Intel goes up to 8 cores for mainstream chips, with a 28-core overclockable Xeon

NEW YORK – Intel unveiled a range of new processors for the high performance desktop segment. For the consumer market, three new K series overclockable chips are marketed under the ninth generation brand; Seven new Core X-series processors are being introduced to the high-end desktop market. For those looking for even more performance, there is an overclockable Xeon circuit.

The ninth-generation parts confirm the previous leaks, namely that the hyperthreading is only found on the high-end i9 processor. This part has eight cores and 16 threads, with a base speed of 3.6 GHz and a maximum turbo of 5 GHz. This is the first time that Intel's mainstream chips match the core and thread numbers offered by AMD in its Ryzen lineup.

Intel (credibly) positions the 9900K as the best gaming chip in the world, thanks to its powerful performance per thread and its high maximum clock speed. In contrast to recent practices, Intel has begun to use solder rather than thermal paste between the processor chip and the integrated heat sink. This movement will be popular among overclockers because the better thermal conductivity of the weld generally allows for lower temperatures and higher overclocking potential.

All chips will run on the existing 300 series motherboards and Intel is also introducing a new Z390 chipset. In return for the integrated chips for the Whiskey Lake and Amber Lake mobile processors, the key features of the new chipset are the 802.11ac Wi-Fi gigabit and the built-in support of the USB 3.1 Generation 2 10 Gb / s standard.

The chips include hardware fixes for L1TFs, although patches for Specter still depend on the software.

For those who need more cores, memory, or PCIe lanes, use a new X-Series chipset. These use the same Skylake-X core as the current X Series chips, but with higher clock speeds. This use of Skylake-X means that these parts do not include Meltdown or L1TF hardware patches.

These chips are all overclockable, and they also have a welded heat sink.

And if that's not enough, there's the Xeon W-3175X. This is a 56-core, 28-core Xeon with unlocked multipliers for overclocking. This, too, is a Skylake-based game, so again, there is no shortage of hardware fixes for Meltdown and L1TF. Intel has not yet revealed the price, but we imagine that it will be quite expensive.

As a Xeon, this part also includes support for ECC memory and uses the C621 chipset. Intel claims that certain types of content creators want this type of overclockable chip for their workstations. These markets prefer single-socket systems (they are quieter, smaller and avoid the complexities of NUMA, where memory latency and bandwidth vary depending on the core that accesses it), but they want overclockability that provides additional performance.

The ninth generation processors are available for pre – order today and will be shipped on October 19th. The X Series coins will arrive in November, while the new Xeon will be released in December.