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Intel Core i9-10900KF

Intel Core i9-10900KF in 2025: Is It Worth Buying a Legend from the Past?

Review, Build Tips, and Comparison with Competitors

Key Features: Architecture and Performance

The Intel Core i9-10900KF processor, released in 2020, remains a popular choice for enthusiasts even in 2025. Its Comet Lake-S architecture is based on a 14nm manufacturing process—a technology that Intel has utilized for several generations. Despite its "age," the chip demonstrates impressive performance:

- 10 cores / 20 threads with a base clock of 3.7 GHz and a turbo boost of up to 5.3 GHz.

- 20 MB of L3 cache—sufficient for handling heavy tasks.

- TDP of 125 W—high power consumption, but justified for a top-tier CPU.

Key Features:

- Support for Thermal Velocity Boost technology for automatic overclocking.

- Manual overclocking capability (denoted by the "K" index).

- Absence of integrated graphics (denoted by the "F" index), which lowers the price.

Performance in 2025:

- In Geekbench 6: 1767 (Single-Core) and 9261 (Multi-Core). For comparison, the Ryzen 5 7600X (2023) scores around ~2200/11000 but comes at a higher price.

- In gaming (e.g., Cyberpunk 2077), the i9-10900KF delivers stable 90+ FPS when paired with an RTX 4070 at Ultra settings.

Compatible Motherboards: Choices in 2025

The processor uses the LGA 1200 socket, which is compatible with 400 and 500 series chipsets:

- Z490/Z590—best choice for overclocking (PCIe 4.0 support on Z590).

- B460/B560—budget boards with limited overclocking potential.

Examples of Relevant Models:

- ASUS ROG Strix Z590-E ($250): 14-phase VRM, Wi-Fi 6, two PCIe 4.0 slots.

- MSI B560M Pro-VDH ($130): Basic motherboard for non-overclocked builds.

Selection Tips:

- Ensure the BIOS is updated to a version that supports Comet Lake.

- A Z590 chipset board is needed for PCIe 4.0 compatibility.

Supported Memory: Only DDR4

The i9-10900KF works with DDR4:

- Official support: Up to DDR4-2933 MHz.

- Recommended: DDR4-3200/3600 MHz with low timings (CL16).

Example Configuration:

- 32 GB (2×16 GB) Kingston Fury Renegade DDR4-3600 CL16 ($110).

Important: DDR5 is not supported—this is a major limitation for builds in 2025.

Power Supply: Power Calculation

Considering the TDP of 125 W and the demands of modern graphics cards:

- Minimum PSU wattage: 650 W.

- Recommended: 750–850 W (for RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XT).

Tips:

- Choose power supplies with an 80 Plus Gold certification (e.g., Corsair RM750x, $130).

- Factor in peak power consumption when overclocking—the CPU can draw up to 250 W.

Pros and Cons of the Processor

Pros:

- High gaming performance due to clock speeds up to 5.3 GHz.

- Affordable price ($300–350 in 2025) compared to new Ryzen 7/9 processors.

- Good upgrade potential (e.g., from RTX 3070 to RTX 5070).

Cons:

- Outdated 14nm process—high heat generation and energy consumption.

- Lack of support for PCIe 5.0 and DDR5.

- Outperformed by Ryzen 9 5900X in multi-threaded tasks (rendering, encoding).

Use Cases

1. Gaming: Ideal for 1440p/4K gaming. Paired with RTX 4070 Ti, it provides 120+ FPS in Apex Legends.

2. Work Tasks: Suitable for video editing in Premiere Pro, but lags behind Ryzen 9 in Blender.

3. Streaming: Requires an external GPU with NVENC—CPU load will be minimal.

Comparison with Competitors

- AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (12 cores): Better in multi-threaded tasks ($280), but weaker in gaming.

- Intel Core i5-13600K (14 cores): Newer, 15–20% faster, but more expensive ($400).

- Ryzen 7 7700X: Supports DDR5 and PCIe 5.0, but priced at $450.

Conclusion: The i9-10900KF is an appealing option if your total build budget is under $500.

Practical Build Tips

1. Cooling: Use AIO cooling (e.g., NZXT Kraken X63, $150) or a robust tower cooler (Noctua NH-D15, $100).

2. Case: Choose models with good airflow (Lian Li Lancool III, $140).

3. Overclocking: On Z590, stable 5.1 GHz can be achieved on all cores (voltage ~1.35 V).

Final Verdict: Who Should Consider the i9-10900KF?

This processor is worth considering for:

- Gamers who want to save money without sacrificing FPS.

- Enthusiasts building PCs with second-hand parts (LGA 1200 motherboards are currently inexpensive).

- Users upgrading an older system (from an i5-9400F or Ryzen 5 2600).

Target Audience: Those seeking a balance between price and performance in 2025. If you don't need PCIe 5.0 or DDR5, the i9-10900KF remains a smart choice.

Prices are valid as of April 2025. With proper configuration, this processor will handle modern tasks for several more years—the key is to ensure adequate cooling!

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

April 2020

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

i9-10900KF

Code Name

Comet Lake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

3.70 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

5.30 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 Frequency

5.10 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

2.0

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

Yes

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 Frequency

Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 identifies the best performing core(s) on a processor and provides increased performance on those cores through increasing frequency as needed by taking advantage of power and thermal headroom. Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 frequency is the clock frequency of the CPU when running in this mode.

5.20 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Yes

L3 Cache

20 MB

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCLGA1200

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

125 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

100°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Instruction Set

The instruction set is a hard program stored inside the CPU that guides and optimizes CPU operations. With these instruction sets, the CPU can run more efficiently. There are many manufacturers that design CPUs, which results in different instruction sets, such as the 8086 instruction set for the Intel camp and the RISC instruction set for the ARM camp. x86, ARM v8, and MIPS are all codes for instruction sets. Instruction sets can be extended; for example, x86 added 64-bit support to create x86-64. Manufacturers developing CPUs that are compatible with a certain instruction set need authorization from the instruction set patent holder. A typical example is Intel authorizing AMD, enabling the latter to develop CPUs compatible with the x86 instruction set.

64-bit

PCI Express Configurations

PCI Express (PCIe) Configurations describe the available PCIe lane configurations that can be used to link to PCIe devices.

Up to 1x16 | 2x8 | 1x8+2x4

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR4-2933

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

128 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

8 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

45.8 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

20 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Intel Boot Guard

Intel® Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard helps protect the system’s pre-OS environment from viruses and malicious software attacks.

Yes

Intel VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)

Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT), also known as Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), provides acceleration for memory intensive virtualized applications. Extended Page Tables in Intel® Virtualization Technology platforms reduces the memory and power overhead costs and increases battery life through hardware optimization of page table management.

Yes

Intel OS Guard

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

1767

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

9261

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1342

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

9701

Passmark CPU

Single Core Score

3130

Passmark CPU

Multi Core Score

22775

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i5-12600HE

1993 +12.8%

Ryzen 9 5900HS

1892 +7.1%

Core i9-10900KF

1767

Xeon W-3365

1681 -4.9%

Core i5-11400T

1634 -7.5%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon Gold 6421N

10606 +14.5%

Core i9-9940X

9787 +5.7%

Core i9-10900KF

9261

Xeon W-1290P

8729 -5.7%

Xeon Gold 6150

8317 -10.2%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Core i5-1240P

1471 +9.6%

Core i5-11400H

1407 +4.8%

Core i9-10900KF

1342

Core i5-11500T

1298 -3.3%

Core i5-1135G7

1261 -6%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Xeon E7-4850 v2

11335 +16.8%

Ryzen 9 7940H

10459 +7.8%

Core i9-10900KF

9701

Core i5-13490F

9185 -5.3%

Core i5-12600

8514 -12.2%

Passmark CPU Single Core

Ryzen 7 6800H

3256 +4%

Ryzen 5 7535HS

3200 +2.2%

Core i9-10900KF

3130

Ryzen 5 PRO 7530U

3042 -2.8%

Core i5-11320H

2953 -5.7%

Passmark CPU Multi Core

Core i5-13400

24920 +9.4%

Ryzen 7 250

23552 +3.4%

Core i9-10900KF

22775

Core Ultra 7 256V

22035 -3.2%

Snapdragon X Plus X1P-64-100

21266 -6.6%