There’s no doubt that Intel’s 9th Generation Core processors and the Z390 motherboards are coming, probably in a month or two. We previously seen the specifications of the Core i9-9900K, i7-9700K and i5-9600K surfaced on the web. Recently, an Intel Core i7-9700K was spotted at ZOLCPU, and it was overclocked to 5.5GHz (all cores) using an ASRock Z370 motherboard. I’m guessing they used the latest BIOS version so that the i7-9700K would be recognized and function on the Z370 motherboard. On top of that, it was reported that the overclock was a success using a liquid cooler. Check out more details below on how the Intel Core Core i7-9700K was overclocked to 5.5GHz all cores.
Intel Core i7-9700K Overclock to 5.5GHz All Cores
First a few details regarding the CPU. The Intel Core i7-9700K is reported to have 8 cores, 8 threads and no HyperThreading. It has a base clock speed of 3.6GHz (as confirmed from the Z370 BIOS) and a max turbo frequency of 4.9GHz of 1 core. It has a 12MB L3 cache, support DDR4-2666 memory, with Intel UHD 630 graphics and a 95W TDP. It’s also reported / rumored that its IHS will be soldered, so gone are those thermal paste Intel is using and expect better heat transfer.
Based on the leak screenshots, we can see that the Intel Core i7-9700K was running on an ASRock Z370 Professional Gaming motherboard, with 16GB G.Skill memory. The BIOS date is somewhat odd as it’s dated on December 5, 2017. Probably they haven’t updated that time and date of the motherboard? Or this was really conducted late last year.
Anyway moving on, on the next image we see a screenshot of CPUz showing that the Core i7-9700K was indeed overclocked to 5.5GHz on all cores. Although we can’t really see it from the screenshots, it was reported that they used an unspecified liquid cooler. At the back of the CPUz screenshot is a Cinebench R15 showing the CPU score and CPU single core score.
The 5.5GHz overclocked Core i7-9700K was able to get 1827 cb points and 250 cb on single core. It was already impressive to see that the i7-9700K can do 5.5GHz on all cores, although it lacks hyperthreading. But how does the Core i7-9700K’s Cinebench score compare with the current Core i7-8700K?
Intel Core i7-9700K vs Core i7-8700K – Cinebench R15
For comparison, we have here our Intel Core i7-8700K overclocked to 5GHz running on an MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC motherboard. That’s pretty much the best this CPU can do, and on top of that I have to delid this CPU to get better (lower) temperature and stable system. Screenshots below.
Our Core i7-8700K 5GHz got 1644 cb points, just shy of 183 points from the Core i7-9700K running at 5.5GHz. There’s definitely an improvement, but not that significant though. Remember, a Core i7-8700K has 6 core but with 12 threads, with Hyperthreading. The Core i7-9700K has 8 cores but only 8 threads, no hyperthreading. We hope to learn more about these new processors when they are released probably early October 2018. In the meantime below is the specifications table of the 9th Gen Intel Core Processors with estimated prices. Remember, all information below are yet to be confirmed.
9th Gen Intel Core Processor Specifications
| Intel Core Processor | Core i9-9900K | Core i7-9700K | Core i7-8086K | Core i7-8700K | Core i5-9600K | Core i5-8600K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Threads | 16 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| Base Clock (GHz) | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Max. Turbo Clock (GHz) | 5.0 GHz (1-2 cores) 4.8 GHz (4 cores) 4.7 GHz (6-8 cores) | 4.9 GHz (1 core) 4.8 GHz (2 cores) 4.7 GHz (4 cores) 4.6 GHz (6 - 8 cores) | 5.0 GHz (1 core) 4.6 GHz (2 cores) 4.5 GHz (3 cores) 4.4 GHz (4-5 cores) 4.3 GHz (6 cores) | 4.7 GHz (1 core) 4.6 GHz (2 cores) 4.5 GHz (3 cores) 4.4 GHz (4-5 cores) 4.3 GHz (6 cores) | 4.6 GHz (1 core) 4.5 GHz (2 cores) 4.4 GHz (4 cores) 4.3 GHz (6 cores) | 4.3 GHz (1 core) 4.2 GHz (2-4 cores) 4.1 GHz (6-5 cores) |
| L3 Cache | 16MB | 12MB | 12MB | 12MB | 9MB | 9MB |
| Memory | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 |
| Int. Graphics | Intel UHD 630 (TBC) | Intel UHD 630 (TBC) | Intel UHD 630 | Intel UHD 630 | Intel UHD 630 (TBC) | Intel UHD 630 |
| TDP | 95W | 95W | 95W | 95W | 95W | 95W |
| Unlocked | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IHS Material | Soldered | Soldered | Paste | Paste | Paste | Paste |
| Price | $500 (est.) TBA | $350-$400 (est.) TBA | $425 | $359 | $250-$270 (est.) TBA | $257 |
