lake desktop processors (opens in new tab) in the middle of April. It won't be long before we see whether the chipmaker was successful in optimizing the i9-10900K's power consumption to a reasonable limit.

Zhiye Liu
Zhiye Liu
RAM Reviewer and News Editor

Zhiye Liu is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

Topics
CPUs
Intel
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • octavecode
    10 cores 14nm chip,add a huge heasink/fan and you got yourself a really expensive room heater.
    Reply
  • tiggers97
    octavecode said:
    10 cores 14nm chip,add a huge heasink/fan and you got yourself a really expensive room heater.
    I'm thinkinkg removing the side panel of a case, and just puting a 20" house fan in it's place should work....
    Reply
  • derekullo
    tiggers97 said:
    I'm thinkinkg removing the side panel of a case, and just puting a 20" house fan in it's place should work....
    As your room slowly heats up to 50°C ...
    Reply
  • hannibal
    Just sell heating service to your neighborhood ;)
    Reply
  • sirocu
    Yes, some brands of CPUs can get even hotter, but still can't reach to 5.0HGz. :ROFLMAO:
    Reply
  • kyzarvs
    sirocu said:
    Yes, some brands of CPUs can get even hotter, but still can't reach to 5.0HGz. :ROFLMAO:

    whichever way you look at it, 14nm doesn't cut it. Too hot, no space for cores - why would anyone buy one?
    Reply
  • AFoxNamedXyler
    sirocu said:
    Yes, some brands of CPUs can get even hotter, but still can't reach to 5.0HGz. :ROFLMAO:

    You aren't getting 5.1ghz on all 10 cores with a Hyper 212Evo, just saying :)
    Reply
  • gggplaya
    Yea, boost clock on this chip is really an irrelevant number. Once you load up those cores, this thing will throttle like crazy from all the heat.

    It will be interesting to see this thing go up against my 3900x.
    Reply
  • Diddly
    yet another motherboard/socket - not very green intel!
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    gggplaya said:
    Yea, boost clock on this chip is really an irrelevant number. Once you load up those cores, this thing will throttle like crazy from all the heat.

    It will be interesting to see this thing go up against my 3900x.
    What heat are you talking about?
    The only use case where heat will be a problem is in full AVX load and whoever uses that already knows not to use the highest clocks possible.
    In any other workload power usage is extremely low and on the same general level as ryzen 3xxx series.

    Source: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ryzen-9-3900x-7-3700x-review,6214-3.html
    i9-9900k default settings in AIDA 113W ,R7 3700X with PBO 111W, same thing.
    Reply