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Intel Core i9-9900KS Special Edition review: Is this really Intel's fastest gaming CPU?

By Koh Wanzi - 10 Nov 2019

Conclusion

Image Source: Intel

Not quite the best gaming CPU in the world

The Intel Core i9-9900KS is best thought of as just another flavour of the Core i9-9900K. There's already the Core i9-9900KF, which lacks any integrated graphics, so the Core i9-9900KS is more or less just a higher clocked version of both its siblings. Intel is touting this as the best processor for gaming, and while the specifications certainly look promising on paper, it doesn't quite deliver. 

It's by no means a poorly performing CPU, and it's still faster than what AMD's Ryzen 3000 processors have to offer in 1080p gaming. Unfortunately, it fails to convincingly beat the Core i9-9900K in games, so it falls short on what is supposed to be its biggest selling point. After all, while AMD's Ryzen processors handily trounce Intel's mainstream chips in heavily-threaded workloads, Intel has still managed to hold on to its lead when it comes to games. The Core i9-9900KS should extend that lead, but it fails to live up to that promise.

To be sure, it serves up slightly better encoding and rendering performance, but the gains are small – it is after all still just a top-binned Core i9-9900K – and not quite enough to get excited about. It's not clear whether the lacklustre gaming performance is due to the hardware mitigations for the security flaws I mentioned earlier, but if it is, it's just another example of how the fallout from those flaws continue to trouble Intel even now. The only consolation is that these mitigations will soon come to the Core i9-9900K, which could dampen its performance and therefore put the Core i9-9900KS in a better light.

Image Source: Intel

The all-core 5.0GHz boost does sound great, and there are fortunately no issues with the cores boosting to their rated speeds, unlike with AMD. But it seems like this much-touted feature is most useful for sprucing up headlines, and it doesn't quite translate into any significant gains in the real world. Furthermore, the Core i9-9900KS only comes with a 1-year warranty, down from the usual 3 years for Intel. The chipmaker says this is because of the limited volume of the chip, but you can't help but wonder if the aggressive speeds have somewhat tempered Intel's expectations for the CPU's longevity.

At a recommended price of US$513, the Core i9-9900K is slightly more expensive than the 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X, which costs US$499. AMD's processor still offers better value, mostly owing to its superior multi-threaded performance. Furthermore, its gaming numbers aren't that far behind either, especially if you game at more demanding, GPU-limiting settings, at which point the difference practically disappears.

The Core i9-9900K debuted at US$488, and it's still listed for around that price on Amazon. It still seems like the better choice to me if you want the absolute best gaming CPU. What's more, you get a 3-year warranty with it. The Core i9-9900KS is no doubt a cool proposition and 5.0GHz on all cores is really nice. But it just doesn't seem like a smart choice given all the good options available right now, unless you just want the bragging rights to a specially-binned Core i9-9900K.

Intel needs every advantage it can get to push back against a resurgent AMD and the Core i9-9900KS just isn't it.

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7.5
  • Performance 7.5
  • Features 8
  • Value 7.5
The Good
Boosts to 5.0GHz on all 8 cores
Decent gaming performance
The Bad
Doesn't quite beat the Core i9-9900K in games
Not significantly faster in heavily-threaded workloads
Only comes with a 1-year warranty
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