Intel Launches 9th Gen Core 8 Core and 6 Core CPUs on 1st October – Core i9-9900K Flagship, Core i7-9700K and Core i5-9600K Unlocked Lineup With New Z390 Boards

Intel is prepping their latest mainstream processor lineup for release soon. As part of the 9th Gen family, the new processors will come with more cores and faster clocks, all thanks to improvements in the 14nm process node. Now, we have details on when the new processors will launch and be available in retail channels.

Intel To Launch 9th Generation Unlocked Processors Including Flagship Core i9-9900K 8 Core, 16 Thread Chip on 1st October

We have known that the 9th Generation Core desktop processors are arriving on the mainstream platform soon but we haven’t had a concrete launch date, till now. Our sources report that Intel is planning to launch their unlocked SKU family along with the Z390 series on 1st October which does confirm previous rumors. As expected, the launch will include all three unlocked SKUs which are mentioned below along with their specifications:

  • Intel Core i9-9900K (8 core / 16 thread)
  • Intel Core i7-9700K (8 core / 8 thread)
  • Intel Core i5-9600K (6 core / 6 thread)

We also know from previous reports about the clock speeds of these processors but Intel has also confirmed these in SKU listings which can be seen below in detail.

Intel Core i9-9900K, Intel’s First 8 Core Mainstream CPU With 4.7 GHz All 8 Core Boost Frequency, Faster Than Intel’s 8086K Anniversary Edition In All Possible Ways

First up, we will detail the flagship part, the 8 core, 16 thread, Intel Core i9-9900K. This will be the first mainstream desktop Core i9 part and also the first Intel chip to boast 8 cores and 16 threads. In terms of cache, the chip will feature 16 MB of L3 and will come with an Intel UHD 620 graphics chip.

The clock speeds are something to check out here, we are going to get 3.6 GHz base clock out of the box and a 5.0 GHz boost clocks in single and dual core operations. 4 core boost is rated at 4.8 GHz while 6/8 core boost is rated at 4.7 GHz. This is the highest frequency we have seen on an 8 core part across all cores. All of this is done under a 95W package so we can expect some hefty cooling solutions to go along with this chip.

Img

Intel Core i7-9700K, Intel’s First 8 Core, Core i7 Mainstream Desktop CPU With Up To 4.6 GHz Clocks Across All Cores

Coming to the top Core i7 part, we get 8 cores and 8 threads. This is completely opposite of what we have been hearing as previous rumors identified the chip as a 6 core and 12 thread part. The chip will have 12 MB of L3 cache and as you might tell, it has lower threads than the Core i7-8700K but comes with higher core count. So maybe, we will get same or even better performance from the chip.

In terms of clock speeds, the chip has a base clock of 3.6 GHz and boosts up to 4.9 GHz in single, 4.8 GHz in dual-core, 4.7 GHz in four core and 4.6 GHz in 6/8 core operations. The TDP for this part is maintained at the same 95W.

Intel Core i5-9600K, 6 Cores, and 6 Threads With Higher Clocks Than 8th Generation i5 ‘K” SKU

The Intel Core i5-9600K is a 6 core and 6 thread part with 9 MB of L3 cache. This makes it very similar to the Core i5-8600K. The difference is that it features higher clock speeds of 3.7 GHz base, 4.6 GHz boost (1 core), 4.5 GHz (2 core), 4.4 GHz (4 core) and 4.3 GHz (6 core). All of this is done at the same TDP of 95W.

According to the embargo document, Intel would first release the unlocked SKUs which would eventually be followed by the rest of the 9th generation family which would be introduced in Q1 2019. In the previous slides, we also saw that compatibility will be retained for 9th generation processors on current 300-series motherboards along with the new Z390 platform.

While on topic, ASUS, ASRock, MSI, Gigabyte, all have confirmed support for Intel 9000 series Core processors on their entire 300-series motherboards lineup which currently exists on the market. More details on the respective links.

The same roadmap also shows the Basin Falls Refresh platform which includes new Core-X processors and X299 refresh motherboards to be introduced the same month. The embargo lists up to 18 core processors with TDPs of up to 165W which is the same as the current generation i9-7980XE processor.

Img

We are also expecting a 22 core model while the 28 core processors will be introduced with the premium High-end family on the LGA 3647 socketed platform. Now that we know the launch time of these upcoming processors, the only thing left is to see how these chips will perform in gaming workloads against AMD’s Ryzen processors which will be the target market of the mainstream line.