Intel allegedly prepping monstrous i9-10990XE with 22 cores

A user on Chinese tech forum ChipHell shared a CPU-Z screenshot for what looks like the Intel 10990XE, alongside alleged Cinebench R20 scores for the same. We can't ascertain the validity of the screenshots. However, they show what looks like an absolutely monstrous processor that will almost certainly help Intel retake the consumer multi-core crown, even if that means burning houses down in the process. 

The alleged i9-10990XE features 22 cores and 44 threads with a 4.0 GHz base clock and 5.0 GHz boost clock. This would mean faster single-threaded performance than the 18-core 3.8 Ghz 10980XE, as well as substantially faster multi-threaded performance due to the 4 additional physical cores. Cinebench scores put it on par with the Threadripper 3960X, meaningfully higher than AMD's highest-end consumer model, the Ryzen 9 3950X. 

The CPU-Z screen indicates that the i9-10990XE is a Cascade Lake X part. How exactly does Intel manage to get a 22-core, 14nm part working? By dialing the TDP up to never-before-seen levels, apparently. The alleged i9-10990XE has a jaw-dropping 380W TDP. This is 100W higher than the 64-core Threadripper 3990X, and the highest TDP ever seen on a consumer-facing CPU. 

The 5.0 GHz boost clock and 22 physical cores mean that the i9-10990XE will almost certainly outdo the Ryzen 9 3950X in gaming workloads. Intel once again high-end halo product that offers meaningfully better gaming performance than the competition. But is it going to be even remotely worthwhile?

The 10980XE rocks a $979 sticker price and we wouldn't expect the 10990XE to cost any less than $1500. At that eye-searing price, you'll get framerates that are slightly higher than the i9-9900K and Ryzen 7 3700X  in a handful of games. If you game every day, you'll also add as much to your power bill as an extra washing machine would. We'll leave it to you to decide whether or not that makes sense.