Intel Core i9 9980XE 18 Core CPU Review

Introduction

Normally when a new flagship Intel processor arrives we all stop what we're doing and spend the day drooling over the kind of performance we could theoretically have in our lives, if we had a rich uncle who unexpectedly died, or our lottery numbers came up, then we go back to whatever we were doing, secure in the knowledge that anything close to that level of performance was far beyond our means. It must be what it's like if you're invited to test drive a Ferrari and then go home in your Fiat Panda.

However, the market has seen a dramatic shift in recent times thanks to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper range of CPUs. Suddenly processors with enough power to tilt the earth of its axis was within the reach of mere mortals. They have high core counts but seriously undercut the Intel equivalent in pricing terms. Whereas once the Intel flagship comfortably won the title of best processor in existence, now we go into our testing unsure if that is the case. It says a lot about how quickly AMD has given their company a shot in the arm.

It also makes our testing more exciting. Previous you knew in advance that all of our graphs would have whatever new processor we were testing at the top of it, and the end result was that it was amazing but expensive. Now it's still expensive, but will it best the i9-7980XE or various Threadrippers? We don't know. We're very keen to find out.

Technical Specifications

The two most obvious things about this new flagship Intel processor is an absolutely ridiculous core count and clock speed that promise all the performance you could ever require, and a positively eye-watering price tag. The price tag is nothing new as all flagship Intel processors require a big investment. The i9-9980XE is a fair bit quicker than the i9-7980XE it replaces so hopefully that should lead to some improvements in our performance testing. The big question is how it compares to AMDs Threadripper processors and their much more affordable pricing.