The Intel Core i9-9990XE Review: All 14 Cores at 5.0 GHz
by Dr. Ian Cutress on October 28, 2019 10:00 AM ESTChromium Compile: Windows VC++ Compile of Chrome
A large number of AnandTech readers are software engineers, looking at how the hardware they use performs. While compiling a Linux kernel is ‘standard’ for the reviewers who often compile, our test is a little more varied – we are using the windows instructions to compile Chrome, specifically a Chrome 56 build from March 2017, as that was when we built the test. Google quite handily gives instructions on how to compile with Windows, along with a 400k file download for the repo. This is by far one of our most popular benchmarks, and is a good measure of core performance, multithreading performance, and also memory accesses.
In our test, using Google’s instructions, we use the MSVC compiler and ninja developer tools to manage the compile. As you may expect, the benchmark is variably threaded, with a mix of DRAM requirements that benefit from faster caches. Data procured in our test is the time taken for the compile, which we convert into compiles per day. The benchmark takes anywhere from an hour on a fast single high-end desktop processor to several hours on the slowest offerings.
Prior to this test, the two CPUs battling it out for supremacy were the 16-core Ryzen Threadripper 2950X, and the 8-core i9-9900K. By adding six more cores, a lot more frequency, and two more memory channels, the Core i9-9990XE plows through this test very easily, perfoming the compile in 42 minutes and 10 seconds, and is the only processor to broach the 50 minute mark, let alone the 45 minute mark.
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AshlayW - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
Agreed. This product is a pathetic attempt to push their slight advantage in single-core, and justify the obscene pricing too. It's disgusting, really, tech press seem to lap up these things without understanding that this product is, well, pointless.Intel made like 5 of them. So, AMD could bin a 3950X so damn effectively, you can have 4.7 on all 16-cores, because trust me with that level of binning; it's possible. But they won't, because they actually have people buying thier silicon for datacentres.
Anyway, the ST performance isn't even that much higher. Nothing worth the obscene price. I'll wait for the 3950X, and hope AT will sing its praises as it will likely demolish Intel's entire HEDT at a lower price and half the power use - it's only fair.
xrror - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
Guys, seriously...I'm an AMD person myself, but give Intel some credit - I doubt (sadly) that AMD could even release a Ryzen 5Ghz base clock part right now. Granted they might be able to bin out a 4.7 one but....
2nd, everyone going on and on about how expensive the 9990XE. Like it's under $3000? That's stupid cheap! Historically these HPC chips are like 1 or 2 cores enabled out of 12 and you pay over 5 or 10grand for them. Look up the old socket 1366 HPC chips like Xeon X5698 some time!
http://www.cpushack.com/2018/07/03/cpu-of-the-day-...
Korguz - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
" Like it's under $3000? That's stupid cheap! " maybe in your world.. but for the rest of us, that is stupid expensive.xrror - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
It is stupid cheap for a halo professional performance part from Intel. But even a cheap HPC - $3000 proc - it is more money than I could ever justify personally spending for what would essentially be a glorified gaming rig.Which means, we're not the target market. Even in your world.
Retycint - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
The whole point of this chip is that it throws price-to-perf out of the window for highest possible ST perf sustainable on all-cores. You know, like what the article describes?But sure, AMD has better value or something, so everyone that buys Intel is stupid, despite the fact that different people have different usage scenarios and, gasp, Intel performs better under certain cases
FreckledTrout - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
This was fun to read even if it is akin to describing what a brown unicron looks like.airdrifting - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
Everytime there is a worthless product from Intel or Apple you always see fan boys and smart ass trying to defend it.Single threaded 9900K >=
Multi threaded 2990WX, maybe even 3950X >
1_rick - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
If you click the link to Case King, they've cut the price to 1799EUR/1996USD (at today's rates).29a - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
Please get rid of the 3DPM and FCAT benchmarks, the article even admits they are both poorly written.MrSpadge - Monday, October 28, 2019 - link
Ian, what happened to your appetite for chips? Are you ill or is this toasty piece of egineering not tempting enough?