Intel Core i5-10600K CPU Review

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Game Benchmarks

We are going to look at gaming performance now using built-in game benchmarks in five different modern games.  To get a full perspective on the performance we are going to run a benchmark at 1080p with “Ultra” or Max in-game settings.  This should give us a good balance between CPU bound and GPU bound. 

At 1080p our video card won’t be trying hard, so the CPU gets some play.  Then, by testing at the highest in-game settings our GPU gets some play so we can see how the CPU affects it.  With all the game affects turned on we can experience the full graphical effects the game has to show, which can affect CPU performance, like physics.  The video card we are using on all testing is an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER Founders Edition with the latest drivers so it is very fast to show CPU performance differences at 1080p.

Grand Theft Auto V

First, we are going to run good ole Grand Theft Auto V, this DX11 game is very CPU dependent nowadays.  We are running at 1080p with the highest in-game settings.

Intel Core i5-10600K Grand Theft Auto V

Well, the Intel Core i5-10600K is on top here, giving us 117FPS average.  This is faster than the Intel Core i5-9600K by 4%.  It is also faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X by 11% which is a pretty decent difference in performance.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint

We are going to run Ghost Recon Breakpoint.  We are running the game in the Vulkan API.  The game is running at the “Ultimate” settings at 1080p which are the highest game settings.

Intel Core i5-10600K Ghost Recon Breakpoint

An interesting pattern is emerging.  The Intel Core i5-10600K is 1 FPS faster than the 9600K, so no real difference there.  However, there is more of a significant difference with the 3600X.  The Intel Core i5-10600K is 6% faster than the Ryzen 5 3600X.

Red Dead Redemption 2

We are running Red Dead Redemption 2 in the Vulkan API at 1080p with custom “Ultra” settings enabled. 

Intel Core i5-10600K Red Dead Redemption 2

Even in this very GPU depending game, we see the Intel Core i5-10600K on top.  It’s even with 9600K performance, but it is still 5% faster than the Ryzen 5 3600X.    

Metro Exodus

In Metro Exodus, we are running at 1080p with the “Extreme” setting, plus PhysX and HairWorks and Tessellation.

Intel Core i5-10600K Metro Exodus

Our trend continues, the Intel Core i5-10600K is slightly faster than the Intel Core i5-9600K, but a bigger difference compared to the 3600X.  It is 5% faster.

Gears 5

Finally, we are testing Gears 5 at 1080p with “Ultra” settings.

Intel Core i5-10600K Gears 5

This one shows a big difference.  The Intel Core i5-10600K at 121FPS is 7% faster than the Intel Core i5-9600K, which is a real improvement.  Then, the Intel Core i5-10600K is 10% faster than the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X.  That’s again a pretty decent difference. 

Brent Justicehttps://www.thefpsreview.com
Former managing editor of GPUs at HardOCP for 18 years, Brent Justice has been reviewing computer components since the late 90s, educated in the art and method of the computer hardware review, he brings experience, knowledge, and hands-on testing with a gamer-oriented and hardware enthusiast perspective. You can follow him on Twitter - @Brent_Justice You can sub to his YouTube channel - Justice Gaming https://www.youtube.com/c/JusticeGamingChannel You can check out his computer builds on KIT - @BrentJustice https://kit.co/BrentJustice

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