The Intel Core i9–10850k: is it still a viable CPU in 2021?

To answer this question we must first understand what this CPU is. Intel’s Core i9–10850K is a 10-core, 20-threaded CPU which caters to the enthusiast market for CPU’s. The 10850k is essentially a downclocked Core i9–10900K. Now this may beg the question; why did Intel create two of the same CPU’s? Well it simply boiled down to the fact that Intel was unable to sell very many 10900K’s especially due to the fact that many of these 10900K’s were unable to hit the clock speed that it was rated for. So instead of throwing away all of the unused dies, Intel created the Core i9–10850K; a 100 MHz slower chip. This means the base clock is 3.60 GHz instead of 3.70 GHz and a boost of 5.20 GHz instead of 5.30. This, coupled with an average 20 to 50 dollar price difference, the Core i9–10850K achieved larger sales than its faster brother.

So with all of this in mind now, is this CPU still a viable option especially with the new Rocket Lake on its way? Well the simple answer is yes. This CPU offers plenty of performance for many enthusiasts and would run fine with an RTX 3080 or even a 3090; the pinnacle of gaming graphics cards that is if someone can find them in stock. Yes AMD has better offerings now with the Ryzen 5000 series and Intels upcoming Rocket Lake CPUs will bring more to the table, but this CPU is still very relevant. AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X has a 449 dollar msrp (roughly the same as the Core i9–10850k) and has similar gaming grunt as the Core i9–10850k but good luck finding the Ryzen in stock.