Introduction
Hot on the heels of our recent Core i9-11900K review comes its little brother, the Core i5-11600K. It features the same new architecture and improvements, as well as connectivity support, but in a more cost-effective 6-core package. We also find optional platform support for USB 3.2 gen2x2 20gbps USB, Intel Thunderbolt 4, USB4, and WiFi 6E support for maximum speed connectivity to, well, everything. New overclocking features such as a new memory controller with real-time memory overclocking from your desktop, memory overclocking support on H570 and B560 chipsets, AVX enable/disable options, and even AVX2 and AVX-512 guard-band overrides, you can tune like never before.
Intel’s take on the Core i5-11600K:
The 11th Gen Intel® Core™ desktop processor family puts you in control of your computing experience. It features an innovative new architecture for reimagined performance, immersive display and graphics for incredible visuals, and a range of options and technologies for enhanced tuning. When these advances come together, you have everything you need for fast-paced professional work, elite gaming, inspired creativity, and extreme tuning. The 11th Gen Intel® Core™ desktop processor family gives you the power to perform, compete, excel, and power your greatest contributions.
Performance: Reimagined Performance
11th Gen Intel Core desktop processors are intelligently engineered to push the boundaries of performance. The new processor core architecture transforms hardware and software efficiency and takes advantage of Intel Deep Learning Boost to accelerate AI performance. Key platform improvements include memory support up to DDR4-3200, up to 20 CPU PCIe 4.0 lanes, integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20G), and Intel Optane Memory H20 with SSD support. Together, these technologies bring the power and the intelligence you need to supercharge productivity, stay in the creative flow, and game at the highest level.
Creativity: Immersive Display & Graphics
Experience rich, stunning, seamless visuals with high-performance graphics on 11th Gen Intel Core desktop processors. Enhanced Intel UHD Graphics featuring Intel Xe graphics architecture offers powerful media and graphics capabilities to bring your virtual world to life. Key platform advances enable complete immersion—with integrated HDMI 2.0 and HBR3 for up to three simultaneous 4K HDR displays at 60Hz; 12bit HEVC/VP9 decode and E2E compression for efficient, enhanced quality of media; and 10bit AV1 Codec decode support that provides true fixed function-based decoding for fast, energy-efficient performance with video calling and screen share. Just sit down and dive in—to uncompromised in-game performance while streaming and recording, seamless multi-tasking across multiple screens, or fast creating and editing for even the most demanding tasks.
Tuning: Enhanced Tuning & Control
11th Gen Intel Core desktop processors offer you the flexibility and control to power your greatest contributions. Unlocked 11th Gen Intel® Core desktop processors enable you to overclock confidently with enhanced features3 like Intel® Performance Maximizer, Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel® XTU), Solder Thermal Interface Material (STIM), and improved overclocking customizations. Now you can push your CPU to the limits, open new performance horizons, or re-imagine streaming and recording. 11th gen processors also simplify connectivity through Intel® Thunderbolt 4 (discrete USB4 compliant), enhance expandability through high-speed PCIe lanes and USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20G), and advance wireless connectivity through discrete Wi-Fi 6E. Take control and push ahead with the processors that maximize whatever matters most to you.
Intel Z590 Chipset Block Diagram
A few key takeaways here. The first thing to note is the updated DMI Bus. Intel has used a PCIe 3.0 x4 based DMI bus for a handful of generations now, Z590 with a compatible 11th gen chip doubles this to PCIe 3.0 x8. Next is 4 more PCIe 4.0 lanes from the CPU for a total of 20.
Important features:
New Processor Core Architecture
PC improvements transform hardware and software efficiency and increase real-world performance for smooth gameplay, immersive productivity, and fast creation.
Intel® Deep Learning Boost (VNNI)
Accelerates AI inference—vastly improving performance for deep learning workloads.
Gaussian Neural Accelerator 2.0 (GNA 2.0)
Runs AI workloads on the accelerator to more efficiently blur video background and suppress background noise.
Intel® UHD Graphics featuring Intel® Xe graphics architecture
Rich media and intelligent graphics capabilities enable amplified visual complexity, enhanced 3D performance, and faster image processing.
Enhanced Display (Integrated HDMI 2.0, HBR3)
Immerse in up to three simultaneous 4K displays at 60Hz or a pair of 5K displays at 60Hz8 with increased connectivity to enhance display support.
Enhanced Media (12bit HEVC, 10bit AV1 decode, E2E compression)
Greater system-wide performance and support for enhanced quality of media encode and decode, efficiently.
New Overclocking Features and Capabilities
A range of enhanced overclocking capabilities, including Intel Performance Maximizer,4 Intel® Extreme Tuning Utility, Intel Extreme Memory Profile—and, on unlocked processors, per-core hyperthreading, enhanced voltage frequency control, and PCle overclocking.
Discrete Wi-Fi 6E (GIG+)
Wi-Fi connection that is 3 times faster and with 40% higher peak data rates compared to the standard 802.22ac 2×2 and dual spatial stream 802.11ac, respectively.
Increased DDR4 speeds
Smooth media editing, fast multitasking, and enhanced productivity with memory support up to DDR4-3200.
20 CPU PCIe 4.0 lanes
Additional lanes (compared to previous generations) increase PCIe throughput and flexibility for fast connection of next-gen PCIe devices.
Intel® Optane™ Memory H20
Performance improvements and power reduction over Intel® Optane™ memory H10 with SSD.
Integrated USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 (20G)
Up to twice the USB bandwidth (vs USB 3.2 Gen 2×1 (10G)) for fast data transfers.
USB Audio Offload
Deep sleep states are possible with the USB Audio Offload.
Discrete Intel Thunderbolt 4 (USB4 compliant)
Universal cable connectivity for a simple, reliable connection that provides incredible performance.
Quick Specs:
# of Cores – 6
# of Threads – 12
Processor Base Frequency – 3.90 GHz
Max Turbo Boost 3.0 Frequency – 4.90 GHz
Cache – 12 MB Intel Smart Cache
TDP – 125 W
Max Memory Size – 128 GB
Memory Speed – DDR4-3200
Max # of Memory Channels – 2
Processor Graphics – Intel UHD Graphics 750
Scalability – 1S Only
PCI Express Revision – 4.0
Max # of PCI Express Lanes – 20
Sockets Supported – FCLGA1200
Intel 11th Gen Comparison Table
A Closer Look
Intel has sent reviewers a flashy review kit the last few generations and 11th gen is not different. This go around, we get a large blue colored cube about of about 8 inches.
The top lifts off to reveal a staged display.
This reminds us of a flashy display box you would see on a convenience store counter tempting you to grab a new flavor of your favorite candy bar. Amusingly this isn’t terribly far from the truth for us. Besides the i9 and i5 SKUs included, there is also a small crystal cube sitting in the tray.
Each CPU box lifts out of a slot in the base, as does the Intel crystal.
The rear ‘billboard’ magnetically attaches and pops off easily.
Inside, you get the 11600K in the same clear clamshell packaging you’re used to, nothing new here.
The back of the CPU looks pretty much identical to the previous 10th gen CPUs and indeed it should since they are both LGA1200 CPUs.
Synthetic Testing
Test Platform:
CPU – Intel Core i5-11600K
Mobo – ASUS Maximus XIII Hero
RAM – 32GB (4x8GB) HyperX Fury RGB 3200MHz C16
GPU – Nvidia RTX 2080 Founders Edition
SSD – Kingston KC1000 1TB
PSU – Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB Gold 750W
Chassis – Open BenchTable
Cooling – Custom Liquid Loop (EKWB Velocity CPU Block, EKWB PE240 Rad, 1x DDC Pump)
Super PI Modded 1.5
“In August 1995, the calculation of pi up to 4,294,960,000 decimal digits was succeeded by using a supercomputer at the University of Tokyo. The program was written by D.Takahashi in collaboration with Dr.Y.Kanada at the computer center. This record should be the current world record. (Details are shown in the windows help.) This record-breaking program was ported to personal computer environments such as Windows NT and Windows 95. In order to calculate 33.55 million digits, it takes within 3 days with a Pentium 90 MHz, 40 MB main memory, and 340 MB available storage.”
The easiest way to see Intel’s per-core IPC uplift is a single-threaded test and indeed here we see a large uplift in SuperPi with the 11600K decimating every previous generation, every AMD chip, and indeed everything but its larger 11900K sibling.
CINEBENCH R15
“CINEBENCH is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus, and much more.
CINEBENCH is the perfect tool to compare CPU and graphics performance across various systems and platforms (Windows and OS X). And best of all: It’s completely free.”
In single-threaded test mode, the 11600K easily climbs over the previous generation’s flagship 10900K and miles ahead of the 10600K.
In multi-threaded, the 6-core 11600K crawls ahead of the previous 10600K by nearly 300 points.
CINEBENCH R20
Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities. Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflect the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user. Best of all: It’s free.
In the newer Cinebench R20, the 11600K actually comes in faster than last year’s flagship 10900K single-threaded mode.
In multi-core mode, it falls more closely in step with 8-core processors rather than the 6-core 10600K it replaces.
Passmark Performance Test – CPU Mark
“Fast, easy to use, PC speed testing, and benchmarking. PassMark Performance Test ™ allows you to objectively benchmark a PC using a variety of different speed tests and compare the results to other computers.”
Passmark gives the 11600K about a 30% lead over the 10600K.
SiSoft Sandra – Cryptographic Bandwidth
“SiSoftware Sandra provides a robust package of diagnostic tools for testing your system and teasing out its problems–or potential headaches.”
Interestingly, SiSoft Sandra gives the 11600K a bit lower score here than the 10600K.
Y-Cruncher
Written by Alexander J. Lee “From a high-school project that went a little too far…” y-cruncher, (y for gamma) is a number-crunching program that can compute various mathematical constants.
It was originally a small program specialized for computing the Euler-Mascheroni Constant. (Which uses gamma as its symbol, hence the name). It has since gained the ability to compute other constants.
It is the first of its kind that is multi-threaded and scalable to multi-core systems. Ever since its launch in 2009, it has become a common benchmarking and stress-testing application for overclockers and hardware enthusiasts.
We tested using the built-in benchmarks to compute Pi to 1 Billion Digits in both single and multi-threaded mode and recorded the Total Computation time at the end of the run. Y-Cruncher is also able to take advantage of AVX512 instructions in compatible CPUs. Due to the thermal load of running Intense AVX workloads, Intel has implemented an AVX offset clock that may scale the CPU’s clock speed back, even below stock speeds when running intense AVX loads. For this reason, we note the CPU’s clock speed in both single and multi-threaded test modes.
The 11600K pulls ahead by about 6 seconds over the 10600K in multi-threaded mode, but 11th gen includes AVX-512 support which gives us the fastest compute times of any CPUs we’ve ever tested, including HEDT chips that have had AVX512 support for several generations.
Black Hole 4.2
Let the beast run and benchmark your system in three different tests (Multithreaded, Single-threaded & 4-Threaded) that will test your CPU to the very limit, and score you among hundreds of other systems that have tested.
Multithreaded will test your CPU’s efficiency of running more than one thread without major system lag. The higher you score on this one, the more threads your CPU can handle with a comfortable speed. High multithreaded scores generally mean you can render things faster.
4-Threaded tests your CPU’s performance in games since most games currently run on 4 threads.
Single-threaded evaluates how fast the CPU can handle a single, dedicated thread for processing.
The 11600K falls right in line with the previous 6-core chips in this test.
Workstation & Productivity Testing
PCMark 10
PCMark 10 replicates many common tasks an office user might do such as manipulating photos, video conferencing, and spreadsheet editing and the 11600K outperforms every previous Intel chip.
Blender Benchmark 2.82 – BMW27
A new platform to collect and display the results of hardware and software performance tests. Aimed at an optimal comparison between system hardware and installations using open source software and testing content in the public domain.
Blender can take full advantage of multiple cores, so our breakdown here almost perfectly reflects core counts rather than raw speed. The 11600K is the fastest 6-core chip we’ve tested.
POV-Ray 3.7 Standard Benchmark – CPU
POV-Ray also scales linearly with core counts though we do find the 11600K shaving about 6 seconds off of the time achieved by the 10600K.
x265 HD Benchmark
A benchmark that measures how fast your computer can encode HD (1080p) video in the new H.265 / HEVC format.
Our 11600K fights its way into the score range previously only held by 8-core chips.
7-Zip
The benchmark shows a rating in MIPS (million instructions per second). The rating value is calculated from the measured speed, and it is normalized with the results of the Intel Core 2 CPU with a multi-threading option switched off. So if you have a modern CPU from Intel or AMD, rating values in single-thread mode must be close to real CPU frequency. There are two tests, compression with the LZMA method and decompression with the LZMA method. Once the total passes reach 50, the score is taken
In file compression activities, the 11600K pulls a solid lead over the older 10600K.
WebXPRT 2015
WebXPRT gives the 11600K a better score than every previous generation of Intel processors.
Memory & Cache Testing
AIDA64 Engineer Edition
“FinalWire Ltd. today announced the immediate availability of AIDA64 Extreme Edition 1.50 software, a streamlined diagnostic and benchmarking tool for home users; and the immediate availability of AIDA64 Business Edition 1.50 software, an essential network management solution for small and medium scale enterprises. The new AIDA64 update implements AVX-optimized benchmarks for the upcoming Intel Sandy Bridge processors, adds a brand-new video encoding benchmark, and supports the latest AMD and NVIDIA graphics processors.”
Intel’s 11th gen chips exhibit a bit more performance than their 10th gen counterparts with the same memory indicating a more efficient architecture.
The 11600K comes in with a 53.6ns latency, quite respectable but not record-breaking.
Intel’s 11th gen chips show a strong gain in Level 1 and Level 2 cache bandwidth but fall off a bit on Level 3 cache bandwidth.
Passmark Performance Test – Memory Mark – Threaded
“Fast, easy to use, PC speed testing, and benchmarking. PassMark Performance Test ™ allows you to objectively benchmark a PC using a variety of different speed tests and compare the results to other computers.”
Passmark shows the 11600K with significantly higher memory performance than 10th gen.
SiSoft Sandra – Memory Bandwidth – Aggregate.
“SiSoftware Sandra provides a robust package of diagnostic tools for testing your system and teasing out its problems–or potential headaches.”
SiSoft shows aggregate memory bandwidth only bested with chips rocking quad-channel memory, pretty impressive!
Synthetic Game Testing
3DMark – Fire Strike
“Fire Strike is a showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for today’s high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today”
Physics on the 11600K makes a radical jump from the previous 10600K with scores above the previous 8-core chips.
3DMark – Time Spy
“3Dmark Time Spy is a new DirectX 12 benchmark test for Windows 10 gaming PCs. Time Spay is one of the first DirectX 12 apps to be built “the right way” from the ground up to fully realize the performance gains that the new API offers. With DirectX 12 engine, which supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading, Time Spy is the ideal test for benchmarking the latest graphics cards.”
Time Spy’s CPU Physics test shows the 11600K matching the many 8-core chips.
Game Testing
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
Originally created by legendary game designer Sid Meier, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game in which you attempt to build an empire to stand the test of time. Become Ruler of the World by establishing and leading a civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Wage war, conduct diplomacy, advance your culture, and go head-to-head with history’s greatest leaders as you attempt to build the greatest civilization the world has ever known.
Civilization VI offers new ways to engage with your world: cities now physically expand across the map, active research in technology and culture unlocks new potential, and competing leaders will pursue their own agendas based on their historical traits as you race for one of five ways to achieve victory in the game.
Our first real game test shows how much game optimization can make a difference. The new architecture is technically more powerful, but Civilization 6 just doesn’t take advantage of it well yet.
Far Cry 5
Anything can happen. Everything will.
Welcome to Hope County, Montana, land of the free and the brave, but also home to a fanatical doomsday cult—known as The Project at Eden’s Gate—that is threatening the community’s freedom. Stand up to the cult’s leaders, Joseph Seed, and the Heralds, as you spark the fires of resistance that will liberate the besieged community.
Far Cry 5 on the other hand uses the 11600K to great effect and gives us an average frame rate of 145 FPS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Experience Lara Croft’s defining moment as she becomes the Tomb Raider. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara must master a deadly jungle, overcome terrifying tombs, and persevere through her darkest hour. As she races to save the world from a Maya apocalypse, Lara will ultimately be forged into the Tomb Raider she is destined to be.
The latest Tomb Raider also sees the 11600K topping the scoreboard with both it and the 11900K managing an average of 136 FPS.
Far Cry New Dawn
New Dawn also shows the 11600K lead all previous generations in gaming performance.
Overclocking, Power & Thermals
Intel’s Core i5-11600K typically runs at 4.9GHz lightly loaded and 4.6Ghz with all cores in use, we’ll see if we can get any more out of it.
We always like to try any automatic tools available to us first and Intel’s latest XTU versions include a ‘Speed Optimizer’. Turing this on gets us an all-core speed of 4.8GHz.
This gives us a nice jump to 4400 points even from the stock run of 4277.
From here we’ll carry on manually to 4.9GHz.
We see another decent 
jump of 115 points to 4515. Temps are still barely touching the 70C mark and we haven’t even tried to fine-tune voltage, we’re just letting our Asus board sort it out on its own.
Next up is 5.0 GHz but this requires a modest core voltage bump of +0.15V to get stable.
Our score actually falls just a touch…
.. and the culprit is power limits.
Since our temps were good and the power limit is a software setting we can fix in the BIOS, we went ahead and jumped to 5.1GHz on all cores. This requires another voltage bump, up to +0.23V on the core offset.
Our final score lands at 4601, about a 7.5% increase over stock. Temps are sitting around the 90C mark and power draw is landing about 285W in this configuration. 5.2GHz just refused to work for us, so this is the final OC we achieved.
Final Thoughts
Intel’s 11th generation chips are proving to be good performers even if they are a bit power-hungry. Keep in mind this architecture was originally destined for a smaller process node before Intel decided to back-port it to a well-refined 14nm node. From a gaming perspective, and everything but raw workstation level productivity, it’s easily one of the top chips. With mainstream consumer chips readily available up to 16 cores, 6 cores seems a bit on the light side but it is enough to game, stream, and handle all of your usual daily tasks with ease. Factor in awesome levels of connectivity from the Intel 500 series boards and you have a winner.
With a street price of $265 as of this writing and seemingly good availability when compared to say a Ryzen 5600X which is bringing closer to $340 on the street and somewhat limited availability, it’s a no-brainer for users with a modest budget.
Rating 10/10
