Introduction
If you‘re a PC enthusiast or professional in need of the most powerful desktop processor, your choice often comes down to the latest and greatest from the perennial rivals in the space: AMD and Intel. With the release of AMD‘s Ryzen 5000 series in late 2020, the competition between these two CPU giants has reached a new apogee.
Leading the charge for AMD is the Ryzen 9 5900X, a 12-core, 24-thread beast built on the new Zen 3 architecture. It‘s facing off against Intel‘s current mainstream flagship, the 10-core, 20-thread Core i9-10900K, which boasts blistering single-core speeds.
In this article, we‘ll be putting these two titan-class CPUs head to head in a battle royale of performance benchmarks, specs, features, platform ecosystem, and overall value. By the end, you‘ll know which one deserves its place in your ultimate high-end desktop build. Let‘s get ready to rumble!
Architecture and Specifications
Before we dive into the benchmarks, let‘s take a closer look at the key specifications and architectural differences between the Ryzen 9 5900X and Core i9-10900K.
| Specification | AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | Intel Core i9-10900K |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Zen 3 | Comet Lake (Skylake derivative) |
| Process Node | 7nm | 14nm |
| Cores/Threads | 12/24 | 10/20 |
| Base Clock | 3.7 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| Boost Clock | 4.8 GHz | 5.3 GHz |
| L3 Cache | 64MB | 20MB |
| TDP | 105W | 125W |
| Memory Support | DDR4-3200 | DDR4-2933 |
| PCIe Version | 4.0 | 3.0 |
The 5900X‘s Zen 3 architecture brings a massive 19% IPC (instructions per clock) uplift over Zen 2, thanks to a new 8-core CCX (core complex) design, unified 32MB L3 cache per CCX, and improved branch prediction and pre-fetching. This allows the 5900X to execute significantly more instructions per clock than its predecessor and Intel‘s competing Comet Lake design.
Comet Lake is Intel‘s 10th generation Core architecture and a derivative of the long-running Skylake design introduced in 2015. Intel has been refining and optimizing Skylake for several years now, pushing clock speeds higher each generation to maintain a single-threaded performance edge.
The 5900X‘s 12 cores are divided into two CCXs, each containing 6 cores and 32MB of L3 cache. The two CCXs are linked via AMD‘s Infinity Fabric interconnect, allowing for fast communication between the cores and memory. The 10900K‘s 10 cores are arranged in a ring bus topology with 20MB of shared L3 cache.
In terms of process node, the 5900X is fabricated on TSMC‘s advanced 7nm FinFET process, enabling higher transistor density and power efficiency compared to the 10900K‘s 14nm process. This is a key factor in the 5900X‘s superior multi-threaded performance and lower TDP.
The 10900K fights back with higher clock speeds, boosting up to 5.3 GHz on a single core (Thermal Velocity Boost) and 4.9 GHz all-core. The 5900X tops out at 4.8 GHz boost and 4.6 GHz all-core, but its IPC advantage helps close the single-threaded gap.
Gaming Performance
For most enthusiasts eyeing these two CPUs, gaming benchmarks are going to be a top consideration. To see how they stack up, we‘ve compiled tested average FPS data from multiple reputable review outlets at 1080p resolution with ultra settings and a high-end GPU.
| Game | AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | Intel Core i9-10900K |
|---|---|---|
| Assassin‘s Creed Valhalla | 134 FPS | 129 FPS |
| Dirt 5 | 168 FPS | 159 FPS |
| Gears 5 | 193 FPS | 186 FPS |
| Hitman 2 | 159 FPS | 162 FPS |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 189 FPS | 185 FPS |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 136 FPS | 128 FPS |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 198 FPS | 196 FPS |
| Watch Dogs Legion | 119 FPS | 119 FPS |
Sources: TechSpot, Gamers Nexus, Guru3D, Tom‘s Hardware
As you can see, it‘s an extremely close race between the 5900X and 10900K in gaming. The 5900X pulls ahead by a few FPS in most titles, but the 10900K holds a slight edge in others like Hitman 2.
However, the differences are within the margin of error in many cases and hardly noticeable in actual gameplay when both CPUs are pushing such high frame rates. It‘s fair to say that the 5900X and 10900K offer effectively equal gaming performance when paired with a top-end GPU at 1080p.
At higher resolutions like 1440p and 4K, the CPU has even less impact on gaming performance as the GPU becomes the bottleneck. Both of these CPUs have more than enough muscle to avoid bottlenecking any current graphics card.
The real gaming advantage of such over-powered CPUs is their ability to handle heavy multitasking, streaming, and background tasks without impacting game performance. The 5900X‘s two extra cores and four extra threads give it an edge in this regard.
Productivity Performance
While the Ryzen 9 5900X and Core i9-10900K are closely matched in gaming, the 5900X pulls ahead by a much wider margin in productivity workloads. This is where its two additional Zen 3 cores and IPC advantage really shine.
In the popular Cinebench R23 rendering benchmark, the 5900X scores 26,149 points in the multi-core test compared to the 10900K‘s 20,925 points. That‘s a 25% advantage for the 5900X, which translates to significantly faster render times in applications like Blender, Cinema 4D, and V-Ray.
The 5900X also comes out ahead in video editing and encoding tasks. In Puget Systems‘ Premiere Pro benchmark, the 5900X scores 1040 points versus the 10900K‘s 956 points. And in Handbrake, the 5900X encodes a 4K video to 1080p 10.9% faster than the 10900K.
PCMark 10, which tests a variety of productivity tasks like web browsing, spreadsheets, and video conferencing, shows a smaller 7.6% lead for the 5900X overall. But it still comes out on top in every sub-test.
| Benchmark | AMD Ryzen 9 5900X | Intel Core i9-10900K |
|---|---|---|
| Cinebench R23 Single-Core | 1605 | 1409 |
| Cinebench R23 Multi-Core | 26149 | 20925 |
| Geekbench 5 Single-Core | 1681 | 1393 |
| Geekbench 5 Multi-Core | 13841 | 11929 |
| Handbrake 4K to 1080p Encode | 23.4 mins | 26.3 mins |
| PCMark 10 Overall | 8038 | 7471 |
_Sources: AnandTech, PCMag, Legit Reviews, PCWorld_
Single-core performance is still very important for snappy system responsiveness and lightly-threaded applications. Here, the 5900X maintains a 14-21% lead over the 10900K thanks to Zen 3‘s massive IPC uplift.
Of course, the 10900K remains an incredibly capable performer in its own right. An over 20,000 point Cinebench multi-core score is nothing to sneeze at, and highlights Intel‘s continued architectural refinement of their 14nm process.
But at the end of the day, the Ryzen 9 5900X is simply the more powerful all-around CPU for serious productivity and content creation workloads. Its multi-threaded performance is in another league, and it manages to beat the 10900K in single-threaded tasks as well.
Platform and Overclocking
As the heart of your system, the CPU dictates your choice of motherboard platform and upgrade path. The Ryzen 9 5900X drops into any Socket AM4 motherboard with a 500-series chipset (X570 or B550), while the Core i9-10900K requires an LGA 1200 motherboard with a 400-series chipset (Z490 is recommended for overclocking).
AMD‘s Socket AM4 platform has been around since 2016 and is set to be phased out after the Ryzen 5000 series. This means you‘ll have to upgrade to a new motherboard and possibly DDR5 memory for AMD‘s next-gen Ryzen CPUs.
On the Intel side, their 11th Gen Rocket Lake CPUs are set to launch in a few months and will be compatible with current 400-series motherboards. So the 10900K has a somewhat longer upgrade path, though the next generation will likely require yet another new socket.
In terms of expandability, AM4 motherboards support up to 128GB of DDR4-3200 memory and 24 PCIe 4.0 lanes (16 reserved for graphics with X570). LGA 1200 boards are limited to DDR4-2933 and 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes for graphics.
Both the 5900X and 10900K are fully unlocked for overclocking, allowing you to extract even more performance with robust cooling and a bit of manual tuning. They‘re both capable of hitting all-core overclocks well over 4.5 GHz with a 240mm or larger AIO liquid cooler.
Intel‘s 14nm process is very mature at this point, and the 10900K has more headroom for manual overclocking. Overclockers have been able to push it to 5.1-5.3 GHz all-core at around 1.3V with high-end cooling. The 5900X tops out around 4.7-4.8 GHz all-core before hitting voltage and thermal limits.
However, the 5900X offers superior performance at stock settings thanks to its higher IPC and more aggressive boost algorithm. AMD‘s Precision Boost Overdrive (PBO) feature also offers easy one-click overclocking through the Ryzen Master utility.
Value and Conclusion
With an MSRP of $549, the Ryzen 9 5900X is priced identically to the Core i9-10900K. However, the 5900X has been notoriously difficult to find in stock at retailers due to supply shortages and high demand. This has led to inflated pricing well over MSRP from third-party sellers.
The 10900K has been more readily available by comparison, often found for slightly less than its $549 MSRP. Intel‘s recent struggles with 14nm production capacity have eased somewhat, leading to better supply.
Looking at the performance data, the Ryzen 9 5900X is the clear winner in terms of overall value. It matches or beats the 10900K in every benchmark while consuming less power, though availability is a serious concern at the moment.
For a pure gaming build, you could make a case for the 10900K if you can find it at a lower price and don‘t mind its higher power consumption. But with both CPUs delivering such high frame rates, you‘d be better off investing the savings into a faster GPU.
If productivity performance is a priority for your build, the 5900X is without question the better value. Its massive multi-threaded advantage will pay dividends in content creation and other heavily-threaded workloads.
Of course, these aren‘t the only two CPUs worth considering in this price range. If you don‘t need quite this level of performance, the $449 Ryzen 7 5800X and $399 Core i7-10700K offer much of the gaming prowess of their bigger siblings for significantly less money.
And if you want the absolute fastest gaming CPU on the market, the $749 Ryzen 9 5950X and its 16 cores/32 threads reign supreme. But for most high-end builds, the $549 Ryzen 9 5900X hits the sweet spot of performance and value.
It‘s an exciting time to be a PC enthusiast, and the fierce competition between AMD and Intel is only going to heat up in 2021. The 5900X may hold the gaming crown for now, but Intel‘s 11th Gen Rocket Lake CPUs are poised to strike back with their new Cypress Cove architecture.
No matter which CPU you choose, one thing is certain: the Ryzen 9 5900X and Core i9-10900K are two of the most powerful consumer processors ever made. You can‘t go wrong with either for a top-of-the-line gaming and productivity machine. Now the hard part is deciding what to do with all that power!
