Home > CPU Comparison > Core i9 10900K or Core i9 10900: what's better?

Intel Core i9 10900K vs i9 10900

43 out of 100
Intel Core i9 10900K
VS
42 out of 100
Intel Core i9 10900
Intel Core i9 10900K
Intel Core i9 10900

We compared two 10-core desktop CPUs: the 3.7 GHz Intel Core i9 10900K against the 2.8 GHz i9 10900. On this page, you'll find out which processor has better performance in benchmarks, games and other useful information.

  1. Review
  2. Differences
  3. Performance
  4. Specs
  5. Comments (1)

Review

General overview and comparison of the processors
Single-Core Performance
Performance in single-threaded apps and benchmarks
Multi-Core Performance
Measure performance when all cores are involved
Power Efficiency
The efficiency score of power consumption
Integrated Graphics
iGPU capabilities for gaming and 3D-intensive tasks
The "iGPU" and "Power Efficiency" have a minor impact on the NanoReview Score for desktop CPU.
NanoReview Final Score
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Value for money (Beta)

Global average CPU prices are used by default! For better accuracy, enter your current prices and click “Calculate".
Currency
VS
8.1
(Bad)
Value Index
14.7
(Bad)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between 10900 and 10900K
Advantages of Intel Core i9 10900K
  • Unlocked multiplier
  • 2% higher Turbo Boost frequency (5.3 GHz vs 5.2 GHz)

Test in Benchmarks

Comparing the performance of CPUs across various tasks
CPU:
Core i9 10900K
vs
Core i9 10900

Cinebench

Reputable cross-platform benchmark for high-performance processors
Cinebench 2024 (Single)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi)
Submit your benchmark results

GeekBench v6

The new version of this benchmark emulates common operations often used in real-world apps
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
File compression 653.7 MB/sec 656.4 MB/sec
Clang compilation 85.1 Klines/sec 88.1 Klines/sec
HTML 5 Browser 187.3 pages/sec 194 pages/sec
PDF Renderer 311.4 Mpixels/sec 299.3 Mpixels/sec
Text processing 169 pages/sec 173.3 pages/sec
Background blur 44.5 images/sec 41.3 images/sec
Photo processing 71.6 images/sec 66.2 images/sec
Ray tracing 19.2 Mpixels/sec 18.6 Mpixels/sec
Sources: GeekBench [1], [2] – 901 & 943 samples

PassMark

Synthetic test that focuses on raw computational performance for low-level functions
Passmark CPU (Single-Core)
Passmark CPU (Multi-Core)
Core i9 10900K +17%
22233
Core i9 10900
19080
Integer math 85.3 GOps/sec 77.5 GOps/sec
Floating point math 53.1 GOps/sec 47.5 GOps/sec
Find prime numbers 62M Primes/sec 55M Primes/sec
Random string sorting 46.2M Strings/sec 37.9M Strings/sec
Data encryption 7.6 GBytes/sec 6.4 GBytes/sec
Data compression 374.1 MBytes/sec 304.2 MBytes/sec
Physics 1020 Frames/sec 897 Frames/sec
Extended instructions 24.6B Matrices/sec 19.1B Matrices/sec
Sources: PassMark [3], [4] – 4675 & 1266 samples

Blender

3D rendering test that measures CPU performance in 3D modeling tasks (uses all cores)
Blender CPU
Core i9 10900K +41%
233.21
Core i9 10900
165.34

Performance Per Watt

Shows the score you get per each watt of PL1 TDP
Cinebench 2024 / Watt 5.7 PPW 11 PPW
Geekbench 6 Multi / Watt 74.9 PPW 142.3 PPW
Passmark CPU Mark / Watt 177.9 PPW 293.5 PPW
Blender / Watt 1.87 PPW 2.54 PPW
These are rough calculations, as most CPUs surpass PL1 TDP wattage even in multicore workloads.

Recent User Tests

The latest benchmark tests that have been submitted by users
Intel Core i9 10900K
DateBenchmarkResult
📘 2025-11-05 (e)Cinebench 202461 / 714
Add View all (1)
Intel Core i9 10900
No benchmark results yet
Add

Specifications

Full technical specification of Intel Core i9 10900K and i9 10900

General

Vendor Intel Intel
Released May 1, 2020 May 1, 2020
Type Desktop Desktop
Instruction Set x86-64 x86-64
Codename Comet Lake Comet Lake
Model number i9-10900K i9-10900
Integrated GPU UHD Graphics 630 UHD Graphics 630
Rival Equivalent - AMD Ryzen 9 5900X - AMD Ryzen 9 5900
Successor - Intel Core Ultra 9 285K - Intel Core i9 11900

CPU

Performance Cores
P-Cores 10 10
P-Threads 20 20
Base Frequency (P) 3.7 GHz 2.8 GHz
Turbo Boost Frequency (P) 5.3 GHz 5.2 GHz
Total
Total Cores 10 10
Total Threads 20 20
Bus Frequency 100 MHz 100 MHz
Multiplier 37x 28x
Bus Bandwidth 8 GT/s 8 GT/s
L1 Cache 64K (per core) 64K (per core)
L2 Cache 256K (per core) 256K (per core)
L3 Cache 20MB (shared) 20MB (shared)
Unlocked Multiplier Yes No

Package

Fabrication Process 14 nm 14 nm
TDP (PL1) 125 W 65 W
Socket LGA-1200 LGA-1200
Peak Temperature 100°C 100°C
Desktop CPU ranking (137th and 139th place)

iGPU

Integrated Graphics Intel UHD Graphics 630 Intel UHD Graphics 630
GPU Base Clock 350 MHz 350 MHz
GPU Boost Clock 1200 MHz 1200 MHz
Shading Units 192 192
TMUs 24 24
ROPs 3 3
Execution Units 24 24
TGP 15 W 15 W
iGPU FLOPS
Core i9 10900K
0.5 TFLOPS
Core i9 10900
0.5 TFLOPS
See: Intel UHD Graphics 630 benchmarks

Memory Support

Memory Types - DDR4-2933 - DDR4-2933
Max. Memory Size 128 GB 128 GB
Memory Channels 2 2
Max. Memory Bandwidth 45.8 GB/s 45.8 GB/s
ECC Support No No

Misc

Official Site Intel Core i9 10900K official page Intel Core i9 10900 official page
PCI Express Version 3.0 3.0
PCI Express Lanes 16 16

Cast your vote

Choose between two processors
84 (21.8%)
302 (78.2%)
Total votes: 386

Competitors

1. Intel Core i9 10900K vs Intel Core i9 13900K
2. Intel Core i9 10900K vs Intel Core i5 13600K
3. Intel Core i9 10900K vs Apple M2 Pro
4. Intel Core i9 10900K vs Intel Core i9 11900K (6)
5. Intel Core i9 10900K vs Intel Core i7 13700K
Compare other CPUs (460+)

Comments

So which CPU will you choose: Intel Core i9 10900 or i9 10900K?
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Avatar
Tim July 28, 2020 at 03:52 AM
I chose the core i9 10900 over the 10900k, provided you run with a good quality z490 chipset. Why? Because on an unlocked motherboard you can unlock the power supplied to the CPU which essentially makes the two processors identical at a fraction of the cost. The only relevant factor then becomes whether or not you wish to significantly overclock the CPU - in which case you will need the unlocked k model.
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