Intel Core i7-11700K gaming review — Making a case for existing

Intel’s again with its eleventh technology of desktop CPUs, codenamed Rocket Lake. Whereas it’s based mostly on the identical 14nm manufacturing course of node because the final 5 generations, the corporate has managed to squeeze out extra efficiency yr over yr. It’s actually a good effort contemplating AMD’s Ryzen 5000 Sequence relies on a 7nm course of. However can Intel proceed to remain aggressive whereas AMD introduces huge efficiency features gen over gen? We had the prospect to check out the Intel 11700K for its gaming efficiency, however is it price it on the MSRP of $399 USD?

This is among the most essential Intel generations in years in the case of resolution making, there isn’t a doubt about that. As already talked about, Intel has been attempting to tug each final little bit of efficiency out of its ageing 14nm course of and the efficiency has come at the price of effectivity. Every successive technology has required extra energy, and the eleventh technology processors are by far essentially the most energy grasping with out providing a lot in the best way of efficiency enhancements. A few of this has to do with the truth that Rocket Lake is the final of Intel’s mainstream desktop efforts on 14nm and is definitely a backport of the 10nm design for Alder Lake, on account of launch later this yr. That’s proper, one thing significantly better is on the horizon. So, what’s the purpose of getting this technology?

Merely put, the 11700K arrives at a really fascinating time. Demand for PC gaming {hardware} is thru the roof proper now, and lots of probably received’t need to watch for Intel’s eventual reveal of Alder Lake. Apart from that, we don’t know what the provision of Alder Lake will ultimately appear to be, and inventory for the Ryzen 5000 Sequence continues to be recovering. However Rocket Lake is offered for MSRP in the present day. Extra importantly, most video games are bottlenecked by the GPU nowadays, as utilizing extremely settings or gaming at excessive resolutions merely can’t hit the framerates that push these high-frequency CPUs within the first place. Even in the event you do handle to seek out an ample GPU on your wants, trendy Intel CPUs already nail high-refresh 1080p gaming, and that’s going to be sufficient for many.

There are causes to contemplate the 11700K, as it’s really a fairly stable CPU for gaming. Those that need to do issues like livestreaming or content material creation can profit from the extra cores and threads granted by the bounce from the i5 or some other six-core CPU, and the clock speeds assist to drive high-refresh 1080p efficiency concurrently. Intel has additionally thrown in some extra options this technology that the tenth technology sorely lacked.

11700K specs at a look

The 11700K shares rather a lot in frequent with the earlier technology i7. Nevertheless, based on Intel it encompasses a 19% IPC (directions per cycle/clock) achieve, improved reminiscence assist as much as 3200MHz from final technology’s 2993MHz, and PCIe 4.0 assist plus 4 extra PCIe lanes. And that’s actually about it for the sake of conserving issues easy. These enhancements are sufficient to supply some small fps boosts, however the efficiency enhancements are modest and typically even situational.

There may be one frequent false impression concerning the 11700K that wants addressing, and that’s how its specs translate to gaming efficiency. Those that evaluate the 11700K to earlier technology i7s will discover that the frequencies will not be very spectacular. In comparison with the 10700K, the 11700K base frequency is down by 200MHz whereas the Max Turbo frequency is decreased by 100MHz. The improved IPC is supposed to to offset that distinction, and the true working frequency of any CPU continually fluctuates between these values whereas below load. The numbers on the spec sheets merely can’t be taken at face worth.