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The rumored 12-core Intel Core i9 CPU of lore looks set to challenge AMD’s Threadripper soon

By Koh Wanzi - on 19 May 2017, 11:05am

The rumored 12-core Intel Core i9 CPU of lore looks set to challenge AMD’s Threadripper soon

The stage has been set for an all-out brawl between AMD and Intel in the high-end desktop (HEDT) market. If rumors are to be believed, Intel is poised to release its X299 ultra-enthusiast platform soon, along with up to six Core i7 and Core i9 processors that feature up to 12 cores.

AMD was first to the party with the announcement of its 16-core/32-thread Threadripper CPU, part of a new range of processors that sit above the Ryzen 7 line-up.

Threadripper will find its way into HEDT systems and high-end workstations where multi-threaded performance is paramount, and Intel will be looking to reassert itself in a space where it has gotten used to going uncontested.

In leaked details that showed up on Anandtech’s forums, we see a slide purporting to show the next generation of Intel processors, including Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X. At least some of these chips will be based on the LGA-2066 socket, with the top Core i9-7920X featuring up to 12 cores and 24 threads.

The rumored TDP for the latter chip is set at 140 watts, the same as the 10-core/20-thread Core i7-6950X (3.0GHz, 25MB L3 cache).

The table below summarizes the leaked details, where the processors range from 4- to 12-core parts and offer anywhere from 16 to 44 PCIe 3.0 lanes. In addition, there’s talk of a June launch date, with the flagship Core i9-7920X set to debut later in August.

Model Core / Threads Base / Boost clock (GHz) PCIe lanes TDP
Intel Core i7-7640K (Kaby Lake-X) 4/4 4.0/4/2 16 112W
Intel Core i7-7740K (Kaby Lake-X) 4/8 4.3/4.5 16 112W
Intel Core i9-7800X (Skylake-X) 6/12 3.5/4.0 28 140W
Intel Core i9-7820X (Skylake-X) 8/16 3.6/4.5 28 140W
Intel Core i9-7900X (Skylake-X) 10/20 3.3/4.5 44 140W
Intel Core i9-7920X (Skylake-X) 12/24 TBD 44 140W

Considering Ryzen’s performance in the gaming segment, there’s a chance that Threadripper could be an even greater threat to Intel in the HEDT arena. Ryzen’s weakness was in 1080p gaming, but it absolutely blew Intel out of the water when it came to multi-threaded performance at comparable prices.

It stands to reason that someone going for a chip with as many cores as the Threadripper or Intel’s Core i9 would care more about the latter metric than gaming, so AMD might do especially well, especially if it continues to undercut Intel on price.

That said, all this is pure conjecture, and we’ll have to wait and see if the processor specifications turn out to be accurate.

Source: Anandtech (forums)    

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