From a qualitative perspective, the i7-11700K can do pretty much whatever you throw at it with gaming in mind, and the 11th gen adds a few new features that will help the platform age better. It's just too pricey at MSRP, but it certainly has the potential to be an attractive choice for gamers looking to pick up an eight-core CPU if the prices come down enough this year.
Our editors hand-pick these products using a variety of criteria: they can be direct competitors targeting the same market segment or can be similar devices in terms of size, performance, or features.
From a qualitative perspective, the i7-11700K can do pretty much whatever you throw at it with gaming in mind, and the 11th gen adds a few new features that will help the platform age better. It's just too pricey at MSRP, but it certainly has the potential to be an attractive choice for gamers looking to pick up an eight-core CPU if the prices come down enough this year.
Our results clearly show that Intel’s performance, while substantial, still trails its main competitor, AMD. In a core-for-core comparison, Intel is slightly slower and a lot more inefficient. The smart money would be to get the AMD processor. However, due to high demand and prioritizing commercial and enterprise contracts, the only parts readily available on retail shelves right now are from Intel. Any user looking to buy or build a PC today has to dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge their way to find one for sale, and also hope that it is not at a vastly inflated price. The less stressful solution would be to buy Intel, and use Intel’s latest platform in Rocket Lake.