Intel Core i7-10700K vs Intel Core i9-11900H Comparison

At first glance this matchup looks lopsided: a 125-watt desktop Comet Lake chip against a 35-watt Tiger Lake-H mobile part. The recorded data tells a stranger story. The Core i7-10700K dominates the heavily threaded rendering-style tests, yet the Core i9-11900H wins the overall head-to-head count, 16 benchmarks to 7, largely by sweeping every single-threaded test and several integer-heavy workloads. Both chips sit at the 75th percentile against all CPUs in the database, with average benchmark scores of 22230 for the i7-10700K and 21367 for the i9-11900H, a gap of under four percent. The interesting question is why the newer, cooler, smaller chip keeps winning tests it seemingly should not.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Start where the desktop chip flexes. In 3DMark CPU tests the i7-10700K is untouchable at scale: 7277 versus 6072 at 16 threads (19.8 percent ahead), 7266 versus 6109 at max threads (18.9 percent), 5628 versus 5001 at 8 threads (12.5 percent), and 3171 versus 3104 at 4 threads (2.2 percent). Passmark memory-adjacent workloads tell the same story: data compression at 295418 versus 239366 (23.4 percent ahead), extended instructions at 19387 versus 16123 (20.2 percent ahead), and random string sorting at 36633 versus 28328 (29.3 percent ahead). When a workload saturates all sixteen threads or leans on memory bandwidth, the desktop part pulls away decisively.

Now flip the board. The i9-11900H sweeps every Cinebench test at every thread count: R23 multi 16772 versus 15727, R23 single 2367 versus 2220, R20 multi 7044 versus 6605, R20 single 994 versus 932, R15 multi 1690 versus 1585, and R15 single 238 versus 223. Every one of those margins is 6.2 or 6.3 percent, a strikingly consistent sweep. That consistency suggests a genuine per-core architecture advantage rather than a fluke of one test. The 3DMark single-thread result backs it up: 917 versus 823, a 10.3 percent win, and the 2-thread test goes to the mobile chip too, 1708 versus 1622, a 5 percent margin.

The Passmark suite adds two eye-opening blowouts. Data encryption: 12232 for the i9-11900H versus 6468 for the i7-10700K, a 47.1 percent win that points squarely at newer instruction support. Prime finding: 87 versus 55, a 36.8 percent gap. Integer math goes to the mobile chip 72882 to 66642 (8.6 percent), floating point 43094 to 41306 (4.1 percent), Passmark multithread 20162 to 18609 (7.7 percent), physics 953 to 933 (2.1 percent), and single-thread 3102 to 3043 (1.9 percent).

The pattern is curious. The i7-10700K wins the biggest multithreaded margins; the i9-11900H wins the most tests overall and every lightly threaded one. Two CPUs, same core and thread count, completely different strengths.

FAQ

Q: Which CPU is faster in single-threaded work?

A: The i9-11900H, in every single-threaded test recorded. Cinebench R23 single: 2367 versus 2220. 3DMark single thread: 917 versus 823. Passmark single thread: 3102 versus 3043. The margins range from 1.9 to 10.3 percent, all in the mobile chip's favor.

Q: Which CPU is faster in multi-threaded rendering?

A: It depends on the test suite. The i9-11900H wins all six Cinebench results, roughly 6.2 percent ahead in each. The i7-10700K wins the 3DMark max-thread and 16-thread tests by 18.9 and 19.8 percent. Passmark multithread goes to the i9-11900H by 7.7 percent.

Q: Why does the i9-11900H win encryption by such a huge margin?

A: The recorded data shows 12232 versus 6468 in data encryption, a 47.1 percent gap. The database does not isolate the cause, but the result sits alongside a 36.8 percent prime-finding win, pointing to newer architectural and instruction capabilities in Tiger Lake-H.

Q: Are both CPUs overclockable?

A: Only the i7-10700K. Its multiplier is unlocked. The i9-11900H has a locked multiplier, consistent with its soldered BGA 1787 mobile packaging.

Q: How do they compare against other CPUs in the database?

A: Both sit at the 75th percentile versus all CPUs. The i7-10700K's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 220 (22289 average score, within 0.3 percent), the Intel Core i5-13500H (22468, 1.1 percent), the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X (21992, 1.1 percent), and the Intel Core i7-11700F (21988, 1.1 percent). The i9-11900H clusters near the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (21440, 0.3 percent), AMD Ryzen 5 2600 (21484, 0.5 percent), AMD EPYC 9454 (21223, 0.7 percent), and Intel Core Ultra 7 155U (21174, 0.9 percent).

Q: Which platform has the newer I/O?

A: The i9-11900H, clearly. It supports PCIe Gen 4 with 20 CPU lanes and delivers 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, versus PCIe Gen 3 with 16 lanes and 46.9 GB/s on the i7-10700K.

The Verdict

The data splits cleanly by workload, not by badge. If sustained all-thread throughput and memory-heavy computation matter most, the i7-10700K is the pick: compression, sorting, extended instructions, and the high-thread 3DMark tests all favor it by double digits, peaking at 29.3 percent in string sorting. If responsiveness, per-core speed, and cryptographic or integer work matter more, the i9-11900H wins every single-threaded test in the database plus encryption by a massive 47.1 percent. It also wins the overall benchmark count, 16 to 7.

Context matters too. The i9-11900H is a mobile part with a 35-watt TDP on a soldered socket, and it is listed as end-of-life with a launch MSRP of $546. The i7-10700K is an active desktop CPU with a 125-watt TDP, an unlocked multiplier, and Socket 1200 compatibility, meaning it is replaceable and tunable in a way the mobile chip never can be. Neither is a blanket winner; the workload decides.

Specification Differences

The two chips differ in nearly everything except core and thread count, which are identical at 8 cores and 16 threads, and both support DDR4 on a dual-channel bus with ECC disabled.

Clocks diverge sharply. The i7-10700K runs a 3.80 GHz base and 5.10 GHz boost; the i9-11900H runs 2.10 GHz base and 4.90 GHz boost. That higher boost on the desktop part makes its single-thread losses in the recorded data all the more notable, and suggests the newer architecture is doing more per clock. TDP is 125 watts against 35 watts, and the sockets differ entirely: Intel Socket 1200 versus Intel BGA 1787.

Cache strongly favors the mobile chip: 1.25 MB of L2 per core and 24 MB of shared L3, versus 256 KB per core and 16 MB shared on the i7-10700K. L1 is 80 KB per core versus 64 KB. Memory bandwidth is 51.2 GB/s versus 46.9 GB/s. PCIe is Gen 4 with 20 CPU lanes versus Gen 3 with 16. Integrated graphics differ: UHD Graphics 750 versus UHD Graphics 630. Release dates are 2021-05-10 for the i9-11900H versus 2020-04-29 for the i7-10700K. Production status is end-of-life for the mobile chip and active for the desktop one. The i7-10700K has an unlocked multiplier; the i9-11900H does not. Part numbers are SRH72 and SRKT7 respectively.

Architecture Differences

These are two different Intel designs separated by a node jump. The i7-10700K is Comet Lake on Intel's 14 nm process; the i9-11900H is Tiger Lake-H on Intel's 10 nm process, with a recorded die size of 190 mm² (no die size is recorded for the Comet Lake part). That process advantage is the most plausible explanation for the mobile chip's per-core efficiency: it wins every single-threaded test despite a lower peak boost clock, 4.90 GHz versus 5.10 GHz.

The cache hierarchy reflects the generational gap. Tiger Lake-H carries roughly five times the L2 per core and half again the shared L3, which likely contributes to the Cinebench sweep and the strong integer and encryption results. The newer platform also brings PCIe Gen 4 and more CPU lanes, plus higher memory bandwidth on paper despite the same DDR4 dual-channel arrangement. Comet Lake's counterweights are raw socket power delivery, an unlocked multiplier, and a mature desktop platform with replaceable CPUs.

Where Each One Wins

The i7-10700K owns saturated, bandwidth-hungry multithreading. Data compression (23.4 percent ahead), random string sorting (29.3 percent ahead), extended instructions (20.2 percent ahead), and 3DMark at 8, 16, and max threads (12.5, 19.8, and 18.9 percent ahead) define its territory: batch processing, archive work, and any pipeline that keeps all sixteen threads busy.

The i9-11900H owns everything lightly threaded and much of the integer and crypto space. Every Cinebench result, every single-threaded score, 3DMark at 1 and 2 threads, encryption (47.1 percent), prime finding (36.8 percent), integer math (8.6 percent), floating point (4.1 percent), physics, and Passmark multithread all go its way. Its rival list, clustered tight around a 21367 average score, shows it competing with much newer hardware.

The final ledger: 16 wins to 7 for the i9-11900H, but the 7 wins for the i7-10700K include the largest margins in the dataset outside encryption. The desktop chip wins bigger when it wins; the mobile chip wins more often, at lower power, on a newer node. Which one is "faster" depends entirely on which row of the benchmark table your workload lives in.