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New Intel Core i9-9990XE Sheds Cores in Favor of High Clock Speeds, Benchmarked

btarunr

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Intel is giving final touches to a new socket LGA2066 high-end desktop processor with an interesting model number for its specifications. The new Core i9-9990XE is positioned above the current flagship i9-9980XE. Normally you'd expect it to be the same 18-core "Skylake-X" chip with a speed-bump, however, the i9-9990XE is a unique proposition. It sheds cores in favor of significantly higher clock-speeds than the i9-9980XE.

The i9-9990XE is a 14-core/28-thread processor, based on a binned "Skylake-X" HCC (high core count) die, and uses STIM (soldered thermal interface material) between the die and integrated heatspreader (IHS). It features some aggressive clock-speeds, with 4.00 GHz nominal clock-speeds, and a massive 5.10 GHz maximum Turbo Boost frequency that beats even the Core i9-9900K. Besides 14 cores, the i9-9990XE is configured with 19.25 MB of shared L3 cache, and 1 MB of L2 cache per core. The four disabled cores alone don't help Intel's efforts to dial up clock-speeds. Intel has increased the chip's rated TDP all the way up to 255 Watts!



Intel hasn't revealed a price for the Core i9-9990XE yet, and there are indications of the chip being OEM-exclusive. Workstation integrator Puget Systems has put out a handful benchmarks for this chip, in which it beats the i9-9980XE in some HEDT-relevant benchmarks despite 4 fewer cores:



View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
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Even with 4 less cores the TDP went up by 50% and they are usually pretty liberal with these ratings. That 14nm process is at it's absolute limit.
 

eidairaman1

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Hedt pricing is still stupid.
 
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Intel's FX 9590 is here at last.
 
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I can certainly see the appeal for some users, but if the rumor of this chip being an exclusive is true, then it doesn't really matter. A product needs to be widely available to be considered by customers.
 
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I can certainly see the appeal for some users, but if the rumor of this chip being an exclusive is true, then it doesn't really matter. A product needs to be widely available to be considered by customers.
Most people use OEM PCs so I literally have no idea what you mean by "widely available".
 
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255 watt tdp.

lol.
 
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255 watt tdp.

lol.
And that is before all the MCE that are basically Intel approved factory OC :laugh:
Depending on the board some 9900Ks are already pulling around that much with MCE.
 

phill

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Well they'll be releasing a CPU in the 10000 region soon I'm sure as they are all out of 9000 models now... I mean this is just mental... I wonder if it needs to have the Asus special motherboard to run it as well.....

Intel:
"We've already lost the cores war, let's at least keep winning the clocks war !"

AMD 7nm chiplet:
"Hold my beer"

Absolutely, spot on :)
 
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Even with 4 less cores the TDP went up by 50% and they are usually pretty liberal with these ratings. That 14nm process is at it's absolute limit.

its*

Sorry, goodbye.
 

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@btarunr

There seems to be something missing in this line:

The four disabled cores alone don't Intel's efforts to dial up clock-speeds.
 
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What what, what what?
 

bug

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Intel:
"We've already lost the cores war, let's at least keep winning the clocks war !"

AMD 7nm chiplet:
"Hold my beer"
Cores war makes as much sense as the GHz war made back in the day.
But that power draw... o_O
 
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Just overclock the 9980XE... Oc to oc this will be slower... I guess it's for stock comparison but still...
 
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Benchmark Scores https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/the-saga-of-the-little-gem-continues.12877/
So, it's a factory overclocked 9940X. Got it :kookoo:
 
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This is essentially a really binned i9-9940X, so no surprise numbers will be limited.

Just overclock the 9980XE... Oc to oc this will be slower... I guess it's for stock comparison but still...

9980 won't clock anywhere near as high as this puppy. 4 fewer cores will mean its already high clocks can be pushed even further.
 

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255 Watt TDP? What is this, a freaking Bulldozer?!
 
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This is essentially a really binned i9-9940X, so no surprise numbers will be limited.



9980 won't clock anywhere near as high as this puppy. 4 fewer cores will mean its already high clocks can be pushed even further.
Yes but 9980XE with 8 more threads at , like 4.6-4.8 GHz will still be faster in multicore workloads than this at 5 Ghz all core, can it even reach that though? I just dont see the point.
 
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