Intel announced today its new 9th-Gen Core chips today at its fall hardware event, including the new Core i9-9900K, which offers eight cores and 16 threads, clocked at base frequency of 3.6 GHz boosted up to 5.0 GHz.

"Our goal is to deliver leadership performance across all computing segments and product lines," said Anand Srivatsa, vice president and general manager, Desktop, Systems and Channel, within the Client Computing Group at Intel. "Today's announcements underscore our ability to do exactly that, including, hands-down, the world's best processor for gaming. Whether a gamer, a creator or an expert using the most advanced workstation applications possible, Intel and our partners are focused on delivering balanced platforms with real-world leadership performance and robust capabilities that exceed their needs."

Along with the new Core i9 processor, Intel is also announced new 9th Gen Core i5 and Core i7 models: the i7-9700K with eight cores and eight threads, and base 3.6 GHz clock speed (which can be boosted to 4.9 GHz); and the i5-9600K, which offers six cores and six threads at a base 3.7 GHz speed (which can be boosted up to 4.6 GHz). All the proicessor syou see below are unlocked and support Intel Optane memory.

9th Gen Intel Core Processors

These processors are drop-in compatible with current Coffee Lake and Z370 platforms, but are accompanied by a new Z390 chipset and associated motherboards as well. The Intel Z390 chipset includes high-speed integrated USB 3.1 Gen 2 and integrated Intel Wireless-AC with support for Gigabit Wi-Fi speed. The Z390 chipset is an update to Z370, and both types of motherboards will support 8000-series and 9000-series processors (Z370 will need a BIOS update).

The integrated Wi-Fi uses CNVi, which allows the motherboard manufacturer to use one of Intel's three companion RF modules as a PHY, rather than using a potentially more expensive MAC+PHY combo from a different vendor.

For the USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, Type-A ports are supported natively and motherboard manufacturers will have to use re-driver chips to support Type-C reversibility.

Some Z390 motherboards comes with Realtek's 2.5G Ethernet controller, which consumes on 1.6 W.

The new chips are still based off Intel's existing 14nm process, which the company has been using as far back as the 5th-Gen Broadwell chips back in 2014. The 9th-Gen chips are specifically using Intel's 14nm++ process that it introduced last year with its 8th-Gen Coffee Lake chips, with Intel continuing to delay production of its truly next-gen 10nm Cannon Lake chips until 2019.

These are its first desktop processors to have hardware fixes for the Meltdown Variant 3 and L1 Terminal Fault issues, with the remaining protections done through software.

All the chips announced for the 9th generation family will still have the same GT2 configuration as the 8th generation, including the new Core i9 parts.

The graphics will still be labelled as UHD Graphics 630, and use the same drivers as the 8th gen family.

Preorders for the 9th-Gen chips open today, with the processors set to ship on October 19th. The Core i9-9900K is set to cost $488, the i7-9700K will cost $373, and the i5-9600K will set you back $262.

Intel also announced an updated lineup of its Core X-Series processors, with new Core i7 X-Series, Core i9 X-Series, and Core i9 Extreme processors that are built on Intel's 14nm++ process. Based on the same Skylake X design, Intel announced seven new Core X chips today, set to release sometime in November. Those include the Core i9-9980XE (18 cores 36 threads Core i9 Extreme), which has a maximum turbo-boosted clock speed of 4.5GHz and will cost $1,979. There also five Core i9 X-Series chips, ranging from the 16 core / 32 thread $1,684 Core i9-9960X, to the ten core / 20 thread $889 Core i9-9820X, and a base Core i7-9800X model with eight cores and sixteen threads for $589. All the precessors are unlocked and support Optane memory.

Core X-series Processors

If we take the Core i9-9980XE flagship processor, the base frequency for this 18-core part has increased from 2.6 GHz to 3.0 GHz, or around 15.4 %. The TDP is listed as 165W. So Intel increased the processor's efficiency by using its 14++ process node. The 14++ node is a slightly relaxed version of 14+, with a slightly larger transistor gate pitch.

Intel also announced a new 28 core and 56 thread unlocked Intel Xeon W-3175X processor. Base clock speed is 3.1 GHz, boosted up to 4.3GHz and it's set to ship later this year in December.

The Intel Xeon W-3175X CPU is based on the Skylake/Cascade Lake microarchitecture and is compatible with motherboards featuring Intel's LGA3647 server-based socket. The CPUs runs at 3.1 GHz stock, but can increase its frequency to 4.3 GHz, it features a six-channel DDR4 memory controller that supports up to 512 GB and a massive 38.5 MB cache.

The new 28-core processor has a massive TDP of 265 W.

Intel aims the Xeon W-3175X primarily at content creators, which is why the platform offers 68 PCIe lanes (44 on the CPU + 24 on the chipset), enough to install more than one graphics card and numerous high-end NVMe SSDs.