Gadget Pilipinas
Intel Core i7 10700K Processor Review – Intel’s Silver Lining

Introduction – Intel’s 14nm Journey

Intel’s 10th generation processors still sport a 14nm++++ process which has been around since Intel 6th gen Skylake. This time around, Intel launched a variety of SKUs for its Core series starting from $122 with the i3-10100, i7 10700k at $374, to the flagship i9-10900k at $488. Additionally, all CPUs under the core series now have hyperthreading regardless of pricing and tiering. There are seventeen SKUs available at launch, with most models having an “F” version. The letter F next to the processor number means that that particular CPU doesn’t have the built-in integrated graphics. These processors are $15 cheaper on average compared to their non-F counterparts, K-series, or overclockable chipsets included. Previously, only i7 processors had hyperthreading, but the competition brought upon by AMD’s Ryzen processor forced Intel to give more value for its processors.

Intel 10th Gen Comet Lake-S Overview

Intel has aggressively beefed up its line up by adding more cores and effectively enabling hyperthreading across its product stacks. Core i3 CPUs run now have 4-cores/8-threads but are not overclockable. The i5 processors’ sport a 6-core/12-thread setup with two K-SKUs ready for overclocking, one of which has no integrated graphics. All Core i7 SKUs are multi-threaded octa-core CPUs while the flagship Intel Core i9 Series has a 10-core/20-thread setup. The additional core count offered by AMD reflects AMD’s aggressive multicore approach, which has been team red’s highlight even before Ryzen. Intel’s 10th-gen 10-core i9 CPUs still lags behind in the mainstream line as AMD offers a twelve and sixteen core processor. However, the other SKUs match the competitors offering in terms of core count, particularly those below the $350 mark.

Intel 10th Generation Processors Spec Sheet

The spec sheet shows Intel’s Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology as well as Thermal Velocity Boost, which are the highlights of Intel’s 10th generation Comet Lake processors. Turbo Boost Max 3.0 is present for a long time but was mostly found on HEDT processors that required driver and software downloads to enable it. Turbo Boost Max 3.0 selects the two fastest cores of a processor and assigns single or multi-threaded workloads to them. Depending on the processor, Turbo Boost Max 3.0 is faster than Thermal Velocity Boost.

Thermal Velocity Boost was first introduced in Intel Coffee Lake H mobile processors and is now carried over to Intel’s 10th gen desktop line, albeit as an exclusive feature of the 10th-gen Core i9 series. Thermal Velocity Boost is a similar and simpler feature of Nvidia’s GPU boost and AMD’s Precision Boost 2. Simpler meaning that it doesn’t have a smart scaling that depends on silicon lottery. TVB enables a processor to achieve a higher boost clock than Max Turbo Boost for a short period, or so long as the processor’s temperature doesn’t go over 70° celsius. That is if the processor is within Power Limit 2 and under TAU. TAU is Intel’s timing variable, which tells a processor how long it should be on PL2 mode before dropping to PL1.

Intel Core i7 10700k

Among the 10th gen processors, the Intel Core i7 10700k has the most difficult product positioning as it is squeezed by three Ryzen 7 processors. The i7 10700k is priced with an SRP of Php 22,000 with an 8c/16t configuration, Php 3,500 more expensive than the Ryzen 7 3700X at Php 18,500 with the core-thread configuration. Moreover, Intel’s i7 10700k competes directly with the end Ryzen 7 3800X at the same price. Its next competitor is the newly AMD’s 3000 series refresh represented by the Ryzen 7 3800XT priced at Php 23,185, roughly Php 1,000 more for a 200Mhz boost over the 3800X.

Is the Php 3,500 premium worth over the 10700K? More importantly, can the 10700K match up to the incumbent Ryzen 7 3800X as well as AMD’s aggressive response in the form of the Ryzen 7 3800XT for Php 1,185 more? Let’s see in our benchmarks

Benchmark Setup and Methodology

Gadget Pilipinas’ testing philosophy is to provide detail-oriented results as accurately as possible that our readers can replicate our tests given that these conditions are met. Different benchmarking apps and sequences are used depending on the component or device being tested.

We use CapFrameX as our FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. The latest build version of Windows 10 and WHQL certified drivers are used for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draw are recorded using HWMonitor and HWInfo64 as well as other relevant software used for cross-checking.

Benchmark list

• SuperPi 32M
• wPrime
• AIDA64 Memory Benchmark
• Geekbench 5
• Cinebench R20
• V-Ray
• HWBot x265
• Handbrake
• Blender
• Corona Renderer
• DOTA 2
• Rainbow Six Siege
• Far Cry 5
• Apex Legends
• Battlefield V
• Assassins Creed: Odyssey
• Anno 1800

Our benchmark list and methodology may change in the future, depending on the industry trend. For now, enjoy our benchmark results of the Intel Core i7 10700k processor.

i7 10700k CPU Benchmarks

SuperPI 32M

SuperPI is a single-threaded benchmark application that lets the CPU calculate Pi(π) to the nth digit. In this benchmark, we selected the Pi calculation to 32M, the highest available for the app.

wPrime 1024M

wPrime is a benchmark tool similar to SuperPI, but the former takes on finding prime numbers using Newton’s Method. The benchmark is set to calculate 1024M, and measured according to calculation time.

AIDA64

AIDA64 is a very popular and powerful monitoring tool, as well as a benchmarking application. AIDA64 is commonly used to stress test CPUs, especially testing if an overclock is stable. We used AIDA64’s Memory Benchmark to measure the data transfer bandwidth of the system memory.

GeekBench 5

Geekbench is a multi-platform benchmark that’s used to gauge CPU performance and compare them across Windows, Mac, and Mobile. Geekbench 5 is the latest version and doesn’t rely on memory as much compared to the previous Geekbench 4, making it a great tool to measure both single-core and multi-core CPU performance.

CINEBENCH R20

Maxon’s Cinebench benchmark is one of the most iconic benchmark applications used by reviewers and enthusiasts. The latest Cinebench R20 uses the latest rendering architectures, including Intel’s Embree ray tracing technology and other advanced features from AMD and Intel that allows users to render the same scene on the same hard. Cinebench R20 uses a larger and more complex testing scene than Cinebench R20 by about 8x computational power and requires 4x the memory.

V-RAY

V-Ray Benchmark is a stand-alone version V-Ray developed by Chaos Group. It is designed to test the CPU and GPU by rendering sample scenes at a fixed amount of time. V-Ray is plug-in mostly utilized by 3D computer graphics software applications mainly for industrial design, product design, architecture, film, and video game production. V-Ray is not limited to 64-threads as it supports multi and mega threading.

HWBOT x265

HWBOT x265, developed by Czech overclocker Havli, is a multi-threaded application that takes advantage of modern CPU instruction sets with support for older CPUs.  HWBOT x265 benchmark uses the x265/HEVC encoder that renders a video in 1080p or 4K resolution.

HANDBRAKE

Handbrake is a top-rated open-source video conversion software that is used by professionals, enthusiasts, and even reviewers as a reference point mainly because of its wide variety of media codecs. The rise of streaming and blogging makes video content, both encoding and transcoding important for these people, regardless if they’re seasoned professionals or just starting out. Handbrake also takes advantage of AVX-512 and OpenCL to accelerate certain types of media codecs. Our Handbrake benchmark converts a 500MB MP4 video to H.264 to measure the processor’s performance.

BLENDER

Blender is a widely used, free, opensource 3D creation suite. It supports the whole 3D pipeline process from modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, and even motion tracking. Blender has become a standard for CPU benchmarks with the BMW27 and Classroom scene most used. This prompted the company to release Blender Open Data Benchmark in 2018, a benchmark-specific version which allows users to run a preset benchmark and share the results online similar to 3D Mark.

CORONA RENDERER

Corona Renderer is an unbiased photorealistic render available for Autodesk 3Ds Max, Maxon Cinema 4D, and as a stand-alone application. Its popularity, similar to Blender, led Chaos Group to develop a benchmark version of the app which runs using Corona Renderer 1.3. Workstation systems, especially CPUs, can utilize Corona Benchmark as up to 72 threads can be used in the benchmark, making it very suitable for CPUs with various price segments.

Intel’s perceived handicap when it comes to productivity and multi-threaded applications against Ryzen CPUs isn’t an issue with the Core i7 10700k, especially when overclocked. Intel can clearly keep up at stock speeds without a huge gap except for rendering. Overclocking both the 3800XT and 10700K favored the latter in terms of performance improvement as the 10700k @ 5.1Ghz tops the charts in some benchmarks.

Gaming Benchmarks

3DMARK

3DMark is the go-to benchmark for gamers because of the ability to share and compare results online. We used Time Spy DX 12 benchmark and Fire Strike DX 11 benchmark to gauge the CPU’s performance using different APIs.

DOTA 2

Most gamers play at least one of the following free-to-play titles: League of Legends, CS: GO, Dota 2, and/or Fortnite.  Dota 2 is a good representation of the F2P titles as it is the most demanding game in the spectrum. The benchmark will give you an idea of the laptop’s relative performance on other lesser demanding titles. Our benchmark sequence is based on a replay of OG vs. Liquid in the TI9 grand finals from the team fight that happened on 28:30 to 29:30.

Far Cry 5