Intel Core i9-10980XE Cascade Lake-X CPU Benchmarks Hit Geekbench

Shortly after Geekbench results claiming to be from the Intel Core i9-10900X appeared, the unreleased Intel Core i9-10980XE entered Geekbench 4's database as well. The CPU, listed as having 18 cores and 36 threads is presumably the flagship SKU for Intel's line of Cascade Lake-X (CSL-X) processors, which will start shipping next month.

Cascade Lake-X, which naturally employs the Cascade Lake microarchitecture, is Intel's next-generation line of HEDT (high-end desktop) processors. Not much has changed, since Cascade Lake-X is still on Intel's 14nm process node, and the new chips will continue to slot into LGA 2066-based motherboards.

Like the Core i9-9980XE and Core i9-7980XE before it, the Core i9-10980XE reportedly maxes out with 18 cores and 36 threads and has the same cache configuration (1.125MB, 18MB and 24.75MB of L1, L2 and L3 cache, respectively). A recent Asus listing stated that Cascade Lake-X could sport up to 48 PCIe 3.0 lanes, but that as yet to be confirmed. Previous 18-core flagship parts are rated with a 165W TDP (thermal design power), so it'll be interesting to see whether the Core i9-10980XE does too. 

*Specifications are unconfirmed

After browsing through the Geekbench report file, we found some pretty interesting numbers for the Core i9-10980XE. Geekbench 4 seemingly registered the Core i9-10980XE with a minimum and maximum CPU frequency of 4,108 MHz and 4,779 MHz, respectively, during the benchmark run. However, we don't know the conditions under which the testing was performed, so we'll have to take these results with a grain of salt. 

It's important to point out that the Core i9-9980XE system is running faster RAM than the Core i9-10980XE, which we've seen in the past can influence the score. Either way, the Core i9-10980XE lists a single-core score of 5,381, which is around 4% higher than the Core i9-9980XE's score. The performance difference is right along the lines of what we saw with the Geekbench results posted for the Core i9-10900X and Core i9-9900X.

We suspect the multi-core test results are incorrect. They claim the Core i9-10980XE is less than 1% faster than the Core i9-9980XE in multi-core workloads; however, the Core i9-10980XE was running faster than the Core i9-9980XE. Geekbench 4 reported the Core i9-9980XE as having a minimum frequency of 4,041 MHz and a maximum frequency of 4,460 MHz. Even with the difference in memory speeds, the Core i9-10980XE should put up a more respectable multi-core score.