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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 :
| Specifications | Intel Core i9-9900K | Intel Core i7-9700K | Intel Core i5-9600K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codename | Coffee Lake | Coffee Lake | Coffee Lake |
| Socket | FCLGA1151 | FCLGA1151 | FCLGA1151 |
| Process Technology | 14 nm tri-gate | 14 nm tri-gate | 14 nm tri-gate |
| Cores / Threads | 8 / 16 | 8 / 8 | 6 / 6 |
| Base Frequency | 3.6 GHz | 3.6 GHz | 3.7 GHz |
| Boost Frequency | 5.0 GHz | 4.9 GHz | 4.6 GHz |
| L2 Cache | 256 KB x 8 | 256 KB x 8 | 256 KB x 6 |
| L3 Cache | 16 MB | 12 MB | 9 MB |
| Bus Speed | 8 GT/s DMI3 | 8 GT/s DMI3 | 8 GT/s DMI3 |
| Memory Support | DDR4-2666 (Dual Channel) | DDR4-2666 (Dual Channel) | DDR4-2666 (Dual Channel) |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 41.6 GB/s | 41.6 GB/s | 41.6 GB/s |
| Processor Graphics | Intel 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 |
| TDP | 95 W | 95 W | 95 W |
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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