Core i9-9900K: Intel eight-core is soldered

A few weeks before the release of the Core i9-9900K, more and more technical details on the eight-core chip are infiltrating: Intel will solder the heat sink of its midrange processors for the first time times since the generation Sandy Bridge (2011). Since the ramifications of Ivy Bridge (2012), thermal paste has been used, resulting in higher temperatures of 15 to 20 Kelvin and therefore lower frequencies, especially when the CPUs are operating in turbo mode

Several Intel-related sources have independently confirmed that Intel connects metal covers to the processor by soldering. This is obviously the case with the two Octacores, the Core i9-9900K and the Core i9-9700K. For smaller models with six cores like the Core i5-9600K, the manufacturer still seems to use the conventional thermal compound. The chips called Coffee Lake Refresh follow on the Coffee Lake as the Core i7-8700K (test) and integrate into the motherboards with socket LGA 1151 v2

From 2011 to 2016, Intel only had midrange processors with up to four cores. The Core i7-2600K with the 32nm node reaches 3.4 GHz, while the Core i7-4770K with 22nm technology reaches 4GHz and the Core i7-7700K comes at 4.2 GHz with a 14nm process. This meant more heat on similar or even less surface areas and higher, which in turn limits clock frequencies. Intel has argued in recent years that small dies would be less suitable for welding. In addition, several steps such as additional metal layers on the CPU are needed, just apply indium does not work.

According to a user who is usually well informed in the Coolaler forum, the Core i9-9900K runs at 4.7 GHz on all cores and at 5 GHz on two cores. The Core i7-9700K also has eight cores, but needs to do without hyperthreading – which is atypical for an i7 – and supposedly runs between 3.6 GHz and 4.9 GHz. Below follows the Core i5-9600K with six HT-free cores and an Intel document ranging from 3.7 GHz to 4.5 GHz. The release date should be in September 2018, as the new Ultrabook chips, Whiskey Lake (4C @ 15W) and Amber Lake (2C @ 5W), will be released in late August.

Later in the year, the Lake X Cascade for the LGA Socket 2066 on the market, they follow on the Skylake X as the Core i9-7980XE (test) with 18 cores and up to 4 , 4 GHz. The new chips must have up to 22 cores and should be a bit higher – because unlike the Skylake X, Intel at Cascade Lake X could solder the heat generator again.