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
Gaming: Integrated Graphics
Despite being the ultimate joke at any bring-your-own-computer event, gaming on integrated graphics can ultimately be as rewarding as the latest mega-rig that costs the same as a car. The desire for strong integrated graphics in various shapes and sizes has waxed and waned over the years, with Intel relying on its latest ‘Gen’ graphics architecture while AMD happily puts its Vega architecture into the market to swallow up all the low-end graphics card sales. With Intel poised to make an attack on graphics in the next few years, it will be interesting to see how the graphics market develops, especially integrated graphics.
For our integrated graphics testing, we take our ‘IGP’ category settings for each game and loop the benchmark round for five minutes a piece, taking as much data as we can from our automated setup.
Finally, looking at integrated graphics performance, I don’t believe anyone should be surprised here. Intel has not meaningfully changed their iGPU since Kaby Lake – the microarchitecture is the same and the peak GPU frequency has risen by all of 50MHz to 1200MHz – so Intel’s iGPU results have essentially been stagnant for the last couple of years at the top desktop segment.
To that end I don’t think there’s much new to say. Intel’s GT2 iGPU struggles even at 720p in some of these games; it’s not an incapable iGPU, but there’s sometimes a large gulf between it and what these games (which are multi-platform console ports) expect for minimum GPU performance. The end result is that if you’re serious about iGPU performance in your desktop CPU, then AMD’s APUs provide much better performance. That said, if you are forced to game on the 9900K’s iGPU, then at least the staples of the eSports world such as World of Tanks will run quite well.
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deil - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Very nice. All I wanted to know. 220 W on 95 TDP LOL.AutomaticTaco - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Note the revised table. The need for the revision was due to the first motherboard they tested with being severely over-voltage. Not only is it lower the better news, to me at least, is the Overclock at 4.7GHz and 4.8GHz actual reduce the power consumption and operating temperature.Spunjji - Monday, October 22, 2018 - link
Good to see it's "only" 166W on a 95W TDP instead :DCellar Door - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Ryan what is your opinion on the 9700k vs 8700k?Icehawk - Saturday, October 20, 2018 - link
I was “worried” I would be bummed that I bought an 8700 but the price:perf and delta between them ileaves me feeling just fine.I too would like to see the 9900 run w/o HT - it *should* perform like a 9700 but would be interesting to see if there are any oddities.
SaturnusDK - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Good review. Too bad the subject is pretty lackluster.To sum up the 9900K in one word: Meh!
eva02langley - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
The CPU is going for 540$+ and the motherboard Toms used is a 600$ motherboard.Performance are awesome, handown, but this is not a 2700x competitor. The only these thing are having in common are the number of cores/threads and their platform.
At this price, I would get a 2950x, hand downs.
eva02langley - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Performance are awesome, hand down, but this is not a 2700x competitor. The only things these two are having in common, are the number of cores/threads and their mainstream platform... however the Z390 is more expensive than the X499 which offer way better specs.mapesdhs - Sunday, October 21, 2018 - link
In the UK is 9900K is closer to the equivalent of $800. Outside the US the absolute cost levels are often a lot worse. Where I am, the 2700X is half the price of a 9900K, the saving being more than enough to afford a much better GPU.Total Meltdowner - Sunday, October 21, 2018 - link
Good, F U foreigners wanted out superior tech.