The Intel Core i9-7900X was a desktop processor with 10 cores, launched in June 2017, at an MSRP of $999. It is part of the Core i9 lineup, using the X-Series 7th Gen architecture with Socket 2066. Thanks to Intel Hyper-Threading the core-count is effectively doubled, to 20 threads. Core i9-7900X has 14 MB of L3 cache and operates at 3.3 GHz by default, but can boost up to 4.5 GHz, depending on the workload. Intel is making the Core i9-7900X on a 14 nm production node, the transistor count is unknown. You may freely adjust the unlocked multiplier on Core i9-7900X, which simplifies overclocking greatly, as you can easily dial in any overclocking frequency.
With a TDP of 140 W, the Core i9-7900X consumes a lot of power, so good cooling is definitely needed. Intel's processor supports DDR4 memory with a quad-channel interface. The highest officially supported memory speed is 2666 MT/s, but with overclocking (and the right memory modules) you can go even higher. For communication with other components in the system, Core i9-7900X uses a PCI-Express Gen 3 connection. This processor does not have integrated graphics, you will need a separate graphics card.
Hardware virtualization is available on the Core i9-7900X, which greatly improves virtual machine performance. Additionally, IOMMU virtualization (PCI passthrough) is supported, so that guest virtual machines may directly use host hardware. Programs using Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) can run on this processor, boosting performance for calculation-heavy applications. Besides AVX, Intel has added support for the newer AVX2 and AVX-512 instructions, too.