Intel's 8-core/16-thread mainstream CPU to be named i9-9900K

The new i9 /i7/i5 are most likely part of the Coffee Lake-S family. (Source: WCCFTech)

The new Z390 platform from Intel will bring support for the gen 9 mainstream CPUs that should go head to head with the Ryzen 2000 series. While the Z390 does not bring significant improvements, the i9-9900K is expected to deliver decent performance gains over the i7-8700K, also positioning itself as the direct competitor to AMD's Ryzen 7 2700 CPU.

by Bogdan Solca, 2018/06/28

Intel finally made the official announcement for the Z390 platform, also mentioning the names of the gen 9 mainstream Core CPUs that will be launched in September. Most of the platform features have already been leaked, but there are still a few specs the leaks missed.

The Z390 has most of the Z370 specs, however, it adds a few native features that necessitated third-party controllers, which in turn would raise the price for the motherboards. These specs include:
•   Intel’s new Wi-Fi AC + Bluetooth 5.0 controllers
•   Intel’s Wireless-AC adapter
•   Support for up to 6 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports

As far as the new gen 9 CPUs are concerned, Intel is now integrating the i9 brand with the mainstream solutions. The i9-9900K with 8 cores and 16 threads will represent the top of the line, while the i7-9700K will be the best mid-range solution, with the i5-9600K covering the entry-level. The i7 and i5 CPUs get only 6 cores and 12 threads, but Intel did not mention anything about i3 CPUs. These would most likely be launched later on as budget 4-core solutions. Unfortunately, Intel did not provide any frequency, cache memory and TDP info for the time being, but specs for the 8-core CPU have been circulating around the Net for some time now.

As it stands, Intel has no 8-core mainstream processor to compete with AMD’s Ryzen chips, so the i9-9900K should help the company reassert its position and regain some market shares.