Intel's unreleased and still not named 8C/16T processor is ri ghit around the corner, a new CPU that will be unleashed next to the Z390 chipset and now we might have the new name: the Core i9-9900K. Yeah, Core i9.

The latest rumor is directly from the salt shaker itself, with WCCFTech saying it will be the Core i9-9900K with 8C/16T. Intel will also reportedly launch the Core i7-9700K as a new 6C/12T processor, and the Core i5-9600K as a 6C/6T processor with HT obviously disabled.

I find lumping the new 8C/16T chip into the Core i9 family as extreme, and it will surely cause some marketing issues, but on the other hand this is a new sector of the market for Intel to enter. Intel doesn't have an 8C/16T processor in the desktop CPU market, a slice of the market that AMD has absolutely dominated in since the release of the Ryzen 7 1800X over a year ago now.

The fact of that alone makes sense for Intel to push up the 8C/16T into the Core i9 family, as it will be a beast, especially if it can hit 5GHz it'll destroy the new Ryzen 7 2700X performance wise. But then there's cost... and we know this new purported Core i9-9900K won't be cheap. The Core i7-8700K will still be on the market, and then Intel will need to find a place in the crowded market for its new 9700K and 9600K chips.

Intel will be releasing their Z390 chipset along side the new CPUs, something we went into more detail about here. We should expect the launch to happen in the next month or so.