Intels 11th Gen desktop chips are here with faster speeds but fewer cores

Intel’s next-generation desktop chips are finally here: after a brief preview at CES, the company is fully unveiling its 11th Gen Core desktop chips (better known by their codename, Rocket Lake-S.)

Leading the pack is Intel’s new flagship chip, the Core i9-11900K, with eight cores, 16 threads, boosted clock speeds up to 5.3GHz, support for DDR4 RAM at 3,200MHz, a total of 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes, and backwards compatibility with Intel’s 400 Series chipsets.

Eagle-eyed Intel fans might notice that the new chip is, on paper, actually a downgrade from last year’s top model, the Core i9-10900K, which offered 10 cores and 20 threads (and a similar boosted clock speed of 5.3GHz).

That’s because Intel is debuting a new desktop core architecture for...

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