Intel Core i9 Processors are now officially announced. Today at Computex 2017, Intel unveiled its new Core X line desktop processors, offering even more powerful versions of its existing Core i5 and Core i7 models, as well as top-of-the-line Core i9. The Core X platform is being targeted at enthusiast customers like gamers or gamers and content creators.
The new Intel Core i9 Extreme is the first consumer desktop processor to offer 18-cores and 36-threads. Intel will be offering four Core i9 CPU models ranging from $999 for a 12-core / 24-thread processor to a $1,699, 16-core / 32-thread chip.
The Core X lineup starts with the Core i5-7640X at $242, which offers 4-cores and 4-threads. The Core i7 X-Series range from a $339, 4-core / 8-thread model to a $599 10-core / 20-thread chip. The i5-7640X and the i7-7740X are built on Kaby Lake X.
All the new desktop Core X processors are designed to work with Intel’s new X299 motherboard chipset. The Core X family is built on an updated version of Intel’s 6th generation Skylake platform, which the company refers to as Skylake X.
Intel is also upgrading its Turbo Boost technology to Turbo Boost Max 3.0 on some of the higher end models of the Core X line. According to the company, the Core X series reaches 10 percent faster multithread performance over the previous generation and 15 percent faster single thread.
In addition to the new high-end Core X family, Intel also had a brief update on the forthcoming 8th-generation Intel CPUs, which may bring improvements up to 30 percent over Kaby Lake.
