The K has a turbo frequency of 4.9 ghz and the other is 4.8 

My question is why bother buying the unlocked version when the turbo will take you there anyway? 

5 hours ago, zmak said:

The K has a turbo frequency of 4.9 ghz and the other is 4.8 

My question is why bother buying the unlocked version when the turbo will take you there anyway? 

Turbo is only good for one core where as with an overclock can get you 4.9ghz or more across all the cores.Also I wouldn't buy an 11th gen as 12th gen just released and has a 20-30% performance increase over 11th gen

The "K" is an unlocked CPU, allowing the user to potentially overclock it beyond 4.9 GHz.  This used to be a big deal, but with the modern crop of Intel CPU's, there seems to be very little extra gained with overclocking.  My current rig is a pre-built system with an I7-10700F, but it will run all of its cores at 4.6 GHz and if needed, it will run 4 cores at 4.6, the other 4 cores at 4.7.  How much more performance would I gain if I could run all 8 cores at 4.9 or 5 GHz?  Not a whole lot and that is assuming that 5 GHz is attainable with a K version.

5 minutes ago, stans said:

The "K" is an unlocked CPU, allowing the user to potentially overclock it beyond 4.9 GHz.  This used to be a big deal, but with the modern crop of Intel CPU's, there seems to be very little extra gained with overclocking.  My current rig is a pre-built system with an I7-10700F, but it will run all of its cores at 4.6 GHz and if needed, it will run 4 cores at 4.6, the other 4 cores at 4.7.  How much more performance would I gain if I could run all 8 cores at 4.9 or 5 GHz?  Not a whole lot and that is assuming that 5 GHz is attainable with a K version.

That's what I figured but the poster above you says only one core for turbo. I can't really see that making much sense but I'm here to learn. 

4 hours ago, zmak said:

That's what I figured but the poster above you says only one core for turbo. I can't really see that making much sense but I'm here to learn. 

The turbo picks the cores that can best handle the increased clock frequency.  My particular I7-10700F will max out two cores at 4.8 GHz, while maintaining the remaining six at 4.6 GHz.

Don't forget that the 12000 series requires a new motherboard, probably a new power supply and a very beefy cooler. The 12900 uses 245 watts at full turbo according to Gamers Nexus.

2 hours ago, stans said:

The turbo picks the cores that can best handle the increased clock frequency.  My particular I7-10700F will max out two cores at 4.8 GHz, while maintaining the remaining six at 4.6 GHz.

Why didn't you go for the unlocked CPU? 

15 hours ago, zmak said:

Why didn't you go for the unlocked CPU? 

Because I bought a pre-built system, it's Newegg's in-house brand, and there were no options.  I prefer to build my own, but at the time it was impossible to get a video card and the only way to get a good flight sim computer to replace my old Windows XP computer was a pre-built.  Even if I had built my own, I just do not see where there is much overclocking potential in the 10th and 11th generation of Intel CPU's, so why waste money on a "K" CPU?

9 minutes ago, stans said:

Because I bought a pre-built system, it's Newegg's in-house brand, and there were no options.  I prefer to build my own, but at the time it was impossible to get a video card and the only way to get a good flight sim computer to replace my old Windows XP computer was a pre-built.  Even if I had built my own, I just do not see where there is much overclocking potential in the 10th and 11th generation of Intel CPU's, so why waste money on a "K" CPU?

Yes totally agree 

Bought the i5 11600 today as it perfectly suits my mix as a Netflix station and browsing the net and flight sim. The base clock is nice and LOW at 2.8 and turbo is 4.8 

Couldn't see the value in a  K unless one is a mad gamer wanting extreme OC 

Edited November 7, 20214 yr by zmak

16 hours ago, pgde said:

Don't forget that the 12000 series requires a new motherboard, probably a new power supply and a very beefy cooler. The 12900 uses 245 watts at full turbo according to Gamers Nexus.

And the AMD 5950X pulls 253watts at OC 4.7 according to Gamers Nexus.

56 minutes ago, zmak said:

Yes totally agree 

Bought the i5 11600 today as it perfectly suits my mix as a Netflix station and browsing the net and flight sim. The base clock is nice and LOW at 2.8 and turbo is 4.8 

Couldn't see the value in a  K unless one is a mad gamer wanting extreme OC 

Know what?  After many years of overclocking, I'm just fine with a fast CPU that does its own "overclocking" and is 100% stable with no input from me.  Years ago, it was worth overclocking, but with these new CPU's, not so much.