



We have seen more leaks pertaining to Intel's upcoming 9th generation Core i9-9900K processor than a roof with holes in it during a torrential downpour. Of course, these all need to be taken with a grain of salt. That said, the latest appearance by Intel's unannounced chip shows it running at an overclocked 5GHz in Cinebench.





Nearly every bit of leaked information so far points to the Core i9-9900K being an 8-core/16-thread processor with a 3.6GHz base clock and 4.7GHz all-core boost clock, with the ability to boost to 5GHz when engaging only one or two cores. The chip is also said to have 16MB of L3 cache and a 95W TPD. Those are pretty good specs, if they hold true to the final silicon.













The leak, which is a video posted to YouTube, shows the Core i9-9900K running at 5GHz on all 8 cores. Assuming nothing was doctored, we can't say if it was 100 percent stable at that speed, though it was able to complete a run through Cinebench R15, a benchmark that hammers every available core and thread at its disposal.





It's at least feasible, for a couple of reasons. First, we're only looking at a 300MHz bump over its stock all-core boost setting. And secondly, rumor has Intel is finally returning to using solder between the integrated heatspreader (IHS) and CPU die, rather than the same thermal interface material (TIM) that enthusiasts and hardcore overclockers have been scraping off and replacing on current generation Coffee Lake parts.













While overclocked, the Core i9-9900K posted a score of 2,166 in Cinebench. That's impressive, to be sure. Obviously we can't validate the result, but assuming it's accurate, here's how the result stacks up against our own collection of Cinebench R15 benchmarks...













Based on our own collection of scores, the Core i9-9900K positions itself neck-and-neck with Intel's Core i7-7900X, a high-end desktop (HEDT) part that sells for between $900 and $1,000. For reference, the Core i7-7900X is a 10-core/20-thread chip clocked at 3GHz to 4.3GHz. If we assume no funny business, it seems the faster clockspeed of the overclocked Core i9-9900K and architectural optimizations are enough to virtually close the gap in performance, despite a core/thread-count disadvantage.





We still don't know what the price will end up being. Speculation is that it will hover around $450. It could end up being higher, to create more distance between it and the Core i7-8086K (~$425), though we'd be surprised if pricing reached HEDT levels.





Either way, it looks like Intel is packing a lot of performance into its upcoming flagship mainstream desktop processor.

