Intel i9 9900K
The best main stream desktop processor on the market today for gaming and pretty much everything else.
This chip is very similar to other Coffee Lakes in terms of overclocking and expected limits. The 9900k also shares the same integrated memory controller as the 8700K so everyone should be at top speed fairly easy.
One of the biggest and most talked about changes with Generation 9 processors is the addition of soldered thermal paste. This material that sits between the heat sink and CPU cores is now soldered. The CPU now has a thicker PCB, noticeably thicker and this is a good thing as chip bending has been an issue for a few generations now, this was caused by too much contact pressure. |
TjMax can now be adjusted to 115c and this will allow your computer to run at higher frequency longer with the 15% addition in thermal headroom. For water cooling guys this should be helpful in getting the most out of custom builds.
The 9900K is an overclocking monster that we should see many 7Ghz overclocks at launch. Asus hitting 7.6Ghz on LHe beats everything shown on previous generations and this also shows an increase in speed since Gen 6.
The 9900K is an overclocking monster that we should see many 7Ghz overclocks at launch. Asus hitting 7.6Ghz on LHe beats everything shown on previous generations and this also shows an increase in speed since Gen 6.
TjMax of 115c
This new option gives up 15% more thermal headroom and there is a few case scenarios where this would be useful.
When you have a good cooling solution and want to maintain turbo speeds for longer duration this setting would allow the CPU to run hotter before it throttles back. |
A complete register dump: 9900K Register Dump
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Another would be if you the CPU to operate in a hotter environment without failing, I would suggest underclocking first but this may resolve throttling by setting a value 60c ~ 70c for the CPU to run its coolest.
STIM: Soldered Thermal Interface material
This is one of the best improvements that I have seen in many years that benefit everyone and completely eliminates the need for heat spreader removal. I took a few measurements and was sold on how well this works.
The thermal delta between each core is reduced, the temperature between the cores and the heat sink is reduced. The increase in thermal conductivity between the two parts has greatly improved the heat dissipation into the sink and less heat is getting trapped under the IHS.
The STIM also effects TjMax by moving more heat has less chance to hit TjMax value.
What to look for is the temperature difference between each core with and without STIM and you will see a much tighter spread on Generation 9.
The thermal delta between each core is reduced, the temperature between the cores and the heat sink is reduced. The increase in thermal conductivity between the two parts has greatly improved the heat dissipation into the sink and less heat is getting trapped under the IHS.
The STIM also effects TjMax by moving more heat has less chance to hit TjMax value.
What to look for is the temperature difference between each core with and without STIM and you will see a much tighter spread on Generation 9.
Max core ratio and bclk
For 9900k on Z390 the multiplier range was extended to 120, thus giving us even more ratio options than ever before. It also appears the bclk range has seen some attention to the working range it can operate in. Booting into Windows at 380 BCLK is easy. While not entirely huge, this is new ratio range and gives us more options.
Overclocking
Pretty much the exact same as 8700K, scaling and memory performance is the same as well. Like I mentioned before, we will see more 7Ghz+ overclocking with Gen 9.
http://hwbot.org/hardware/processor/core_i9_9900k/
http://hwbot.org/hardware/processor/core_i9_9900k/