Conclusion
In today’s review, we have performed an in-depth review of the new Intel Core i5-11600K CPU. This is Intel’s 11th Gen Core Desktop CPU based on Rocket Lake. In the SKU, this one sits at the top of the Core i5 lineup. Its RCP pricing is $262. This actually makes it cheaper than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X at $299. These two CPUs are in direct performance competition.
The Intel Core i5-11600K is a 6 core/12 thread CPU, same as the Ryzen 5 5600X. The i5-11600K can boost up to 4.9GHz on a single-core, or 4.6GHz on all cores. In our testing we found this to be accurate, it boosted at those frequencies for us.
We have also done a full in-depth review of the Intel Core i9-11900K CPU that you don’t want to miss out on either. In both reviews, we have tested multi-threaded performance, single-threaded performance, lots of synthetic benchmarks, and games at 1080p and 4K. In our Core i9-11900K review we even tested with Intel Adaptive Boost Technology ON versus OFF.
Performance
Even though the Intel i5-11600K is on the same 14nm process as the previous generation 10th generation Comet Lake, the architecture is very much new. This change in architecture using Cypress Cove cores has paid off in the Intel Core i5-11600K compared to the Intel Core i5-10600K CPU from the last generation.
We saw some pretty big gains in performance compared to the last generation CPU, both in multi-threading and single-threading. We saw percentage increases between 7-30% in performance advantage depending on the type of workload. There were a lot of 15-20% range improvements as the average. These percentage increases are pretty meaningful, as it brings the new Intel Core i5-11600K up to Ryzen 5 5600X performance. If Intel had not done this, it would have had no chance of coming near Ryzen 5 5600X performance.
Just look at how much slower the last generation Intel Core i5-10600K is compared to the Ryzen 5 5600X. There was a large difference that existed in performance there at this price range until now. At least now, Intel has something that can compete with the Ryzen 5 5600X on performance.
In our testing of performance, it went back and forth dancing around the Ryzen 5 5600X. Some workloads were slightly faster with the Intel Core i5-11600K, and others were faster on the Ryzen 5 5600X. Then there were many that were equal in performance.
At the end of the day, both CPUs are 6 core/12 thread CPUs and therefore they have their limits in terms of multi-threading performance. We seem to find a floating-point performance advantage with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X. It also has advantages in transcoding video and rendering some 3D scenes. On the other hand, the Intel Core i5-11600K blows the doors off the Ryzen 5 5600X when special AVX instructions are used.
Therefore, which is better for your workload really depends on the workload you are performing, and the price and availability of both CPUs. If you are gaming, the answer is simple, just get the cheapest CPU because it really doesn’t affect your gaming performance either way. In fact, the Intel Core i5-11600K seems to be the bee’s knees for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 performance.
Really the only sticking point for the Intel Core i5-11600K CPU is the power demand. Combine it with a proper PSU, quality components, and good cooling, it should be fine.
The Final Points
The Intel Core i5-11600K may have a price and availability advantage over the AMD counterpart. Availability of current Ryzen 5000 series CPUs has been an issue recently. Also, pricing is just out of whack all over the place. Technically the Intel Core i5-11600K should be about $30-35 cheaper than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X. If its availability is better, then the option really does become clear. When it’s the only thing available, and technically cheaper, it could end up being a better value.
That’s about the only advantage it has though. Otherwise, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X seems to be generally just a bit faster. However, Intel now has a viable chipset to pair the i5-11600K up with, the Z590 motherboards pack in a lot of current features that are appealing. Or, you could opt for the B560 motherboards, which now offer memory overclocking.
Though, as we said in our Intel Core i9-11900K review, the ecosystem of the LGA1200 socket platform is nearing its end-of-life cycle. It will be replaced most likely at the end of this year by Alder Lake, and that’s a whole new ball of wax potentially. But hey, if you are upgrading from an older Intel CPU and you want today’s performance at a price and availability that is better than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, you now have that option with Intel, which you did not before. If you have an AMD CPU from the last few years, you might be better off holding back and seeing what comes next.