Intel Core i9-7900X: 10C/20T @ 5GHz on AIO liquid cooler

Intel's new Core i9 range is getting flashed around, with the upcoming 10C/20T part hitting 5GHz with an AIO liquid cooler. Intel's upcoming Core i9-7900X has reached 5GHz with the AIO liquid cooler, and even 4.5GHz on air, all on 1.15V - and with all CPU cores enabled.

The new Core i9-7900X will arrive with 10C/20T of CPU power, 13.75MB L3 cache, and 3.3/4.3GHz for base/boost, respectively. But Intel's new Turbo Boost 3.0 technology will overclock the 10C/20T chip to 4.5GHz, which is a huge upgrade over the current high core count CPUs like the Core i7-6950X. Intel's upcoming Core i9-7900X will have a TDP of 140W, and its X299 chipset will feature 44 PCIe 3.0 lanes.

Intel will be pricing the new 10C/20T Core i9-7900X at $999, and considering the Core i7-6950X debuted at $1500 and is still $1500 on Amazon right now - all with the same 10C/20T, but at much lower clocks (3.0/3.5GHz for base/boost), it's a steal. AMD will be competing big time with their upcoming Ryzen ThreadRipper CPUs offering up to 16C/32T, but their spiffy new X399 chipset rocks 64 PCIe 3.0 lanes, beating Intel out by a fair chunk.