Intel’s Core i9 is here. It’s the first time Intel has ever put out a processor with this many cores. At its top end, it’ll have 18 cores and 36 threads of computing power, making it perhaps the most powerful consumer processor money can buy. And while it’s designed for laptops, its performance is more akin to what you’d expect from a desktop computer.
In other words, there’s lots to talk about when it comes to Intel’s new Core i9 CPU. But we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. Let’s start at the beginning with an overview of everything we know so far about Intel’s latest and greatest chip.
Intel’s Core i9 processor will be the fastest laptop chip ever when it hits laptops in the coming weeks, but it’ll come at a price: Your battery life may suffer, and your wallet definitely will.
The Core i9 is slated to be the first chip from Intel’s eighth-generation Core CPU family, which will also include the Core i7 and Core i5. The Core i9 replaces Intel’s existing Kaby Lake G chips as the fastest for gaming laptops. Intel says you can expect up to 41 percent better performance in games and 59 percent better performance in content creation apps.
Intel hasn’t announced pricing for any of its new chips, but you can bet that a laptop with a Core i9 inside will cost more than one with a lesser chip.
The chipmaker plans to launch more than 145 new eighth-generation CPUs over the course of this year, so we’re expecting great things from this family of processors. Here’s everything we know about them so far.
These are the chips that will power the laptops of tomorrow, and Intel just unleashed them upon us. If you’re a hardcore gamer or video editor, you’re probably most excited about the Core i9 processors, which promise more cores and faster speeds than anything we’ve seen in a laptop before. But what is a Core i9 chip, and how does it compare to the other stuff out there? Here’s everything you need to know.
What is the Intel Core i9?
Intel’s new flagship chip is the Core i9. It’s more powerful than last year’s Core i7, which was pretty powerful itself. The Core i9 will be available with up to 18 cores (36 threads!), while the current-gen Core i7 tops out at four cores (eight threads). The new chips are based on Intel’s Skylake architecture and built with a 14nm manufacturing process. However, they’ll also work with Intel’s latest Optane memory technology for even faster performance.
The first laptops to ship with Intel’s 8th-generation H-series processors will hit store shelves this month; Alienware has already announced 17-, 15-, and 13-inch laptops with these chips. You can expect these laptops to be extremely fast, though you should also expect
While its Kaby Lake-G CPUs were what stole the show this week, Intel also used CES 2018 to announce other new products. The company unveiled its latest enthusiast desktop chips, which are based on an updated version of its Skylake architecture. Intel’s 8th Gen CPUs are built using a 14nm+ process technology, and they’re available in two flavors-with up to six cores in a U-series chip for laptops, or with up to six cores in a desktop processor.
The top of the line is the Core i9-8950HK mobile CPU, which has six cores, 12 threads and a base speed of 2.9GHz. It can run at up to 4.8GHz with Turbo Boost 2 technology (and 4.3GHz with Turbo Boost 3), and the chip comes with 12MB of L3 cache. The Core i9-8950HK will be used in high-end gaming notebooks and workstations like the Acer Predator Triton 700 and MSI GT75VR Titan Pro.
According to Intel, the new CPU is 28 percent faster than last year’s i7-7820HK for content creation apps such as Adobe Premiere Pro video editing software. Moreover, the new Kaby Lake G chip is 32 percent faster
For the past few generations, Intel’s Core i7-series CPUs have been the high-performance standard for gaming laptops. In fact, that’s still the case. But Intel is due to release a new kind of laptop CPU, called the Core i9-series, which promises even better performance. While there’s no guarantee that it will be ready in time for this summer’s laptop refresh season (May to July), we’ve already heard rumors about what to expect from these chips. Here are some details on the Core i9 series, and what it could mean for your next laptop purchase.
Intel has been careful not to call these chips “Core i9,” but instead uses the term “8th Gen Core H-series” or simply “8th Gen Core.” That’s because they’re based on current 7th Generation processors like the Kaby Lake-R Core i5-7300HQ and Core i7-7700HQ. The company will introduce its 8th Generation architecture later this year with its Cannonlake processors, but those new chips won’t be ready for laptops until 2018. In the meantime, you’ll see only slightly improved versions of today’s 7th Generation parts.
That said, these chips will offer a significant upgrade in one area
As Intel prepares to introduce its first 18-core consumer processor, the $2,000 Core i9 Extreme Edition, early benchmark results indicate that one of the chip’s most important features may not work as intended. The new chip has a base clock speed of just 2.6 GHz across all of its cores, and turbo speeds topping out at 3.8 GHz with a single core active or 3.3 GHz with all cores running.
But according to leaked Geekbench results on the Chinese website Coolaler (via WCCFtech), the new chip is being throttled when it comes to multi-threaded performance. In single-threaded tests, WCCFtech reports, the chip delivers around 6,000 points on average. But in multi-threaded tests, where it should really shine, it only averages 4,800 points. And that’s only if you disable Intel’s thermal design power (TDP) controls; with them enabled, multi-threaded performance falls to around 4,200 points on average.
Intel’s Core i9-7900X, the first of its new high-end desktop (HEDT) processors, is finally here. Intel designed the chips for enthusiasts, gamers, and content creators who use their computers for more than just checking email and playing solitaire.
Intel’s most powerful CPUs have always been in its Extreme Editions, but the chip giant is now focusing more on the HEDT market and has rebranded it as such. The X Series, which is what Intel calls its new HEDT processors, will be based on its Core X architecture. There are several different processors that will launch over the next few months under that moniker.
The most powerful processor in the X Series lineup will be the Core i9-7980XE, which will come with 18 cores and 36 threads. It’s a monster of a CPU with a very high price tag of $1,999. Those who want something with fewer cores can opt for one of Intel’s lower-end models like the Core i9-7820X or Core i9-7900X.
This year marks an important transition for Intel as it moves to a new CPU socket design with Skylake X and Kaby Lake X processors. While this is good