In April 2020, Intel announces new desktop processors as part of the 10th Gen Intel Core processor family, including Intel’s flagship Core i9-10900K processor, the world’s fastest gaming processor. (Credit: Intel Corporation)
Intel will soon be adding a new CPU to its 10th Gen Desktop Family known as the Core i9-10850K. The CPU was first spotted earlier this month within a leaked entry but it has now been listed over Digital Storm’s official webpage, confirming that the chip is headed to retail soon.
Intel’s 10 Core, Core i9-10850K CPU Might Explain Why The Core i9-10900K Has A Global Shortage
In our previous post, the specifications we had listed came from a leak within the Geekbench data-base. The latest leak comes from Digital Storm (via Momomo_US) where the chip can now be found listed under the system configurator webpage which not only mentions the chip but also confirms the specifications and expected pricing of the Core i9-10850K CPU itself.
Intel Core i9-10850K CPU Specifications
It looks like the specifications reported earlier were correct and the Core i9-10850K will indeed be configured similar to the Core i9-10900K except featuring a 100 MHz lower clock speed for both base and boost frequencies.
Summing up the specs, the Intel Core i9-10850K CPU will feature 10 cores and 20 threads. The final clock speeds for the chip will be configured at 3.60 GHz base (3.7 GHz on the Core i9-10900K) & 5.2 GHz boost (5.3 GHz on the Core i9-10900K). The CPU retains 20 MB of L3 & a total of 2.5 MB L2 cache. There’s no TDP mentioned for this specific part but considering that the rest of the unlocked chips come with a 125W (PL1) profile, we can expect the same from the Core i9-10850K.
In addition to the specs, the configurator also provides the expected pricing of the Core i9-10850K. When configured with the Core i7-10700K, the Core i9-10850K configuration will be $73 US more expensive. Considering that OEMs buy the chip in bulk and get slightly lower prices than what the retail MSRPs are set at, the Core i9-10850K would end up around $450 US which is $100 US than the official MSRP listing of the Core i9-10900K which retails for $549 US.
At the same time, we aren’t sure whether the Core i9-10850K will be exclusive to the OEM channel or will hit retail shelves but the chip might explain the shortages behind the Core i9-10900K. The i9 10900K is the highest binned chip in the 10th Gen family, supporting clocks of up to 5.3 GHz on 10 cores. The CPU is also widely unavailable and short at major retail outlets. Regardless of how much mature the 14nm process is by now, a chip like Core i9-10900K is hard to produce and the shortage might be an issue with yields of the Core i9-10900K SKU. This might’ve led Intel to offer the Core i9-10850K with a slightly lower bin at a reduced price point.
Intel 10th Gen vs AMD Ryzen 3000 Desktop CPU Prices:
| Intel CPU | Cores / Threads | Clocks (Max) | Price (MSRP) | Prices (Newegg) – 16/07/2020 | Clocks (Max) | Cores / Threads | AMD CPU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | $699.99 US | 4.7 GHz (105W) | 16/32 | AMD Ryzen 9 3950X |
| Intel Core i9-10900K | 10/20 | 5.3 GHz (125W) | $488 US (K) $472 US (KF) |
$389.99 US | 4.6 GHz (105W) | 12/24 | AMD Ryzen 9 3900X |
| Intel Core i9-10850K | 10/20 | 5.2 GHz (125W) | ~$450 US (KF) | $389.99 US | 4.6 GHz (105W) | 12/24 | AMD Ryzen 9 3900X |
| Intel Core i7-10700K | 8/16 | 5.1 GHz (125W) | $374 US (K) $349 US (KF) |
$299.99 US | 4.5 GHz (105W) | 8/16 | AMD Ryzen 7 3800X |
| Intel Core i7-10700 | 8/16 | 4.8 GHz (65W) | $323 US $298 US (F) |
$279.99 US | 4.4 GHz (65W) | 8/16 | AMD Ryzen 7 3700X |
| Intel Core i5-10600K | 6/12 | 4.8 GHz (125W) | $262 US (K) $237 US (KF) |
$219.99 US | 4.4 GHz (95W) | 6/12 | AMD Ryzen 5 3600X |
| Intel Core i5-10500 | 6/12 | 4.5 GHz (65W) | $192 US | $171.99 US | 4.2 GHz (65W) | 6/12 | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 |
| Intel Core i5-10400 | 6/12 | 4.3 GHz (65W) | $182 US $157 US (F) |
$259.99 US | 4.1 GHz (65W) | 6/6 | AMD Ryzen 5 3500X |
| Intel Core i3-10300 | 4/8 | 4.4 GHz (65W) | $143 US | $194.99 US | 4.3 GHz (65W) | 4/8 | AMD Ryzen 3 3300X |
| Intel Core i3-10100 | 4/8 | 4.3 GHz (65W) | $122 US | $129.99 US | 3.9 GHz (65W) | 4/8 | AMD Ryzen 3 3100 |
Even at the time of writing this post, the i9-10900K is not available on Digital Storm with expected availability suggested around October of this year. The Core i9-10850K with just a 100 MHz down clock will offer more or less the same amount of performance, making it a better 10 core gaming chip than the Core i9-10900K in price to performance ratio.
The Core i9-10850K will still have to compete against AMD’s Ryzen 9 3900X which doesn’t face any availability issues and has a retail price under to $400 US while offering more cores, threads, and better multi-threading performance. We already saw how the chip performs against the Ryzen 9 3900X and the Core i9-10900K in the previous post but we will keep you posted if we get to see more benchmarks.