Intel Core i9-9900K Preview 2.0 – World’s Best Gaming CPU?

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Intel officially announced the Intel Core i9-9900K on 8 October 2018, calling it the world’s best gaming processor. Let’s take a closer look at this flagship member of the 9th Generation Intel Core processor family!

Updated @ 2018-10-23 : Added an Intel Hyper-Threading section, updated the 9th Generation Intel Core processor price list, and corrected some mistakes.

Originally posted @ 2018-10-19

 

The Intel Coffee Lake Processors

The 9th Generation Intel Core processors are based on the same Coffee Lake microarchitecture as the 8th Generation Intel Core processors. When they were first announced last year, the 8th Gen Core processors commanded great interest, because they were the first desktop processors to boast a major boost in performance, thanks to the addition of additional cores.

The 9th Generation Intel Core processors may be based on the same microarchitecture, but Intel repeats the same winning formula – add cores for more performance! All thanks to the Ryzen Effect! So here is basically what the 9th Gen offers over the 8th Gen :

Intel Core i9 : 6 cores, 12 threads >>> 8 cores, 16 threads

Intel Core i7 : 6 cores, 12 threads >>> 8 cores, 8 threads

Intel Core i5 : 4 cores, 4 threads >>> 6 cores, 6 threads

Note : The 8th Gen Core i9 was only available for the mobile platform. The desktop Core i9 was only introduced in the 9th Generation.

 

Intel Hyper-Threading

In the 9th Generation, Intel drops Hyper-Threading in their Core i7 processors for the first time ever. Hyper-Threading is now available only in the Core i9. The Core i7 is now more like the Core i5, with two additional cores.

What Intel has essentially done is split the Core i7 into a higher-end Core i9 line with Hyper-Threading, and a lower-end Core i7 line without Hyper-Threading.

 

9th Generation Intel Core Processor Specifications

There are just three models in the first salvo of 9th Generation Intel Core processors – the Intel Core i9-9900K (US | UK), the Intel Core i7-9700K (US | UK) and the Intel Core i5-9600K (US | UK). Here is a comparison of their specifications :

SpecificationsIntel Core i9-9900KIntel Core i7-9700KIntel Core i5-9600K
CodenameCoffee LakeCoffee LakeCoffee Lake
SocketFCLGA1151FCLGA1151FCLGA1151
Process Technology14 nm tri-gate14 nm tri-gate14 nm tri-gate
Cores / Threads8 / 168 / 86 / 6
Base Frequency3.6 GHz3.6 GHz3.7 GHz
Boost Frequency5.0 GHz4.9 GHz4.6 GHz
L2 Cache256 KB x 8256 KB x 8256 KB x 6
L3 Cache16 MB12 MB9 MB
Bus Speed8 GT/s DMI38 GT/s DMI38 GT/s DMI3
Memory SupportDDR4-2666 (Dual Channel)DDR4-2666 (Dual Channel)DDR4-2666 (Dual Channel)
Max. Memory Bandwidth41.6 GB/s41.6 GB/s41.6 GB/s
Processor GraphicsIntel UHD Graphics 630
- 350 MHz to 1.2 GHz
Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 350 MHz to 1.2 GHz
Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 350 MHz to 1.15 GHz
TDP95 W95 W95 W
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Unboxing The Intel Core i9-9900K

The Intel Core i9-9900K (US | UK) comes in a rather retail box, which is rather surprising since it doesn’t come with a bundled cooler. So what’s inside the box? Let’s find out!

Next Page > The Intel Core i9-9900K Up Close, Performance, Price + Availability

 

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