Review: Intel Core i9-10850K

Conclusion

Intel has been facing a mainstream CPU headwind since rival AMD arrived armed with Ryzen in 2017. The latest 10th Gen chips do a better job than previous generations of combatting the advancing AMD threat as Core generally matches Ryzen on a thread count at comparable prices.

That's true until we reach the top of the stack, where Intel's 10 cores are trumped by 12- and 16-core Ryzens. This situation is unlikely to change in the short term, so Intel needs to provide the enthusiast with extra incentive to go down its established route rather than favour Ryzen.

Part of this strategy is to offer a lower-priced Core i9 chip that is practically identical to the range-topper in most performance respects. Priced at £440, the Core i9-10850K is available for substantially less money than the 10900K and serves as a viable solution to AMD's 3900X(T) processors. What it lacks in sheer multithreaded oomph is mostly compensated for by better gaming credentials evident at lower resolutions.

Ordinarily such innate characteristics would be enough for the Core i9-10850K to garner a recommendation as a well-rounded solution for a premium build. But with Zen 3-imbued Ryzen 5000-series chips around the corner and Intel promising a PCIe 4.0-riding Rocket of its own within a few months, now is not a great time to invest in older technology unless you find it at bargain basement prices.

Intel Core i9-10850K

HEXUS.where2buy*

HEXUS.right2reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.