Intel Launches 10th Gen Desktop Processors: A New Era of Computing Begins

Intel is proud to announce the launch of their 10th gen desktop processors, marking a new era in computing. The new processor lineup features improved performance, enhanced features, and exciting new technologies that will change the way we work and play.

The Top-of-the-Stack Processor: i9-10900K

At the top of the stack is the i9-10900K, a behemoth of a processor with 10 cores and 20 threads. This powerful CPU boasts a single-core turbo boost speed of 5.3GHz, but it's worth noting that this speed will only be achieved if thermals are kept in check due to thermal velocity boost. The i9-10900K is priced at $374 USD, which is listed when buying 1000 units in bulk, and not the price you'll pay from a store.

A Welcome Move: Hyperthreading on the i5 Side

On the i5 side, the 10600K is a 6-core, 12-thread processor that represents a welcome move away from the 9600K of last generation, which did not have hyperthreading. All of these new 10th gen chips appear to have hyperthreading, a feature that was only available on higher-end processors in previous generations. This change is likely due to AMD having competitive options from a multicore standpoint that Intel couldn't match.

Thinner Die for Improved Thermals

One improvement the 10th gen chips bring is a thinner die, which will help improve thermals. Given the higher power levels needed to hit these higher clock speeds, this is a crucial development. The use of a thinner die will likely be useful in reducing heat and improving overall system performance.

The Z490 Platform: A Step Forward for PCIe Lanes

The new Z490 platform brings 40 PCIe lanes, up from the 24 that were available on the previous Z390. However, unlike AMD, Intel is still using PCIe 3.0 with the 10th gen Comet Lake-S processors. While this may be a disappointment to some, it's worth noting that PCIe 3.0 is still a fast and reliable standard.

Finned Heatsinks and Fanless Designs

The higher-end MEG series boards from MSI, such as the ACE, feature finned heatsinks and have a small fan in them, which will provide improved cooling performance for enthusiasts. Steve at Hardware Unboxed will be doing VRM testing with the ACE and other new Z490 motherboards, so readers should check out his content to see how these systems stack up.

Rear I/O: A Nice Selection of Ports

The Z490 ACE has a nice selection of rear I/O ports, including old-school PS/2 port, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, three USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports highlighted in red, two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports highlighted in blue, the previously mentioned gigabit and 2.5 gigabit ports, and support for USB 3.2 Gen2 by 2 for up to 20gbps support. The board also features two antenna connectors for WiFi and Bluetooth, followed by audio connectors.

Alienware 51m Gaming Laptop: Upgradeable or Not?

The Alienware 51m gaming laptop was mentioned as being upgradeable with a socketed 9900K processor, which seems like a great idea at first. However, it appears that only if the manufacturer also offered a replacement motherboard would they be able to support upgrades.

VRM Testing and Other New Z490 Motherboards

Steve at Hardware Unboxed will be doing VRM testing with the ACE as well as other new Z490 motherboards. Readers should check out his content to see how these systems perform and compare them to one another.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enIntel is launching their 10th gen desktopprocessors, so let’s check out what newchips are coming, find out more about thenew XTU settings and features, and see whatthe Z490 platform is going to offer us.First up let’s check out the new processorsthat Intel will be offering with 10th genComet Lake-S. We’ve got the 10 core 20 threadi9-10900K at the top of the stack, it’sgot a 5.3GHz single core turbo boost speedhowever that’s with thermal velocity boost,so will only get hit if thermals are in check.Down from that is the i7-10700K, an 8 core16 thread part which in a way would essentiallyreplace the 9900K from 9th gen.Unlike the 9th gen i7 though, it’s got hyperthreading.The price Intel has listed here is $374 USD,but it’s worth noting these prices are whenbuying 1000 units in bulk and not what you’llend up paying from the store.These parts are also listed with a 125 wattTDP, and while I doubt most would run thesewith that limit anyway, it’s worth rememberingthe 9900K is 95 watts, so it kind of makesme wonder how much of the performance differencewill simply be due to boosting the power,as we’re still on 14nm.On the i5 side the 10600K is a 6 core 12 threadpart, a welcome move away from the 9600K oflast generation which didn’t have hyperthreading.In fact all of these new 10th gen chips appearto have hyperthreading, I’m guessing dueto AMD having competitive options from a multicorestandpoint that Intel weren’t able to getaway with having i5 and i7 chips with it disabled.An improvement these 10th gen chips are includingis a thinner die in order to help improvethermals, and given higher power levels willbe needed to hit these higher clock speeds,that’s probably going to be useful.As for Z490, it’s bringing us 40 PCIe lanes,up from the 24 that were on offer with theprevious Z390, however unlike AMD who areoffering PCIe 4.0, Intel are still using PCIe3.0 with the 10th gen Comet Lake-S. Whilethat kind of sucks from a future upgrade pointof view, I suppose PCIe 4.0 devices are stillfairly limited for the moment.As for the PCIe lanes with the Z490 ACE motherboardI’ve got, MSI are claiming that it’s readyfor PCIe Gen 4 support, so basically froma hardware standpoint it’s capable of supporting4.0, but this will still only be possibleif Intel decide to offer support with sayfuture 11th gen processors.Like we saw on the laptop side, the memoryspeed is moving to DDR4-2933 from DDR4-2666,though you can of course go higher with XMPprofiles.The MSI Z490 ACE we’re looking at here apparentlysupports up to 4800 with overclocking, andup to 128gb of memory in total with the 4available memory slots.Speaking of overclocking, the Intel XTU softwarehas been updated with some new features, includingbeing able to enable or disable hyperthreadingon a per core basis and enhanced voltage frequencycurve controls.It’s interesting that the core voltage offsetbar isn’t locked in their official image,so it may not be locked due to plundervolt.2.5 gigabit ethernet is also making an appearancethis generation, though I suspect supportmay come down to the specific motherboardrather than it just being globally used.That said, all 10 MSI motherboards I havespecs for, including this Z490 ACE all have2.5 gigabit ethernet built in, the ACE alsohas a regular gigabit port too.While I think this is great, there still seemsto be a big lack of 2.5 gigabit capable switches,so hopefully this move by Intel helps speedthat along.I suppose 2.5 gigabit ethernet isn’t thatuseful to a lot of people, but I’d loveto have it for my home network as I copy alot of data around to test machines from myNAS, and gigabit ethernet is a huge limitation.MSI are also adding Type-C support for allof these motherboards too, so you won’tget caught out like I did when I made my recentmini ITX build.Anyway back to Z490, it’s using the newLGA 1200 socket, which is not backwards compatiblewith socket 1151 that was used for 8th and9th gen processors.This means 10th gen CPUs needs these new motherboards.While not ideal, this seems to be how Inteloperates, at least when compared to AMD’slong AM4 socket support.Desktop hardware aside, I’m extremely interestedto hear what comes of the Alienware 51m gaminglaptop, as they said that it would be upgradeableas it supported a socketed 9900K processor.Based on this it seems like they’ll onlybe able to support upgrades if they also offereda replacement motherboard or something, soyeah that will be interesting to follow.With the higher end MEG series boards fromMSI like the ACE, we’ve got finned heatsinks,plus there’s a small fan in there as well.Steve at Hardware Unboxed will be doing VRMtesting with the ACE as well as other newZ490 motherboards, so you’ll definitelywant to check out his content to see how theystack up.The ACE also has three M.2 slots, each with4 lanes of PCIe support, and all three havepassive cooling.The 3 PCIe 3.0 by 16 slots are reinforcedwith metal and support Nvidia SLI or AMD Crossfire.The top slot is wired to the CPU with 16 lanes,8 lanes to the CPU for the second slot, andthe bottom is 4 lanes via the PCH.The Z490 ACE has nice selection of rear I/Otoo, including old school PS/2 port, two USB2.0 Type-A ports, then for the more modernstuff, three USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports highlightedin red, two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports highlightedin blue, the previously mentioned gigabitand 2.5 gigabit ports, the Type-C supportsUSB 3.2 Gen2 by 2 for up to 20gbps support,no Thunderbolt here, but the Unify and topend God like offer that if you need it.Finally there’s the two antenna connectorsfor WiFi and Bluetooth, followed by the audioconnectors.Unfortunately I haven’t been able to tryit out yet as I’m still waiting to get myhands on 10th gen CPUs for testing.I also don’t have pricing at this time,but will add some links in the descriptiononce it’s available.Let me know what you thought about Intel’s10th gen desktop CPUs, Z490 or MSI ACE motherboarddown in the comments, as well as what CPUcomparisons you want to see once we’re allowedto share performance numbers.If you’re new to the channel then get subscribedfor that upcoming content as well as for futuretech videos like this one.\n"