Intel Core i7-9700K appears in first benchmarks, Hyperthreading to be a Core i9-exclusive feature in future Intel CPUs
The upcoming Intel 9th generation 'Coffee Lake-S' Core i7-9700K has made its way to the SiSoftware Benchmark database. The details of the processor corroborates with what we've reported yesterday. The Core i7-9700K is a 95W 3.6 GHz/4.9 GHz part featuring 8 cores and 8 threads implying no Hyperthreading support. This makes it the first Core i7 CPU to lack Hyperthreading with the technology being reserved for the Core i9 parts.
The lack of Hyperthreading in a Core i7 is somewhat unusual. In the current generation, the Core i7 is a 6 core part support for Hyperthreading with the Core i5 having 6 cores and Core i3 sporting 4 cores without Hyperthreading. The previous generation Core i7-8700K offered 6 cores and 12 threads, which makes it a much more compelling choice for multi-threaded workflows compared to the Core i7-9700K. Intel's strategy is becoming a bit hard to comprehend with this move but if the above information were to be true, Intel better ensure that the Core i7-9700K can offer at least a measurable performance improvement over the Core i7-8700K if it were to compete with the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X in any way.
It could be that Intel is segmenting the Core i9 separately to show a distinctive performance gain at a higher price than the Ryzens. Intel has always had the upper hand in single-threaded performance and with the Core i9-9900K sporting 8 cores and 16 threads, it can easily be a poster boy for Intel in their race to one up AMD. This will be a great opportunity for AMD to release its Ryzen 7 2800X if it is indeed cooking in their labs. AMD also has an advantage with 7nm Zen2 slated for production in 2019 while Intel is still yet to come to terms with 10nm.
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