Intel i9-11900K vs AMD Ryzen 9 5950X: The Battle of Desktop Chips

Mar. 19, 2021

Intel and AMD are at it again. Intel recently released its flagship desktop processorIntel i9-11900K, which is said to unseatAMD Ryzen 9 5950X(or 5900X) from the top spot. Over the last few years, the chip race between Intel and AMD has gotten pretty intense, especially after AMD made a stellar comeback with its Zen architecture. The two behemoths are still pretty much in the race, trying to outperform each other. So without further ado, let’s find out how the recently announced Intel i9-11900K vs AMD Ryzen 9 5950X desktop processors compare.

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While the specs comparison gives you a good overview of the chip, we will discuss a bit more about Intel’s new microarchitecture here. First of all, theIntel i9-11900K chip is built on the 14nm process node, which is quite disappointing. Consumers were hoping to seeIntel finally move to a 7nmor at least 10nm fabrication process for desktop chips this year. But it did not happen, and we are still stuck with an aging 14nm process node. Intel’s new microarchitecture, Cypress Cove, might capture your interest, but it’s not as revolutionary as AMD’s Zen 3 architecture.

Let’s move on to benchmark tests to get a closer look at the performance difference between Ryzen 9 5950X and Intel i9-11900K.

Since the Intel i9-11900K is was announced a few days ago, reviewers and enthusiasts have not got their hands on the processor just yet. Until some users run various intensive tests, we won’t know which is a better processor among the two. However, Intel claimed that the11th-Gen Core i9-11900K processor is better than AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900X(12 cores, 24 threads). The American chipmaker shared some comparison numbers in public, and you can check them out right here:

In terms of creative and office applications, Intel i9-11900K again took the lead over AMD Ryzen 9 5900X.Video creationworkflow saw a massive jump of 35%, 14% in photo-related work, and 8% in office workflow. What is heartening to see is that MLPerf saw an improvement of 38%, which is just great.

Looking at these numbers, it seems Intel i9-11900K outperformed AMD Ryzen 9 5900X. But, I would ask you to take these figures with a pinch of salt. Companies tend to show selective numbers, so we cannot pass any judgment before reviewers run some extensive third-party benchmark tests. Also, keep in mind,Intel has pitted its flagship desktop processor against AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, which has lower cores and threadsthan the Ryzen 9 5950X. Perhaps, it’s because of the similar pricing bracket that both the processors share.

Well, looking solely at the spec sheet, AMD Ryzen 9 5950X seems like a better desktop processor than the latest 11th-Gen Intel Core i9-11900K. However, if you consider the benchmark numbers shared by Intel, the i9-11900K seems to be leading the race here. Well, we can’t come to a conclusive judgment at this point. But there is something that begs our attention.

While it is right to deride Intel for not innovating and adopting an efficient process node, you cannot overlook that its14nm processors still offer stiff competition to AMD’s 7nm processors. It shows that Intel’s 14nm process is pretty matured, and the company can derive performance from every last bit.

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