The first 10th-gen Intel Core processors designed for desktops are on the way and… they’re still 14nm chips. But thanks to support for up to 10-cores, 20-threads, and speeds as high as 5.3 GHz, these new Intel Comet Lake S chips should provide a it of a performance boost over previous-gen Intel processors.

For example, Intel says you can expect up to a 12-percent performance boost for video editing, 18-percent improvement in 4K video editing compared with 9th-gen chips.

How they stack up against the latest AMD Ryzen processors remains to be seen.

In April 2020, Intel announces new desktop processors as part of the 10th Gen Intel Core processor family, including Intel’s flagship Core i9-10900K processor, the world’s fastest gaming processor. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Like the laptop-class Comet Lake H chips introduced in early April, and last year’s Comet Lake U processors, these new chips are manufactured using a 14nm processor and feature Intel UHD 630 graphics. That should be fine for playing 4K video or some light gaming, but it’s a little disappointing that Intel isn’t offering any options with the better Iris Plus or Intel Xe graphics you get with Ice Lake chips or the upcoming Intel Tiger Lake processors.

In a nutshell, 10th-gen Comet Lake S processors are a pretty modest update over 9th-gen Coffee lake S processors. But there are a few key improvements — including support for up to 10 cores and 20 threads on top-of-the-line Core i9 chips. And hyperthreading is now a feature for all chips with Core in the name, including Core i3 processors.

Other new features include support for Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology, 2.5 GHz Ethernet connections, and DDR4-2933 memory… on some chips.

One thing to keep in mind is that while Intel promises speeds up to 5.3 GHz, that’s using “Thermal Velocity Boost” technology, which means you’ll probably only be able to hit those speeds for a brief period… and only on a single processor core. Expect speeds to peak at 4.8 GHz or lower when using all CPU cores. And not all chips support TVP.

Another thing to keep in mind about the new chips is that they use Intel’s new 400 series chipset, which means you’ll need a new motherboard if you plan to use one of these new processors with your existing PC hardware. But odds are that most folks who don’t build their own computers from scratch will just get a 10th-gen Intel Core processors when they buy a new desktop sometime later this year (unless they opt for an AMD Ryzen-powered model instead).

Intel is introducing a staggering number of new chips, but here are a few tips to help guide you through the table below:

  • Chips with an F ship without any integrated graphics at all. All other chips have an Intel UHD 630 GPU.
  • Not all chips support Turbo Boost Max 3.0, Thermal Velocity Boost, or hyperthreading.
  • Only Core i7 and higher chips support DDR4-2933 RAM. Cheaper/less powerful processors top out at DDR4-2666 dual-channel memory.
CPU NameCores / ThreadsBase ClockTurbo Boost 2.0Turbo Boost Max 3.0All Core TurboTVBCacheTDP
Intel Core i9-10900K10/203.7 GHz5.1 GHz5.2 GHz4.8 GHz5.3 GHz20 MB125W
Intel Core i9-10900KF10/203.7 GHz5.1 GHz5.2 GHz4.8 GHz5.3 GHz20 MB125W
Intel Core i9-1090010/202.8 GHz5.0 GHz5.1 GHz4.5 GHz5.2 GHz20 MB65W
Intel Core i9-10900F10/202.8 GHz5.0 GHz5.1 GHz4.5 GHz5.2 GHz20 MB65W
Intel Core i7-10700K8/163.8 GHz5.0 GHz5.1 GHz4.7 GHzN/A16 MB125W
Intel Core i7-10700KF8/163.8 GHz5.0 GHz5.1 GHz4.7 GHzN/A16 MB125W
Intel Core i7-107008/162.9 GHz4.7 GHz4.8 GHz4.6 GHzN/A16 MB65W
Intel Core i7-10700F8/162.9 GHz4.7 GHz4.8 GHz4.6 GHzN/A16 MB65W
Intel Core i5-10600K6/124.1 GHz4.8 GHzN/A4.5 GHzN/A12 MB125W
Intel Core i5-10600KF6/124.1 GHz4.8 GHzN/A4.5 GHzN/A12 MB125W
Intel Core i5-106006/123.3 GHz4.8 GHzN/A4.4 GHzN/A12 MB65W
Intel Core i5-105006/123.1 GHz4.5 GHzN/A4.2 GHzN/A12 MB65W
Intel Core i5-104006/122.9 GHz4.3 GHzN/A4.0 GHzN/A12 MB65W
Intel Core i5-10400F6/122.9 GHz4.3 GHzN/A4.0 GHzN/A12 MB65W
Intel Core i3-103204/83.8 GHz4.6 GHzN/A4.4 GHzN/A12 MB65W
Intel Core i3-103004/83.7 GHz4.4 GHzN/A4.2 GHzN/A12 MB65W
Intel Core i3-101004/83.6 GHz4.3 GHzN/A4.1 GHzN/A12 MB65W
Intel Pentium Gold G-66002/44.2 GHzN/AN/AN/AN/A12 MB58W
Intel Pentium Gold G-65002/44.1 GHzN/AN/AN/AN/A12 MB58W
Intel Pentium Gold G-64002/44.0 GHzN/AN/AN/AN/A12 MB58W
Intel Celeron G-59202/23.5 GHzN/AN/AN/AN/A12 MB58W
Intel Celeron G-59002/23.4 GHzN/AN/AN/AN/A12 MB58W
Intel Core i9-10900T10/201.9 GHz4.5 GHz4.6 GHz3.7 GHzN/A20 MB35W
Intel Core i7-10700T8/162.0 GHz4.4 GHz4.5 GHz4.7 GHzN/A16 MB35W
Intel Core i5-10600T6/122.4 GHz4.0 GHzN/A3.7 GHzN/A12 MB35W
Intel Core i5-10500T6/122.3 GHz3.8 GHzN/A3.5 GHzN/A12 MB35W
Intel Core i5-10400T6/122.0 GHz3.6 GHzN/A3.2 GHzN/A12 MB35W
Intel Core i3-10300T4/83.0 GHz3.9 GHzN/A3.7 GHzN/A12 MB35W
Intel Core i3-10100T4/83.0 GHz3.8 GHzN/A3.5 GHzNo12 MB35W
Intel Pentium Gold G-6500T2/43.5 GHzN/AN/AN/AN/A12 MB35W
Intel Pentium Gold G-6400T2/43.4 GHzN/AN/AN/AN/A12 MB35W
Intel Celeron G-5900T2/23.2 GHzN/AN/AN/AN/A12 MB35W

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2 replies on “Intel launches 10th-gen “Comet Lake S” chips for desktops”

  1. The year is 2025, Intel has just announced that starting next quarter, all their 15th gen CPUs are 10nm chips.
    For those of you old enough to remember, Intel used to be an X64 vendor selling CPUs for anything from low cost 2 in 1 laptops to HPC machines.
    These days, all these product categories have either disappeared or moved to ARM and the average size of a processor is 1 nm.

    1. To be fair, I don’t care what lithography they use and how high the frequency is. The competition could be on 5nm and clocking nicely to 5GHz, whilst they could be still using 14nm and clock to only 2GHz for all I care. Just as long as it:
      – firstly works
      – secondly performs good to great
      – thirdly is good value for money

      Since Intel’s chips aren’t performing great and they’re not good value for money, so we have a problem. A die shrink will put them close to, or on-par, or slightly ahead of the competition based on their current technology.

      For them to dominate, they need a architecture transition. Remember how they went from the “Pentium Architecture” to the “Core2 Architecture” and then to the “Core-i Architecture”. This time, AMD has innovated with their InfinityFabric-Chiplet design in the “Zen Architecture”. And before then it was ARM who innovated with their big.LITTLE design in the “Cortex-A Architecture”. How will Intel surpass them, maybe they will copy those ideas? Or innovate on their own?

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