[Intel] kunalneo:
The rivalry between Intel and AMD has intensified in the past few years, with team red playing catch-up and introducing some really competitive products. On the other hand, Intel released its new 11th-gen Rocket Lake-S processor series earlier this year as an update to the Comet Lake lineup. Numbers suggest that Intel hasn’t done enough to really improve over last year’s offerings. In contrast, AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series has definitely caught a lot of attention from gamers and PC building enthusiasts.

Having said that, Intel has been a leader in the CPU space for years and continues to do so. Their processors offer great IPC (instructions per clock) performance and high clock speeds making them great for gaming purposes. Intel also has top-of-the-line HEDT (high-end desktop) processors that offer excellent performance for the asking price for professional workloads.

Here’s a look at the best Intel processors for performance:

Intel Core i9-10980XE​

One of Intel's most powerful commercial processors, the Core i9-10980XE spearheads the company’s Extreme lineup. With a total of 18-cores and 36-threads, this beast can deliver excellent performance for consumers looking for a CPU that can keep with the most demanding tasks. It is overclockable, but with 165W TDP, this chip can get really hot, so make sure you have proper cooling.

Clock speeds: 3.0GHz - 4.6GHz

18-Cores, 36 Threads

24.8MB L3 Cache

48 PCIe 3.0 lanes

165W TDP

~$990

Buy from Amazon

Intel Core i9-11900K​

Under the new 11th-gen Rocket Lake-S branding, the latest consumer offering includes the Core i9-11900K as its most powerful processor offering. However, compared to last year’s 10900K, Intel has taken out two of the cores, bringing it down to a total of eight cores. This came as a surprise to many, with reviewers suggesting not to buy the new chip. While that is true to an extent, the fact remains that it is a powerful processor. Sure AMD has great chips that can thrash this chip, but what is important here is that this overclockable chip can run at speeds going over 5GHz, and it comes with an integrated GPU

Clock speeds: 3.5GHz - 5.3GHz

8-Cores, 16 Threads

16MB L3 Cache

20 PCIe 4.0 lanes

95W TDP

~$520

Buy from Amazon

Intel Core i9-10900K​

The 10th-gen Core i9-10900K is still an excellent processor if you are looking for core performance. It’s a very capable chip, especially when it comes to its single-core performance, while the 10-core configuration and the ability to go beyond 5GHz clock speeds are in itself commendable. The processor should easily last for a long time but make sure you pair this chip with a reliable cooler.

Clock speeds: 3.7GHz - 5.3GHz

10-Cores, 20 Threads

20MB L3 Cache

16 PCIe 3.0 lanes

95W TDP

$499

Buy from Amazon

Intel Core i9-11980HK​

Intel recently introduced the new 11th-gen Tiger Lake-H processors for high-end gaming and workstation laptops. The series is headed by the Core i9-11980HK, which is now the most powerful mobile processor from Intel. The eight-core, 16-thread chip comes with a 5GHz maximum boost clock speed on one core and unlocked multipliers. While the chip is slowly reaching markets, early reviews are definitely positive. Expect new laptops with the Core i9-11980HK to reach mainstream laptops later this month.

Clock speeds: 3.3GHz - 5.0GHz

8-Cores, 16 Threads

24MB L3 Cache

20 PCIe 4.0 lanes

45-65W TDP

Go for the Core i9-10900K as it offers the best performance package for the asking price. Agreed that the Core i9-10980XE offers higher cores, it is quite expensive, and it doesn't really justify the performance. Hopefully, Intel will introduce a new Extreme series this year that should trump the shortcomings of the existing Core i9-10980XE. Also, check out the best Intel processors that you should purchase for gaming.