Intel Taking the New Core i9 Series to PC Enthusiasts Soon!

We already know some information about AMD’s upcoming “Threadripper” line of CPUs, but Intel will soon be trading blows with its competitor by launching a whole new tier of processors: Core i9. The Core i9 denomination is a new thing for Intel. Previously, the Core i7 tier of processors included both the high-end processors and the more extreme, very expensive offerings. For example, in the 6th Generation series, the i7-6950X was a 10-core Broadwell-E processor that retailed for a whopping $1723 USD. This time around, Intel wants to separate those ultra-enthusiast processors from the more mainstream offerings.

This new 7th Generation Core i9 series will come in a variety of offerings ranging from $999 for a 10-core CPU all the way up to $1999 for an 18-core monster:

• Core i9-7980XE: 18-cores/32-threads @ $1,999
• Core i9-7960X: 16-cores/32-threads @ $1,699
• Core i9-7940X: 14-cores/28-threads @ $1,399
• Core i9-7920X: 12-cores/24-threads @ $1,199
• Core i9-7900X: 10-cores/20-threads @ $999

For the more modest enthusiasts out there, though, Intel also will have a new Core i7 X series available:

• Core i7-7820X: 8-cores/16-threads @ $599
• Core i7-7800X: 6-cores/12-threads @ $389
• Core i7-7740X: 4-cores/8-threads (4.3 GHz) @ $339

All of the chips above are part of the “Skylake-X” family, except for the 7740X which is a Kaby Lake processor.

It looks like we’re in for quite a competition between Intel and AMD for the first time in quite a while. If nothing else, hopefully this healthy competition will help drive both innovation and a reduction in consumer prices!