About a week ago HEXUS reported on early retail listings of an unannounced high-end desktop processor from Intel. The Intel Core i9-10850K (10C/20T) wasn't listed in the Ark at that time, but it had popped up for pre-order in various retailers in Europe. Now the processor has become official and is listed in the Intel Ark, and major UK tech retailers like Scan have published pre-order pages, ready for availability (14th August).
As the Intel Core i9 -10850K first raised its head above the parapet, the obvious comparison was with the popular Core i9-10900K, as it offered a very similar configuration. In fact the similarities are even greater than we thought a week ago. If you look at the official Intel Ark comparison page you can see both these 14nm processors boast 10C/20T, 20MB Smart Cache, and a 125W TDP. Clock speeds at base/turbo/boost are just 100MHz apart in the 10900K's favour. Please nose through the comparison chart below.
According to various US news sites the 100MHz difference will cost/save PC DIYers and enthusiasts about $35. Here in the UK at Scan, we observe an even greater difference. At the time of writing the UK tech retailer has listed an Intel Core i9 -10900K for £549, and the Intel Core i9 -10850K at £479, that's a gaping £70 difference (15 per cent) for the expected tiny performance differential.
PCWorld got a quote from Intel about why it has added the Core i9 -10850K to its lineup. "The i9-10850K is based on immediate feedback we've received from customers, including to further expand options and different price points," the company said. "This will also obviously support long term demand for i9K processors as well." Of course it might be a good way for Intel to use up chips that didn't make the grade to become fully-fledged Core i9-10900K parts.
If the above interests you then it might be a good idea to read through the HEXUS review of the Intel Core i9-10900K, published in May 2020.
