Puget Systems Lists Intel Core i9-9990XE Specs, Explores Cooling

Custom system builder Puget Systems has acquired a sample of the still-not-announced, limited edition Intel Core i9-9990XE processor. Matt Bach, the company's Senior Labs Technician, praised the processor's performance but noted that the chip runs hotter than the other X-series offerings.

(Image credit: Matt Bach / Twitter)

As previously noted, the Intel Core i9-9990XE is expected to be made available to a handful of OEMs online. According to reports, the processor is to be auctioned online once every quarter. Therefore, the Intel Core i9-9990XE doesn't carry a fixed price tag like your ordinary processor. Official information behind the auction process has been kept on the down low.

(Image credit: Puget Systems)

Intel Core i9-9900XE Specs Comparison

If the Intel Core i9-9900K and the Intel Core i9-9940X had a love child, the Intel Core i9-9990XE would be it. The Intel Core i9-9990XE is a Skylake processor, which means it's manufactured with Intel's 14nm process node. The processor is said to have 14 cores, 28 threads and 19.25MB of L3 cache at its disposal.

According to Puget Systems' specification sheet, the Intel Core i9-9990XE has a 4GHz base clock, 5.1GHz maximum turbo boost clock and 5GHz all-core boost clock. Running 5GHz on 14 cores is a pretty impressive feat.

Below is a chart comparing i9-9900XE specs listed by Puget Systems and confirmed specs for other 9th generation Intel processors.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0 Cores /ThreadsBase / Boost (GHz)L3 Cache (MB)PCIe 3.0DRAMTDPMSRP/RCPPrice Per Core
Core i9-9990XE14 / 284.0 / 5.119.2544Quad DDR4-2666255W??
Core i9-9980XE18 / 363.0 / 4.524.7544Quad DDR4-2666165W$1979$110
Core i9-9960X16 / 323.1 / 4.52244Quad DDR4-2666165W$1684$105
Core i9-9940X14 / 283.3 / 4.519.2544Quad DDR4-2666165W$1387$99
Core i9-9920X12 / 243.5 / 4.519.2544Quad DDR4-2666165W$1189$99
Core i9-9900X10 / 203.5 / 4.519.2544Quad DDR4-2666165W$989$98.9
Core i9-9820X10 / 203.3 / 4.216.544Quad DDR4-2666165W$889$88.9
Core i9-9800X8 / 163.8 / 4.516.544Quad DDR4-2666165W$589$73.65

Intel Core i9-9900XE Cooling

Like its other X-series siblings, the Intel Core i9-9990XE comes with support for quad-channel DDR4-2666 memory modules and up to 44 PCIe 3.0 lanes. Despite being just a 14-core part, the processor currently tops the TDP (thermal design power) charts with a 255W rating.

Matt Bach said via Twitter that the company's conventional air coolers weren't able to tame the beast. However, he said he was able to keep the processor's temperature below 90 degrees Celsius (194 degrees Fahrenheit) under full load with the help of a Corsair H80i liquid cooler armed with a pair of Everflow cooling fans in a push/pull configuration.

Bach said Puget Systems will have benchmarks of the Intel Core i9-9990XE up in the next week or two. 

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • jimmysmitty
    The TDP is a result of them slamming the clock speed up to a base of 4GHz.

    Honestly Intel needs to take a deep breath and just chill out and find a way to compete cost wise with AMD. I don't see this CPU selling well at all except in boutique systems.
    Reply
  • SgtScream
    Is this ring bus or mesh architecture? Sounds like mesh because it's quad channel.
    Reply
  • derekullo
    21749999 said:
    The TDP is a result of them slamming the clock speed up to a base of 4GHz.

    Honestly Intel needs to take a deep breath and just chill out and find a way to compete cost wise with AMD. I don't see this CPU selling well at all except in boutique systems.

    Even Intel has to obey the laws of thermodynamics.

    Obviously an Intel X model, or in this case XE, wasn't create to win price efficiency battles even against Intel's own chips as shown by the price per cores column.

    What it does let you do is have a rendering computer and a gaming computer all in one.

    The price isn't out yet but you can be sure it will be more than the $1387 for the lower clocked 14 cores model.

    Rather the CPU sells well or not is highly subjective depending on what your definition of success is.

    Intel is highly aware that they won't sell more i9-9900XE than i5-9600k.

    But for the 1% of market that does need/want an i9-9900XE it is available.

    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    21750323 said:
    Is this ring bus or mesh architecture? Sounds like mesh because it's quad channel.

    Everything on this is mesh.

    21750400 said:
    21749999 said:
    The TDP is a result of them slamming the clock speed up to a base of 4GHz.

    Honestly Intel needs to take a deep breath and just chill out and find a way to compete cost wise with AMD. I don't see this CPU selling well at all except in boutique systems.

    Even Intel has to obey the laws of thermodynamics.

    Obviously an Intel X model, or in this case XE, wasn't create to win price efficiency battles even against Intel's own chips as shown by the price per cores column.

    What it does let you do is have a rendering computer and a gaming computer all in one.

    The price isn't out yet but you can be sure it will be more than the $1387 for the lower clocked 14 cores model.

    Rather the CPU sells well or not is highly subjective depending on what your definition of success is.

    Intel is highly aware that they won't sell more i9-9900XE than i5-9600k.

    But for the 1% of market that does need/want an i9-9900XE it is available.

    I understand that. I just feel like they have been making more wrong choices than right ones. I think they need to drop pricing a bit to be more competitive and focus on getting 10nm out so they can finally start to move forward.
    Reply
  • SgtScream
    This chip wouldn't exist without Ryzen. Third gen Ryzen will be so competitive in price to performance that Intel will be forced to lower their prices.
    Reply
  • philipemaciel
    I remember the hatred that the FX-9590 faced (220W TDP) when it was released...
    Reply
  • philipemaciel
    Yes, this is pretty much Intel's FX-9590
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    21750489 said:
    This chip wouldn't exist without Ryzen. Third gen Ryzen will be so competitive in price to performance that Intel will be forced to lower their prices.

    Thats just an assumption. People think most of what Intel has released wouldn't exist without Ryzen but the issue with that is that it takes more than just a few months to design a chip and get it ready.

    21750527 said:
    I remember the hatred that the FX-9590 faced (220W TDP) when it was released...

    The difference is that the FX-9590 couldn't match anything Intel had out and was launched at $1k, well above where it should have been priced. It also was notoriously difficult to keep at its rated clock speed even with the best cooling and typically would only work well with the most expensive boards.
    Reply
  • TechyInAZ
    Intel stopped using the Ring Bus architecture on extreme edition parts since x99 and the 6950X. All CPUs on the X299 platform (except for Kaby Lake X which really aren't x299 chips in the first place.) use the mesh architecture.
    Reply
  • SgtScream
    21750901 said:
    21750489 said:
    This chip wouldn't exist without Ryzen. Third gen Ryzen will be so competitive in price to performance that Intel will be forced to lower their prices.

    Thats just an assumption. People think most of what Intel has released wouldn't exist without Ryzen but the issue with that is that it takes more than just a few months to design a chip and get it ready.

    21750527 said:
    I remember the hatred that the FX-9590 faced (220W TDP) when it was released...

    The difference is that the FX-9590 couldn't match anything Intel had out and was launched at $1k, well above where it should have been priced. It also was notoriously difficult to keep at its rated clock speed even with the best cooling and typically would only work well with the most expensive boards.

    AMD took more than a few months to come out with Ryzen and so did Intel to counter it. True competition in the market will force Intel to lower prices.

    Reply