Intel Announces 8 Core i9-9900KS: Every Core at 5.0 GHz, All The Time
by Ian Cutress on May 26, 2019 11:00 AM EST
Last year, Intel showcased a CPU during its keynote a processor with all of its cores at 5 GHz. Today, that becomes a reality – Intel is set to launch a processor that promises that frequency in any scenario. The new Core i9-9900KS is an 8-core processor that will run at 5.0 GHz during single core workloads and multi-core workloads.
That demo last year was on an overclockable 28-core Xeon CPU, but in reality was clocked way lower. There was even a good amount of controversy, as Intel didn’t state at the time they were using a sub-zero chiller to achieve that result. But this year we’re getting something a little more realistic. The new Core i9-9900KS uses the same silicon currently in the i9-9900K, but selectively binned in order to achieve 5.0 GHz on every core, all of the time.
Technically the CPU has a base frequency of 4.0 GHz, however it will only ever go down to that amount based on a default Intel BIOS (no consumer board uses the base BIOS specifications). The new CPU will be enabled in the same motherboards as the Core i9-9900K, but with a small firmware update. The CPU also has the same integrated graphics as the Core i9-9900K.
Intel did not tell us the TDP yet, but we will update this article when we know. Pricing and the launch date are also an unknown, however Intel SVP and GM Gregory Bryant is running a keynote here at Computex in a couple of days, and we expect to have the details then.
Update 05/28: As part of his Computex keynote, Gregory Bryant has confirmed that the processor is launching in Q4 of this year. Pricing and TDP will presumably be announced much closer to the actual launch.
| Intel 9th Gen Core 8-Core Desktop CPUs | ||||||||
| AnandTech | Cores | Base Freq |
All-Core Turbo | Single Core Turbo Freq |
IGP | DDR4 | TDP | Price (1ku) |
| i9-9900KS | 8 / 16 | 4.0 GHz | 5.0 GHz | 5.0 GHz | UHD 630 | 2666 | ? | ? |
| i9-9900K | 8 / 16 | 3.6 GHz | 4.7 GHz | 5.0 GHz | UHD 630 | 2666 | 95 W | $488 |
| i9-9900KF | 8 / 16 | 3.6 GHz | 4.7 GHz | 5.0 GHz | - | 2666 | 95 W | $488 |
| i7-9700K | 8 / 8 | 3.6 GHz | 4.6 GHz | 4.9 GHz | UHD 630 | 2666 | 95 W | $374 |
| i7-9700KF | 8 / 8 | 3.6 GHz | 4.6 GHz | 4.9 GHz | - | 2666 | 95 W | $374 |
The main difference compared to the Core i9-9900K is currently that all-core turbo value, which is a flat 5.0 GHz, a 300 MHz increase. There's a slight chance Intel might have increased the TDP, especially given that the base frequency (which TDP is built on) has increased 10% from 3.6 GHz to 4.0 GHz.
Why Intel Processors Draw More Power Than Expected: TDP and Turbo Explained
Intel did have a demo system for us to look at, which used a standard off-the-shelf motherboard and a closed loop liquid cooler. Intel confirmed that the chip is soldered, and that this is just simply the same silicon as the 9900K but better binned.
More info in a couple of days.
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136 Comments
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albert89 - Tuesday, May 28, 2019 - link
Not a fan of any CPU with a TDP's that's over 65W.svan1971 - Tuesday, May 28, 2019 - link
Meltdown, Spectre ZombieLoad, RIDL, and Fallout vulnerabilities included?CityBlue - Tuesday, May 28, 2019 - link
If you're concerned about such issues, this is not the site you should be reading...alpha754293 - Tuesday, May 28, 2019 - link
Ooooh....so the good news is that this now has an all-core turbo of 5.0 GHz across all 8-cores (yay!).The downside is that if is built off of the same silicon as the 9900K, then it will only support dual channel DDR4-2666 RAM, which will starve it (somewhat) of much needed memory bandwidth to ensure that all 8 cores can have data fed to it to the maximum extent possible.
Bummer.
Also bummer is that there doesn't appear to be a Xeon counterpart to this either (which usually will have the extra memory channels as well).
FreckledTrout - Tuesday, May 28, 2019 - link
Support of DDR4-2666 is true but you can easily run faster memory if that is going to be a problem.Say for example gskill F4-4133C17D-16GTZR running at 4133MHz with a decently low latency of 17-17-17-37. All you have to do is set the XMP profile and done. I'm not promoting one memory just saying it's not like you really have to even OC memory to run out of what Intel supports since all the high end memory makers have XMP 2.0 sets running well over the "supported" frequencies.
mode_13h - Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - link
The die doesn't *have* the extra memory channels for the Xeon variant to enable.If you want a Xeon W with 8 cores, those are built from a very different die.
mode_13h - Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - link
For an overclockable Xeon, with *all* the memory channels, you want this: https://www.anandtech.com/show/13748/the-intel-xeo...Normally, Xeons aren't overclockable.
mode_13h - Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - link
According to Intel's promise at last year's Computex, this is still 20 cores short.I'm waiting, Intel...
Oxford Guy - Friday, June 14, 2019 - link
Since hyperthreading has to be disabled on Intel for security, we get to pay the 9900KS price for an 8/8 part.ToxicTaZ - Thursday, June 27, 2019 - link
9900KS4GHz base with 5GHz Turbo
So 95w base and Turbo is around 195w
9900KS is faster than AMD 3800X
The hole point of the 9900KS is to keep the world's fastest 8 cores Gaming CPU!
Just like the 8086K is the world's fastest 6 cores CPU and faster than the 3600X.
9900KS is the last CPU upgrade for the 300 series boards. (8700K trade in?)