Intel has introduced a new family of performance intensive Core X desktop processors at the ongoing Computex event. So while that includes new more powerful versions of the company’s already acclaimed Core i5 and Core i7 family of chips, there also is the new Core i9 series that can easily be adjudged as one of the most powerful consumer segment processors ever made.
Not surprisingly, the Core-X will be almost exclusive to high-end devices such as gaming rigs or the professionals. Based on Intel’s new Basin Falls platform, the new Core i9 tops out at a mind boggling 18-cores and 36-threads, which Intel claimed is a first in the consumer desktop segment.
The Core X series also comprises of nine different products, of which five have been announced while another four is in the pipeline. The X family covers Kaby Lake X and Skylake X in increasing order of performance, with Core i5-7640X and the Core i7-7740X being part of the Kaby Lake X platform.
The Core i5-7640X is the cheapest at $242 and offers 4 cores with no Hyper-Threading, which translates to only 4 threads. It has a clock speed of 4.0 GHz which gets Turbo Boosted to a max 4.2 GHz.
The Core i7-7740X too has 4 cores but supports hyper threading, and hence has twice the thread count. It has a clock speed of 4.3GHz which increases to 4.5GHz via Turbo Boost. The chip is priced $339.
Next in line is the Skylake-X series which comprises of three products – Core i7-7740X, Core i7-7820X, and the Core i9-7900X. Of these, the base Core i7-7740X is priced $389 and features 6 cores and 12 threads. It has a base clock speed of 3.5 GHz, which tops off at 4.0 GHz via Turbo Boost.
Next up is the Core i7-7820X whose price jumps up to $599 and comes with 8 cores with hyper threading so that thread count goes up to 16. The chip has a clock speed of 3.6 GHz, which can be Turbo Boosted to 4.3 GHz.
Sitting at the top is the Core i9-7900X which exhibits a steep jump in its price to $999. For that much of money, the chip offers 10 cores and 20 threads. It has a base clock speed of 3.3 GHz, which can scale up to 4.3 GHz via Turbo Boost 2.0 and 4.5 GHz via Turbo Boost 3.0.
The remain four products in the X series – i9-7920X, i9-7940X, i9-7960X, and i9-7980XE is set to be launched later though there is no information when is that going to happen.
Meanwhile, Intel said PCs powered by the new Core X which are compatible with the company’s new X299 motherboard should make it to the market within the next few weeks already.
