The Intel 9th Gen Review: Core i9-9900K, Core i7-9700K and Core i5-9600K Tested
by Ian Cutress on October 19, 2018 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- Coffee Lake
- 14++
- Core 9th Gen
- Core-S
- i9-9900K
- i7-9700K
- i5-9600K
Test Bed and Setup
As per our processor testing policy, we take a premium category motherboard suitable for the socket, and equip the system with a suitable amount of memory running at the manufacturer's maximum supported frequency. This is also typically run at JEDEC subtimings where possible.
It is noted that some users are not keen on this policy, stating that sometimes the maximum supported frequency is quite low, or faster memory is available at a similar price, or that the JEDEC speeds can be prohibitive for performance. While these comments make sense, ultimately very few users apply memory profiles (either XMP or other) as they require interaction with the BIOS, and most users will fall back on JEDEC supported speeds - this includes home users as well as industry who might want to shave off a cent or two from the cost or stay within the margins set by the manufacturer. Where possible, we will extend out testing to include faster memory modules either at the same time as the review or a later date.
| Test Setup | |||||
| Intel 9th Gen | i9-9900K i7-9700K i5-9600K |
ASRock Z370 Gaming i7** |
P1.70 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| Intel 8th Gen | i7-8086K i7-8700K i5-8600K |
ASRock Z370 Gaming i7 |
P1.70 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| Intel 7th Gen | i7-7700K i5-7600K |
GIGABYTE X170 ECC Extreme |
F21e | Silverstone* AR10-115XS |
G.Skill RipjawsV 2x16GB DDR4-2400 |
| Intel 6th Gen | i7-6700K i5-6600K |
GIGABYTE X170 ECC Extreme |
F21e | Silverstone* AR10-115XS |
G.Skill RipjawsV 2x16GB DDR4-22133 |
| Intel HEDT | i9-7900X i7-7820X i7-7800X |
ASRock X299 OC Formula |
P1.40 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| AMD 2000 | R7 2700X R5 2600X R5 2500X |
ASRock X370 Gaming K4 |
P4.80 | Wraith Max* | G.Skill SniperX 2x8 GB DDR4-2933 |
| AMD 1000 | R7 1800X | ASRock X370 Gaming K4 |
P4.80 | Wraith Max* | G.Skill SniperX 2x8 GB DDR4-2666 |
| AMD TR4 | TR 1920X | ASUS ROG X399 Zenith |
0078 | Enermax Liqtech TR4 |
G.Skill FlareX 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| GPU | Sapphire RX 460 2GB (CPU Tests) MSI GTX 1080 Gaming 8G (Gaming Tests) |
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| PSU | Corsair AX860i Corsair AX1200i |
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| SSD | Crucial MX200 1TB | ||||
| OS | Windows 10 x64 RS3 1709 Spectre and Meltdown Patched |
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| *VRM Supplimented with SST-FHP141-VF 173 CFM fans ** After Initial testing with the ASRock Z370 motherboard, we noted it had a voltage issue with the Core 9th Gen processors. As a result, we moved to the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Edge AC for our power measurements. Benchmarking seems unaffected. |
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We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our multiple test beds. Some of this hardware is not in this test bed specifically, but is used in other testing.
| Hardware Providers | |||
| Sapphire RX 460 Nitro | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X OC | Crucial MX200 + MX500 SSDs |
Corsair AX860i + AX1200i PSUs |
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| G.Skill RipjawsV, SniperX, FlareX |
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 |
Silverstone Coolers |
Silverstone Fans |
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274 Comments
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SanX - Thursday, October 25, 2018 - link
How come i7-7800x outperforms i9-9900 by the killing factor of 3-4 in particle movement? Is it not as "hand tunable" as older gen chips?davidk3501 - Thursday, October 25, 2018 - link
This is an overclockable processor, allowing users to push the frequency if the cooling is sufficient, and despite the memory controller still rated at DDR4-2666, higher speed memory should work in almost every chip. The Core i9-9900K also gets a fully-enabled cache, with 2 MB available per core for a chip-wide total of 16 MBashlord - Thursday, October 25, 2018 - link
My son's 4690K just blew up at such a shitty time. 8th gen 8400 is a decent replacement but 9th gen is out, so I don't really want to buy a previous gen item. I am guessing the '9400' will be out in a month or two. Going the AMD route has its issues too. It seems that AMD processors still have some issues with virtual appliances built using an older kernel. And in the past 30 years of computer ownership, I have never upgraded the processor. Components like motherboard or ram usually fail way before the CPU goes poof.In my country, R5 2600 w/Gigabyte Aorus B450M, 16GB of TridentZ RGB and a Cryorig M9+ goes for S$751. 8400 with MSI H310M Pro-M2, G.Skill Ripjaws V2400 and the same cooler goes for S$710.
ARgh!!! Don't know what to choose! Or maybe I should just give him my 6700K and get myself a new shiny toy.
nukunukoo - Friday, October 26, 2018 - link
I'm glad competition from AMD is back. Just a little over three years ago, an 8-core Intel would be a Xeon costing an arm and a leg!Dragonrider - Monday, October 29, 2018 - link
Just a note re the IGP. If you are going to try to watch 4k Blu-ray on your computer, you NEED that Intel IGP. I don't think there is any other solution to the DRM. For some, that alone would be a reason to get the Intel processor, all else being in the same ballpark.y2k1 - Wednesday, October 31, 2018 - link
What about performance pet watt? Is it basically the same as last gen?hanselltc - Thursday, November 1, 2018 - link
wat bout 9700k vs 9900k in gaming thoAlways_winter - Wednesday, November 28, 2018 - link
what cpu cooler did you usepoohbear - Monday, December 10, 2018 - link
Wow that 10nm CPU is taking forever eh? AMD is to release 7nm CPUs next month, and intel can't produce 10nm in 2019? What happened exactly?ROGnation7 - Saturday, February 23, 2019 - link
Watching all these benchmarks nowadays and taking count on how well optimised games are these days , at last the AAA titles , makes you think if it even worth it to spend more than 300-350 bucks on CPUs for gaming . Just look at i5-9600k and r5 2600x going toe to toe with high end CPUs with a decent graphics card.