When Intel launched the 18-core Core i9-7980XE in September 2017 it was a clear response to AMD’s 16-core Threadripper 1950X. In 2016 we had got used to the idea of HEDT (High End Desk Top) CPUs with up to ten cores so Intel’s sudden jump to 18-cores was quite startling and also drove the price up to US$2,000. Fast forward another year to Intel’s recent New York briefing for Intel’s 9th Gen. Desktop CPUs, including the eight core Core i9-9900K and out of the blue we were also told about 9th Gen. Skylake X which included the 18-core Core i9-9980XE Extreme Edition. On the face of it the i9-9980XE looked very similar to the preceding i9-7980XE with only modest changes to the clock speed and the welcome addition of a soldered heat spreader. Headline features that have been carried over from i9-7980XE to i9-9980XE are 18 cores/36 threads, 18MB total L2 cache (1MB per core), 24.75MB total L3 cache, 14nm fabrication process and an Intel list price of US$1,999. It was immediately clear the i9-9980XE did not truly deserve to be called 9th Generation as any changes looked more like detail revisions than significant updates. Nonetheless we could hardly wait to strap this new monster CPU to our test bench and see how well it performed.



Link: Kitguru