The 11th gen Rocket Lake processors launch is stressful for Intel, unable to defend its position. Meanwhile, AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors are still dominating the benchmark chart compare to Rocket Lake. Despite all, Intel can capture the market with its budget gaming CPU Core i5 11600K and 11400.
Core i5 features a 6 Core 12 Thread CPU with new Xe integrated graphics, supports up to DDR4 3200MHz RAM and 12 MB Intel smart cache. Core i5-11600K max boosts up to 4.9 GHz and all core boost up to 4.6 GHz. i5-11400 max boosts up to 4.4 GHz and all core boost up to 4.2 GHz. PCIe 4.0 supported.
Additionally, Intel has kept the prices of Core i5 identical to 10th gen i5. The “F” Variants comes without an integrated GPU. All prices listed below are including taxes.
- Core i5-11600K – $262 (Approx. ₹25,000)
- Core i5-11600KF – $237 (Approx. ₹22,500)
- Core i5-11500 – $192 (Approx. ₹19,000)
- Core i5-11400 – $182 (Approx. ₹17,500)
- Core i5-11400F – $157 (Approx. ₹14,500)
- Ryzen 5-5600X – $299 (Approx. ₹28,000) – AMD
The only processor which can compete here from AMD is Ryzen 5-5600X. R5-5600X features a 6 Core 12 Thread CPU with a max boost of up to 4.6 GHz.
Despite the new Cypress Cove architecture, no groundbreaking improvement compare to the last-gen Core i5-10600K. Though, the single-core performance has improved. Overall 11th gen Core i5 gets 100 MHz frequency uplift than 10th gen Core i5.
Budget Gaming CPU
Core i5-11600K is almost matching the Ryzen 5-5600X in gaming performance. If you only want to play games, i5-11600K and 11600KF are the best budget gaming CPU. My pick will be 11600KF because it will cost way less than R5-5600X and a little less than i5-11600K. In any case, you will attach the discrete GPU for a good gaming experience.
On a low budget, the Core i5-11400 and 11400F are the best chips. Currently, AMD’s low budget segment is empty, making Intel chip the best by default. Tech Deals made a comparison video that shows the almost same gaming experience in both i5-11600K and 11400.
If you will use a discrete graphics card in your build, the “F” variant makes more sense.
- Primarily gaming and secondary productivity work – Core i5-11600K, KF.
- Multi-threaded, productivity, rendering focus workload and Gaming – Ryzen 5-5600X
Power consumption
Due to the 14nm process, Core i5-11600K/KF consumes more power than ever, its advertised TDP is 125 W. On average, peak power consumption is around 150 W in AVX2 workloads and Around 200 W in AVX 512. Which I think most of the gamers don’t care.
The Intel Core i5-11600K consumes way more power and gets way hotter than the Intel Core i5-10600K.
On the other hand, Ryzen 5-5600X is way more power-efficient than Core i5-11600K, thanks to the advanced process node. The 5600X rated TDP is 65 W which generally consumes around 70 W.
One thing to keep in mind that Intel is not bundling a CPU cooler in the “K” and “KF” variant CPU. You probably need a good beefy cooler to cool this chip.
Intel has done everything to squeeze out performance from Rocket Lake with 14nm. This time putting performance on the table is the priority rather than power efficiency.
Overall pick: Core i5-11600K or Ryzen 5-5600X
Ryzen 5-5600X is the best to buy CPU for overall workloads like gaming, productivity, rendering, office work, etc. Intel’s newer offering still a little behind AMD. Core i5-11600K/KF processor looks good in price to performance ratio.
AMD is working hard to maintaining CPU stocks, but prices are uncontrollable whenever there is a supply-demand issue. As a consequence, we have seen some bad days with AMD CPU.
In terms of prices, things are reasonable with Intel. For any reason, Ryzen 5 5600X prices are high, and you can’t wait. In that case, Core i5-11600K/KF will not disappoint you. Primarily for gaming purpose.
Moreover, i5-11600K/KF and all Rocket Lake CPUs are compatible with older Z490 and H470 chipset motherboard. BIOS update required. However, if you are running Core i5-10600K/KF, there is no point of upgrade.
Furthermore, Core i5-11400/F offer great value in the budget gaming CPU segment. On a very tight budget, this processor will give a decent performance in every aspect. And attaching a graphics card will make it low budget powerful gaming machine.
Price
Intel kept the prices very aggressive compare to the competition, especially with Core i5. Price is the major factor that kept i5-11600K/KF in the recommended list. And we all know, Core i5-11400/F is the best budget CPU.
The Ryzen 5 5600X is great for gaming and most applications, no doubt. But Core i5-11600K/KF is the better alternative with almost similar gaming performance.
We all know, i5-11600K/KF doesn’t come with a CPU cooler that adds the extra cost to the processor price. Therefore, if you get a good deal on Ryzen 5-5600X, buy it. AMD has bundled Wraith Stealth cooler with R5-5600X.
In case you are planning to buy a cooler separately with any CPU, you can consider Core i5-11600K/KF according to your workload.
