The Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review: Refresh Until it Hertz
by Ian Cutress on November 13, 2018 9:00 AM ESTTest 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 HEDT | i9-9980XE i9-7980XE i9-7960X i9-7940X i9-7920X |
ASRock X299 OC Formula |
P1.40 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x4GB DDR4-2666 |
| AMD TR4 | TR2 2970WX TR2 2920X |
ASUS ROG X399 Zenith |
1501 | Enermax Liqtech TR4 |
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 4x8GB DDR4-2933 |
| TR2 2990WX TR2 2950X |
ASUS ROG X399 Zenith |
0508 | Enermax Liqtech TR4 |
G.Skill FlareX 4x8GB DDR4-2933 |
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| 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 | |||||
Unfortunately due to travel back and forth to the US for AMD’s Horizon Event and Supercomputing 2018, I was unable to look into overclocking performance for this review. We will hopefully cover it in another article.
Many thanks to...
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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jospoortvliet - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
If you are so immature and clueless as to not recognize that most professionals - like anyone in sales or management or 90% of other professions have no need for more compute than a 15 watt core i5 delivers you should certainly not call others unprofessional.bigboss2077 - Saturday, November 24, 2018 - link
ohh man I think you take too much weed.PeachNCream - Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - link
It's about bragging or walking around with a puffed up chest. For some people, self-promotion through the ownership of overpriced, unnecessary computer hardware is an important element of filling up otherwise empty, meaningless lives.Spunjji - Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - link
It's weird, because you're doing that too, only inverted. Your entire argument seems to be that because it's good enough for you and your colleagues it should be good enough or everyone.PeachNCream - Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - link
Attack as a means of defense. You're implying I've listed a set of specifications that meet everyone's requirements in order to attempt to defeat an argument that contained no such implication because you can't find another way to discredit it.MisterAnon - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
You look ridiculous trying to get out of admitting that you lost the argument. Interesting mental gymnastics though.MisterAnon - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
>It's about bragging or walking around with a puffed up chest.That's funny, because it seems the only one doing that is you! I sense an insecurity coming from you over the fact that you use a tiny laptop. Unless your job requires you to walk around and type at the same time, there is precisely zero reason for any professional to sacrifice power and productivity for useless mobility. You're going to be in the same room all day at work.
PeachNCream - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Setting conditions for what justifies or doesn't justify a mobile computer versus a desktop is just an attempt to create "rules" for the silly Calvinball-style game you're attempting to play. "Oh, you can ONLY use X if condition Y exists, so nyah nyah! I win you big meanie!" I know that typing when you're offended tends to limit the ability to think sensibly, but at least pause for a moment or two before you let your emotions get the better of you.imaheadcase - Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - link
"intel tax" as in if you didn't want to upgrade you have to scrap motherboard/ram to upgrade anyways if already intel? Tell me more about that tax they charge.That is a silly expression, much like people saying "Gsync tax". Not even a tax in that case, you literally are going to buy a monitor with it if you have nvidia..you would actually pay MORE to buy a new gpu/monitor together for other option. lol
Spunjji - Tuesday, November 13, 2018 - link
Your post engages in little more than sophistry. It's equivalent to claiming that house prices in London aren't any higher than they are in Sheffield because you, the buyer, already live in London. You might want to live there for various reasons, but you're still paying more money for something directly comparable because of that choice. Whether you think it's worth it is up to you, but to pretend it doesn't exist is just weird.