Intel Unveils Specs for 9th-Gen H-Series CPUs (Updated)

(Image credit: Intel)

Update 3/6/19, 12:55 p.m. ET: Wccftech reported today that the Core i7-9750H will see availability in May, following an April 21 announcement. The report didn't name sources but claimed laptops featuring the mobile processor will be available "probably later" in May with either a GTX 1650 or GTX 1660 Ti graphics card. Nvidia has never confirmed that it's making a GTX 1650, but a tweet from a hardware leaker last week pointed to a laptop featuring a GTX 1650 and i7-9750H.

Original article, 2/15/19: 

Intel today posted an official document online revealing the chipmaker's upcoming 9th-generation Intel Core H-series processors. The list of previously unannounced chips span from mid-range Core i5 models up to high-end Core i9 models.

Intel 9th-generation H-series chips are built around Intel's Coffee Lake microarchitecture and are expected to come out of the saturated 14nm++ cooking oven. H-series processors primarily target the mobile high-performance market, such as gaming laptops and mobile workstations. As a result, they typically have a modest 45W TDP (thermal design power) rating.

If you're rusty on Intel nomenclature, the "H" suffix stands for high-performance graphics. However, that doesn't necessarily mean the processors come with upgraded integrated graphics over their predecessors. Similar to their desktop counterparts, the 9th-generation H-series parts retain the Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics processor and support for DDR4-2666 memory.

The Intel Core i9-9980HK stands on top of the H-series processor hierarchy. As designated by the "K" suffix, the i9-9980HK is the only H-series part that comes with an unlocked multiplier for overclocking. The processor is expected to come with eight cores, 16 threads and 16MB of L3 cache. Intel listed the i9-9980HK with a 5GHz boost clock, which is probably the single and dual-core boost speed.

The i9-9880H is the second in command of the 9th-generation H-series army. The core and cache specifications are identical to the i9-9980HK. However, the i9-9880H has a locked multiplier and a lower boost clock that maxes out at 4.8GHz.

On the other hand, the i7-9850H and i7-9750H are equipped with six cores, 12 threads and 12MB of L3 cache. It has a 4.6GHz boost clock, while the i7-9750H has a slightly boost clock set at 4.5GHz.

The i5-9400H and i5-9300H round off the list of H-series chips. They are equipped with four cores, eight threads and 8MB of L3 cache. The i5-9400H has a 4.3GHz boost clock and the i5-9300H has a 4.1GHz boost clock.

Zhiye Liu
RAM Reviewer and News Editor

Zhiye Liu is a Freelance News Writer at Tom’s Hardware US. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.