Monday, October 8th 2018
Intel Officially Launches 9th Generation Processors Including the 8-Core / 16-Thread Core i9-9900K
Anand Srivatsa, Vice President of Intel, officially announced their all-new 9th generation of core processors in today's live stream. While the Coffee Lake refresh has certainly been no secret, a few facts were confirmed today. The Core i9-9900k will be Intel's first broad volume 5 GHz processor and is their first mainstream 8 core, 16 thread offering. In order to facilitate better overclocking results for enthusiasts, the company also confirmed that they will use solder TIM for the whole range of products, which should result in not only better overclocking potential but much lower thermals as well.
In a performance demonstration on stage, Intel showed a Core i9-9900K equipped system running two virtual machines with two games running, both streaming, at the same time. The demonstration showed not only that there was enough CPU performance to run multiple games, but it also had enough grunt left over to stream them both at the same time. While not a realistic workload by any means, it does demonstrate the multi-threading capabilities of the processor to some degree. While further data was not revealed, in Intel's own words, having tested 19 of today's games the Core i9-9900K came out on top of anything else, including AMD. This is not surprising considering the 5 GHz boost clock it ships with. However, reviews will be needed to confirm just how big a performance bump actually exists.
In regards to actual specifications, what we do know is the Core i9-9900K will be an 8-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 3.6 GHz and a boost clock of 5.0 GHz. The Core i7-9700K which will likely be the sweet spot for most gamers features eight cores, eight threads, due to Hyper-Threading having been disabled. Clock speeds are similar with the base clock being the same as the Core i9-9900K and the boost clock topping out at 4.9 GHz.
Finally the Intel Core i5-9600K comes in with six cores, six threads with hyper threading also disabled. The base clock sees a small jump here to 3.7 GHz while the boost clock tops out at a far more modest 4.6 GHz. All three have the same 256 KB of L2 cache per core, however, the L3 cache sizes vary between them. The Core i9-9900K will have 16 MB of L3 available, while the Core i7-9700K drops to 12 MB and last and with the least comes the Core i5-9600K with just 9 MB. All three processors feature the same 95 W TDP and 16 PCIe lanes. When it comes to the Integrated Graphics, Intel has stuck with the same GT2 configuration as seen on their previous 8th generation processors.
While Z390 boards are launching as well, Intel's Coffee Lake refresh will be supported on the older Z370 chipset. Making the latest generation a drop in upgrade, however, a BIOS update will be necessary. Those interested in purchasing a 9th generation processor wont need to wait long, as Intel also stated that pre-orders are now available with the 9th generation core processor family being made available globally on October 19th.
Update Oct 8, 22:00 UTC:
Intel has released more information as to the performance uplift enthusiasts can expect from the Core i9-9900k. They have also specified a bit more information as to the latest platforms maximum supported PCIE lanes and pricing.
We took a closer look at the performance results published by Intel (testing conducted by an external company), and noticed that many things don't add up regarding how the AMD test systems were set up, which in our opinion led to a significant performance disadvantage for the AMD rigs. More details here: www.techpowerup.com/248355/intels-9th-gen-core-gaming-benchmarks-flawed-and-misleading
Update Oct 19:
Our review of the Core i9-9900K is live now.
Finally the Intel Core i5-9600K comes in with six cores, six threads with hyper threading also disabled. The base clock sees a small jump here to 3.7 GHz while the boost clock tops out at a far more modest 4.6 GHz. All three have the same 256 KB of L2 cache per core, however, the L3 cache sizes vary between them. The Core i9-9900K will have 16 MB of L3 available, while the Core i7-9700K drops to 12 MB and last and with the least comes the Core i5-9600K with just 9 MB. All three processors feature the same 95 W TDP and 16 PCIe lanes. When it comes to the Integrated Graphics, Intel has stuck with the same GT2 configuration as seen on their previous 8th generation processors.
Intel has released more information as to the performance uplift enthusiasts can expect from the Core i9-9900k. They have also specified a bit more information as to the latest platforms maximum supported PCIE lanes and pricing.
- Enabling more than 220 FPS on three of the most popular global PC game titles. (up to; 309 FPS in Rainbow Six Siege, 224 FPS in Fortnite, 440 FPS in CSGO and 221 FPS in PUBG.)
- With Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 delivering up to 5.0 GHz single-core frequency, gamers can enjoy their favorite games with up to 10 percent more FPS across popular gaming titles compared with the previous generation, as well as up to 37 percent more FPS compared to a 3-year-old PC.
- Capture game play, transcode and stream while playing. With this type of megatasking, gamers can enjoy up to 11 percent more FPS compared with the previous generation and up to 41 percent more FPS compared with a 3-year-old PC.
- Video editing improved on Adobe Premiere- Up to 34 percent faster video editing compared with the previous generation and up to 97 percent faster compared with a 3-year-old PC.
- Overall system performance improved up to 15 percent better as compared with previous generation and up to 40 percent as compared with a 3-year-old PC.
- Overclock these new processors with the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (Intel XTU), a precision tool for advanced overclocking, and take advantage of the additional thermal headroom with solder thermal interface material (STIM).
We took a closer look at the performance results published by Intel (testing conducted by an external company), and noticed that many things don't add up regarding how the AMD test systems were set up, which in our opinion led to a significant performance disadvantage for the AMD rigs. More details here: www.techpowerup.com/248355/intels-9th-gen-core-gaming-benchmarks-flawed-and-misleading
Update Oct 19:
Our review of the Core i9-9900K is live now.
114 Comments on Intel Officially Launches 9th Generation Processors Including the 8-Core / 16-Thread Core i9-9900K
At the very least anyone could compete against Nvidia in graphics. There is nothing that can be done against Intel except wait for what AMD can do.
And VIA.
I would jump for a 9900k at list price but neweggs price is a joke!
9700K at list price is closer to my budget
and the 9600k just doesn't seem worth they coin when you can get an 8700K that has HT
Not a coincidence ofc that they chose this generation to solder the tims again and created an artificial shortage before this release with massive price raises, to camouflage the embarrassing price/performance matchups against their own lineup from last year with the same architecture..
We also only get K's because the STIM angle doesn't work with the other i7 generation price mismatch.
Without this trickery, 8700k would still be king for those not willing to fork over 550$ on a cpu.
If someone wants the fastest consumer CPU, he'll get the Intel. That's the whole point of making this release - to have a CPU on top, because there's a particular type of client that will want just that. It's not a major release for Intel - more like an 8.5Gen.
Also, 9900K still has an IGP which, combined with 8C/18T and high clocks, makes it what... 2.5x faster than best AMD APU?
While this might not be that important for an enthusiast CPU (mostly going to be used with a GPU card), it'll become huge in a non-K variant.
Like new boards with better features is a bad thing.
8th gen CPU works on Z390 boards. 9th gen CPU's works in Z370 boards after BIOS update...
Sometimes I do feel like some people on this forum are totally detached from reality. This is an Intel advertisement. It's no different from advertisements made by any other company. It's not fake (that's illegal), but it's usually based on a best case scenario.
Remind me, just how well Cinebench multi-thread reflects typical software run on consumer PCs? :-)
It will not be easy to recommend when a 2700X costs basically half and although it´s not the best CPU in absolute performance, it offers more than enough performance for most people.
I think the i9 will end up being a niche CPU, the sales champion should be the 9700K, now also with 8 cores (but lacking HT). I'm curious to see how it will behave compared to the 6C/12T of the 8700K.
very similar i would think..
trog
Intel is better and more expensive. Simple as that. And the difference should be easily noticeable.Similar on average. HT is giving around 40-50% boost.
That's why we're not getting 6C/12T anymore in desktops.Not made for idealized benchmarking? So what is it good for? :P
Anyway, we've seen both Intel and AMD launching their products with a "50% better than competitor" slogan.
AMD used a synthetic benchmark for a best-case multi-thread performance, because they had a core count advantage.
Intel used a particular setup that pronounces their advantage in single-thread performance, but they used a more real-world test (games).
Let's be honest: Intel simply asked a company to make a very specific product test that will show it's strengths. It's not an objective review or scientific research. It's just marketing. It's no different from how antiperspirant makers "prove" that it works for 24h and washing powders remove 99% of stain types.
One thing I'd have to mention is the XMP issue, i.e. Ryzen results in this comparison being lower due to bad memory setup.
A situation when a casual PC user has to care about things like memory frequency and timings is just repulsive.