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
Test 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 9th Gen | i9-9900K i7-9700K i5-9600K |
ASRock Z370 Gaming i7** |
P1.70 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| Intel 8th Gen | i7-8086K i7-8700K i5-8600K |
ASRock Z370 Gaming i7 |
P1.70 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| Intel 7th Gen | i7-7700K i5-7600K |
GIGABYTE X170 ECC Extreme |
F21e | Silverstone* AR10-115XS |
G.Skill RipjawsV 2x16GB DDR4-2400 |
| Intel 6th Gen | i7-6700K i5-6600K |
GIGABYTE X170 ECC Extreme |
F21e | Silverstone* AR10-115XS |
G.Skill RipjawsV 2x16GB DDR4-22133 |
| Intel HEDT | i9-7900X i7-7820X i7-7800X |
ASRock X299 OC Formula |
P1.40 | TRUE Copper |
Crucial Ballistix 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| AMD 2000 | R7 2700X R5 2600X R5 2500X |
ASRock X370 Gaming K4 |
P4.80 | Wraith Max* | G.Skill SniperX 2x8 GB DDR4-2933 |
| AMD 1000 | R7 1800X | ASRock X370 Gaming K4 |
P4.80 | Wraith Max* | G.Skill SniperX 2x8 GB DDR4-2666 |
| AMD TR4 | TR 1920X | ASUS ROG X399 Zenith |
0078 | Enermax Liqtech TR4 |
G.Skill FlareX 4x8GB DDR4-2666 |
| 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 ** After Initial testing with the ASRock Z370 motherboard, we noted it had a voltage issue with the Core 9th Gen processors. As a result, we moved to the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Edge AC for our power measurements. Benchmarking seems unaffected. |
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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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274 Comments
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AshlayW - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Huh. It's definitely the 'fastest gaming processor' but not even by that much. I will use Far Cry 5 as a comparison as it's a game I play a lot these days and is even quite a intel-leaning game as it prefers clock speeds in most cases. the i9 9900K is only 19% faster than the Ryzen 5 2600X according to your data. Taking a modest OC on a Ryzen 5 2600 and you are at that level of performance. In the UK right now, the i9 9900K is 300% more expensive than the Ryzen 5 2600. But only 19% faster in that game.Even if we drop it to MSRP (prices here for Intel CPUs are insanely high) it is still 200% more expensive than the Ryzen 5. I know it's a Halo product for the 'Simply the best' crowd, and yes it does that, i get that. But this 'intel tax' for this product is getting silly now. I made an investment with my 2600 vs the 8600K or waiting for the 9600K (which are both nearly £100 more expensive!) and I got twice the threads and comparable gaming performance. -shrug-
9th gen core parts are not even slightly appealing to me.
mapesdhs - Sunday, October 21, 2018 - link
Wise investment, you should be good for a while, especially if you move up resolutions where the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and even then you're going to have good future CPU options.VirpZ - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
Why there are no temperature charts or any mention to cooling solution used ?odellus - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
all of that work on the gaming benchmarks and you still somehow don't understand that benchmarking a CPU by actually benchmarking the GPU is probably not a good indicator of CPU performance. 8K in a CPU benchmark? is this a joke? christ.odellus - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
and why are the actual-low settings benches labeled "IGP" if you're using a 1080? and why a 1080 and not a 1080 Ti or 2080 Ti? why limit the CPUs?svan1971 - Saturday, October 20, 2018 - link
why not allah or buddha ? why do they always pick my lord and savior to curse with?mapesdhs - Sunday, October 21, 2018 - link
Well because he's the best of course. 8)whatever223 - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
You have "smart sound" twice in the "Chipset Comparison" table.GreenReaper - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
It's in stereo!Holliday75 - Friday, October 19, 2018 - link
My review of the comments section.*Crying*
The end.