Intel Core i7-11700K Review

The Core i7-11700K is one of Intel's high-end Desktop processors. It was released in 2021 with 8 cores and 16 threads. With base clock at 3.4GHz, max speed at 5GHz, and a 125W power rating. The Core i7-11700K is based on the Rocket Lake 14nm family and is part of the Core i7 series.

Core i7-11700K is also the successor of Intel's last gen Core i7-10700K processor that was based on the Comet Lake and 14nm process and was released in 2020.

The Intel Core i7-11700K is an absolute behemoth of a processor, as it absolutely should be with its 8 cores, 16 threads and high price tag. If you’re looking for the absolute best processor money can buy on a mainstream processor, then look no further. Whether you’re playing PC games or even doing hardcore video and 3D work, the Intel Core i7-11700K can handle them with ease.

What this all means is that the Intel Core i7-11700K is an absolute beast when it comes to multi-threaded workloads, especially at this price point. If you're counting on doing some video editing or compiling one hell of an Excel spreadsheet, you're going to see firsthand a performance boost with the Core i7-11700K.

If you're mostly playing games on your PC, you will be happy buying either processor. Both proved to be solid options and are evenly matched with a slight advantage to the AMD chip if you don't tune up the Ryzen 7 processor. The base performance we showed for the Core i7-11700K can be achieved with $90 memory, while the Ryzen 7 5800X will require $110 - $120 memory in order to enable the frame rates shown here. It’s not a big cost difference and right now with anything less than an RTX 2070 or Vega 64 you’ll more than likely become GPU limited.

That said, Intel still lags behind in frequency when the Ryzen 9 5900X operates at 3.8GHz at any given moment and 4.8GHz when push comes to shove.

By comparison, AMD’s current 12-core processor is the Ryzen 9 5900X, which runs for a significantly higher $499 price tag. Going back a generation to Matisse doesn’t make 8-core processors that much cheaper either, with the ageing AMD Ryzen 7 3800X running for $328.

Now the biggest question is can Intel’s Core i7 processor play games? The answer is simply yes as it got a respectable gaming score of 95% in our benchmarks.

Regardless of those external factors, the Core i7-11700K proves it has the chops to be your main gaming system and a just as effective media creation platform – two things that are becoming intrinsically connected in this age of live-streaming, eSports and uploading gameplay videos.

That said, to squeeze out all the potential of this surprisingly potent high-end chip, you’ll want (and need) to splurge on an enthusiast-grade H410, Z470, Z490 motherboard.