Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews

The NDAs on Intel i9 9900K CPUs ran out at 9:00 am EDT today, so here's a roundup of reviews for Intel's latest and presumably greatest processor:

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26.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 21, 2018, 05:37
Kxmode
 
26.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 21, 2018, 05:37
Oct 21, 2018, 05:37
 Kxmode
 
I went and upgraded my memory from 16GB DDR4 2400 to 32GB DDR 4000. Fight the man! .o/
"...and in stonks, Fizzy Squeezy Stocklebocks leaped over Droopy Whoopy Bondfluffs, hitting 300-gigglebits to their 150-snorebucks. Meanwhile, in Whimsyland's market, the pancakes reached parity with pogo sticks."
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25.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 15:41
25.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 15:41
Oct 20, 2018, 15:41
 
RedEye9 wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 13:39:
Pigeon wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 13:18:
Right, still using an i5 4690k, which I'm questioning whether upgrading to a 2700x. The memory speed is bottle-necking the GPU performance in games a little bit, but not sure its enough for the ~$860 upgrade (adding an m.2 drive and new copy of windows onto the CPU/MB/RAM). As hyped as I am for shiny new computer parts that's a tough sell. So I'm certainly not going to shell out $300 for a CPU then another $300 a year or two later.
If you're already running an ssd, the move to m.2 won't be as big a jump as it was from hdd to ssd but it will still be noticeable on some things. Don't get me wrong, m.2 drives are amazingly fast but the big kick in the pants was moving from spinners to chips.
All in all, if you're happy where your at, waiting a couple more years is the way to go. imho


The idea is to repurpose my current SSD into my PS4, thus getting the slight boost from m.2 on my PC and hopefully speeding up the godawful load times on the PS4.

CJ_Parker wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 13:57:
Pigeon wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 13:18:
adding an m.2 drive and new copy of windows onto the CPU/MB/RAM

Not sure if I misundastoodz something here but you don't need a new copy of Windows (10). If you are using Windows 10 with a local account then right before upgrading just create a Microsoft account or change your account settings to log in with your existing MS account. That way you will bind your Windows copy to your MS account.

Then upgrade your hardware and when reinstalling Windows log in with the same account to bind your new hardware to your existing Windows license.

You can go back to using a local account afterwards. In typical MS fashion I got error messages on the 'Activation' tab under 'Update and Security' in 'Settings' the last time I did this but those went away with one of the ensuing Windows updates.

Oddly enough I was watching a video about this topic last night, it just didn't click with me that I didn't need to upgrade. Admittedly I had some vague hopes it would solve some long standing minor, but annoying, issues. As these issues have persisted through a clean install I can only assume it has something to do with win 10 not playing nice with my MB or general setup.
24.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 13:57
24.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 13:57
Oct 20, 2018, 13:57
 
Pigeon wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 13:18:
adding an m.2 drive and new copy of windows onto the CPU/MB/RAM

Not sure if I misundastoodz something here but you don't need a new copy of Windows (10). If you are using Windows 10 with a local account then right before upgrading just create a Microsoft account or change your account settings to log in with your existing MS account. That way you will bind your Windows copy to your MS account.

Then upgrade your hardware and when reinstalling Windows log in with the same account to bind your new hardware to your existing Windows license.

You can go back to using a local account afterwards. In typical MS fashion I got error messages on the 'Activation' tab under 'Update and Security' in 'Settings' the last time I did this but those went away with one of the ensuing Windows updates.
23.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 13:39
23.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 13:39
Oct 20, 2018, 13:39
 
Pigeon wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 13:18:
Right, still using an i5 4690k, which I'm questioning whether upgrading to a 2700x. The memory speed is bottle-necking the GPU performance in games a little bit, but not sure its enough for the ~$860 upgrade (adding an m.2 drive and new copy of windows onto the CPU/MB/RAM). As hyped as I am for shiny new computer parts that's a tough sell. So I'm certainly not going to shell out $300 for a CPU then another $300 a year or two later.
If you're already running an ssd, the move to m.2 won't be as big a jump as it was from hdd to ssd but it will still be noticeable on some things. Don't get me wrong, m.2 drives are amazingly fast but the big kick in the pants was moving from spinners to chips.
All in all, if you're happy where your at, waiting a couple more years is the way to go. imho

"I expect death to be nothingness and by removing from me all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism." Isaac Asimov
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22.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 13:18
22.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 13:18
Oct 20, 2018, 13:18
 
jdreyer wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 12:34:
HorrorScope wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 12:24:
Ozmodan wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 09:12:
jdreyer wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 22:12:
Seems like the best bang for the buck is the Core i5 9600K.

Not hardly. You need a new motherboard and the Intel motherboard prices are much higher. AMD is still the king when it comes to price point.

And guess what, that AMD motherboard will work fine with the AMD 7nm process cpus coming next year, not so with anything Intel.

I do agree AMD does a much better job with MB/Ram compatibility gen to gen. BUT it only matters if you update CPU's semi-regularly. For ex. I'm sitting with my main with a 6 year old i7 cpu. When I bought it I thought to myself, "will I have to buy new MB/Ram if I upgrade in a year or two or even say three?". With Intel that is in question more I do agree. But when you wait many years I bet you even outlast AMD's MB cycles to.

Are CPU's performance gains good enough that you really upgrade ever year or couple of years? Personally I'm saying they haven't been lately (~10 years at least), so mb compatibility value isn't as good as it appears. Sort of like when we were buying GPU's years ago... get the SLI/Crossfire MB, because I can just put in a second GPU later to kill it. In the end we decided that wasn't worth the headache and just got the upgraded single GPU.
That's my contention too. I'm still on a Haswell proc, if I'd gone with AMD back then, I would still have to get a new mboard today for threadripper.

Right, still using an i5 4690k, which I'm questioning whether upgrading to a 2700x. The memory speed is bottle-necking the GPU performance in games a little bit, but not sure its enough for the ~$860 upgrade (adding an m.2 drive and new copy of windows onto the CPU/MB/RAM). As hyped as I am for shiny new computer parts that's a tough sell. So I'm certainly not going to shell out $300 for a CPU then another $300 a year or two later.
21.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 12:41
21.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 12:41
Oct 20, 2018, 12:41
 
Luke wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 05:41:
And here we go whining about the high price while Nvidia cards 2080 is bought without any....ahh forget it

Well, you can't really compare the two. nVidia just decided to release the RTX 2080(Ti) at a pretty high MSRP in take it or leave it fashion.

Intel OTOH is suffering from supply issues so the prices are out of whack mostly not because of Intel but because of the whole retail chain mark-up of prices.

From the prices I have seen in this thread, you guys overseas seem to still have it pretty good. The prices in EU are full retard.
The 8700K which used to sell at prices just over €300 went all the way up to an out of this world €480 in the last few weeks.
It has come back down a little bit this week and reputable stores are now selling it just under €450 which is still insane.

Likewise, the 8600K used to sell for just over €200 and it broke through the €300 barrier in recent weeks. It has come down slightly to about €290 right now.

The 9900K's first "cheapest" listing was €599 (first two days) and for the past nine days it's been sitting at €699. No stock, no availability, of course.

The 9900K doesn't have an official MSRP in EU. It's $488 to $499 in the US but Intel has not issued a recommended retail price in Euro.
If we compare it to the 8700K and its "normal" price which was around €320 while the MSRPP in US was €359 then the 9900K should be selling at around €430 and not seven-fucking-hundred eurobucks.
20.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 12:34
20.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 12:34
Oct 20, 2018, 12:34
 
HorrorScope wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 12:24:
Ozmodan wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 09:12:
jdreyer wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 22:12:
Seems like the best bang for the buck is the Core i5 9600K.

Not hardly. You need a new motherboard and the Intel motherboard prices are much higher. AMD is still the king when it comes to price point.

And guess what, that AMD motherboard will work fine with the AMD 7nm process cpus coming next year, not so with anything Intel.

I do agree AMD does a much better job with MB/Ram compatibility gen to gen. BUT it only matters if you update CPU's semi-regularly. For ex. I'm sitting with my main with a 6 year old i7 cpu. When I bought it I thought to myself, "will I have to buy new MB/Ram if I upgrade in a year or two or even say three?". With Intel that is in question more I do agree. But when you wait many years I bet you even outlast AMD's MB cycles to.

Are CPU's performance gains good enough that you really upgrade ever year or couple of years? Personally I'm saying they haven't been lately (~10 years at least), so mb compatibility value isn't as good as it appears. Sort of like when we were buying GPU's years ago... get the SLI/Crossfire MB, because I can just put in a second GPU later to kill it. In the end we decided that wasn't worth the headache and just got the upgraded single GPU.
That's my contention too. I'm still on a Haswell proc, if I'd gone with AMD back then, I would still have to get a new mboard today for threadripper.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Avatar 22024
19.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 12:24
19.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 12:24
Oct 20, 2018, 12:24
 
Ozmodan wrote on Oct 20, 2018, 09:12:
jdreyer wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 22:12:
Seems like the best bang for the buck is the Core i5 9600K.

Not hardly. You need a new motherboard and the Intel motherboard prices are much higher. AMD is still the king when it comes to price point.

And guess what, that AMD motherboard will work fine with the AMD 7nm process cpus coming next year, not so with anything Intel.

I do agree AMD does a much better job with MB/Ram compatibility gen to gen. BUT it only matters if you update CPU's semi-regularly. For ex. I'm sitting with my main with a 6 year old i7 cpu. When I bought it I thought to myself, "will I have to buy new MB/Ram if I upgrade in a year or two or even say three?". With Intel that is in question more I do agree. But when you wait many years I bet you even outlast AMD's MB cycles to.

Are CPU's performance gains good enough that you really upgrade ever year or couple of years? Personally I'm saying they haven't been lately (~10 years at least), so mb compatibility value isn't as good as it appears. Sort of like when we were buying GPU's years ago... get the SLI/Crossfire MB, because I can just put in a second GPU later to kill it. In the end we decided that wasn't worth the headache and just got the upgraded single GPU.
Avatar 17232
18.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 09:12
18.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 09:12
Oct 20, 2018, 09:12
 
jdreyer wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 22:12:
Seems like the best bang for the buck is the Core i5 9600K.

Not hardly. You need a new motherboard and the Intel motherboard prices are much higher. AMD is still the king when it comes to price point.

And guess what, that AMD motherboard will work fine with the AMD 7nm process cpus coming next year, not so with anything Intel.
17.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 20, 2018, 05:41
17.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 20, 2018, 05:41
Oct 20, 2018, 05:41
 
And here we go whining about the high price while Nvidia cards 2080 is bought without any....ahh forget it
16.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 22:12
16.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 22:12
Oct 19, 2018, 22:12
 
Seems like the best bang for the buck is the Core i5 9600K.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Avatar 22024
15.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 19:45
Kxmode
 
15.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 19:45
Oct 19, 2018, 19:45
 Kxmode
 
These reviews are ridiculous! For example:

https://www.pcgamer.com/core-i9-9900k-review/

"INTEL CORE I9-9900K IS THE NEW CHAMPION OF THE CONSUMER CPU WORLD"

First item in the AGAINST column is "High price for minor gains." Seriously?! Then it's not the new champion of consumer CPU world. It's the new champion for enthusiast and hobby builders. Such dishonesty.
"...and in stonks, Fizzy Squeezy Stocklebocks leaped over Droopy Whoopy Bondfluffs, hitting 300-gigglebits to their 150-snorebucks. Meanwhile, in Whimsyland's market, the pancakes reached parity with pogo sticks."
Avatar 18786
14.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 18:12
14.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 18:12
Oct 19, 2018, 18:12
 
HorrorScope wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 15:40:
Tell me people of Blues News...

Being a gamer/general user why am I getting anything other than a:
2600X ($230) or 9600K ($240)?

And which would you choose between them?

Ryzen all the way. For two reasons:

1) Intel is a giant bag of fucking shit. Now that there's actual CPU competition again, buy the competition, so MAYBE Intel will clean its shit up a little.
2) Tied in with 1, AMD figures that if you buy a $230 processor, it should come with good TIM (Thermal Interface Material.) Intel, on the other hand, only gives a shit about its shareholders, and they use basically birdshit as TIM so they can save 20 fucking cents per processor. As a result of which, Intel processors run like 20 degrees hotter than if they used good TIM.

In short, Fuck Intel.
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13.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 17:05
Kxmode
 
13.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 17:05
Oct 19, 2018, 17:05
 Kxmode
 
Passing. An 18% gain isn't worth $500 plus the cost of a new mobo.

26% gain between 1080TI and 2080TI.

Disappointing new gen.
"...and in stonks, Fizzy Squeezy Stocklebocks leaped over Droopy Whoopy Bondfluffs, hitting 300-gigglebits to their 150-snorebucks. Meanwhile, in Whimsyland's market, the pancakes reached parity with pogo sticks."
Avatar 18786
12.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 16:50
12.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 16:50
Oct 19, 2018, 16:50
 
HorrorScope wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 15:40:
Tell me people of Blues News...

Being a gamer/general user why am I getting anything other than a:
2600X ($230) or 9600K ($240)?

And which would you choose between them?

Don't forget that there's added value in going with AMD. Not just from the performance to price ratio but AM4 is more or less universal for the lifetime of the platform. A 300 series board will work with a 3x000 series processor when Zen3 releases next year and with it comes 7nm beefy boy improvements such as increased clock speed and IPC.
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11.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 16:44
11.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 16:44
Oct 19, 2018, 16:44
 
HorrorScope wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 15:40:
Tell me people of Blues News...

Being a gamer/general user why am I getting anything other than a:
2600X ($230) or 9600K ($240)?

And which would you choose between them?
Future proofing.
"I expect death to be nothingness and by removing from me all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism." Isaac Asimov
Avatar 58135
10.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 16:23
10.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 16:23
Oct 19, 2018, 16:23
 
HorrorScope wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 15:40:
Tell me people of Blues News...

Being a gamer/general user why am I getting anything other than a:
2600X ($230) or 9600K ($240)?

And which would you choose between them?

Cause you want to shell out another $160+ for an extra 10FPS depending on the game

I'm leaning towards a 2700x at the moment currently the same price as the 9600k @ Micro center ($280). I'm interested in the 9700k, but can't justify an extra ~$140 for minimal gaming performance increase. Maybe in ~6 weeks when I ready to actually buy, prices will be down on the intel parts a bit.
9.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 16:13
9.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 16:13
Oct 19, 2018, 16:13
 
CJ_Parker wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 16:05:
So, if you are a no compromises enthusiast who has a very high end GPU like a 1080Ti or 2080+ then Intel may be the way to go if you want to get the most out of your gaming system. You are only bound by availability and pricing of the Intel CPU.

Anyone else should seriously look into AMD, especially if you are a 4K gamer where the GPU is the limit anyway. AMD is currently far better in price vs. performance and it offers the better upgrade path, too.

I agree with pretty much all of that. The thing I didn't realize is that there are a lot of gamers running at 1080p & 1440p 144Hz, and want to do that at Ultra settings. Those people will benefit from the i9, pricing be damned. I've been at 4k resolutions, 60Hz for the past year on a 1080TI and don't think I'd benefit from the i9 since I'm GPU bound. Even if I was on a 1440p 75Hz monitor, I don't think I could justify those i9 prices.
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8.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 16:12
8.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 16:12
Oct 19, 2018, 16:12
 
The 8700k does better in benchmarks than the 2700x, doesn't it? For roughly the same price (I can find each around $290.) 10% or so better performance for the same price.
7.
 
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews
Oct 19, 2018, 16:05
7.
Re: Intel i9 9900K CPU Reviews Oct 19, 2018, 16:05
Oct 19, 2018, 16:05
 
jdreyer wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 12:28:
Graham wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 12:17:
BIGtrouble77 wrote on Oct 19, 2018, 10:16:
Gaming at 4k will not see any noticeable advantages with these chips, but they carry a massive price premium. Seems like a Ryzen (for gaming) or even a Threadripper(for content creation) is a better bet for most people if they have moved on to 4k.

I've been an Intel guy pretty much my entire life.

My current system has a Ryzen 1600 and it spits out 4K/60 just fine in most games. Can't justify the bunnysuit premium anymore.

Yeah, processor has been less relevant for gaming for years, and finally AMD is offering decent CPUs ( although they use more power). It will be interesting to see what the delta is for Intel vs AMD with this proc both running a 2080ti for example.

The Guru3D guy put it pretty well. GPUs have become faster and faster so the GPU limit keeps rising and rising, i.e. the CPU does play a bigger role again, the faster the GPU (especially in 1080p/1440p gaming).


Here...

The direct competitor will be the Ryzen 7 2700X, that puppy is priced roughly 150 USD cheaper though as its MSRP is 329,- It's all about your install base though; if you use a graphics card in the Vega 64 or GTX 1080 range, that Ryzen will be fine. However, as our game benchmarks have shown, graphics cards that are not GPU limited will benefit from the high turbo frequencies that Intel can apply.
So for that uber-expensive desktop market and the guys and girls that have a GeForce GTX 1080 Ti or GeForce RTX 2080 (Ti), that's where this processor series starts to make really significant differences.

However, availability and prices are full retard at the moment. The 9900K doesn't make any sense right now.

If anyone has to buy a new system now then Ryzen is the way to go since you can actually get your hands on the CPU and boards at a reasonable price while getting 90% - 95% of the performance of an Intel system in gaming.

Another factor to consider: You will most likely be able to plug next year's Ryzen 3xxx CPUs into current mainboards so you can easily upgrade. AMD promised to stick to socket AM4 until 2020.
Intel is end of the line. Z390/i9900K is the final high end consumer stuff on socket 1151v2.

If you can wait then wait for CES in January. AMD's Lisa Su will be hosting a keynote there to reveal AMD's plans for 2019. She is expected to talk about the 2019 GPU and CPU lineup.

AMD 7nm CPUs (produced at TSMC instead of GloFo since GloFo has bailed out of the nm race) will definitely be coming up in 2019. There have been rumors that early engineering samples have hit 4.5GHz so AMD might be able to catch up or even surpass Intel in 2019.

Intel won't have anything new until late 2019 when they might finally start shipping 10nm CPUs after four years of delays.

So, if you are a no compromises enthusiast who has a very high end GPU like a 1080Ti or 2080+ then Intel may be the way to go if you want to get the most out of your gaming system. You are only bound by availability and pricing of the Intel CPU.

Anyone else should seriously look into AMD, especially if you are a 4K gamer where the GPU is the limit anyway. AMD is currently far better in price vs. performance and it offers the better upgrade path, too.
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