Intel Core I9 9900k Processor Review

System Configuration and Testing Procedures

Test System #1

• Core i9 9900k
• AORUS Z390 Pro
• 32 GB G. Skill Trident Z 3200 MHz. CAS 14
• MSI Gaming X Trio RTX 2080
• EVGA Super Nova P2 1600 Watt 80+ Platinum PSU
• Intel 512 GB SSD 6 660P
• Samsung 500 GB 850 EVO M.2 SATA SSD
• Swiftech H320 X2 Prestige Edition AIO Cooler
• Primichill Praxis Wetbench

Test System #2

• Core i7 8700k
• AORUS Z370 Gaming 7
• 32 GB G. Skill Trident Z 3200 MHz. CAS 14
• EVGA GTX 1080 TI FTW3 Elite
• EVGA Super Nova P2 1600 Watt 80+ Platinum PSU
• Intel 512 GB SSD 6 660P
• Samsung 500 GB 850 EVO M.2 SATA SSD
• Swiftech H320 X2 Prestige Edition AIO Cooler
• Primichill Praxis Wetbench

Test System #3

• AMD Ryzen 7 2700x
• ASUS TUF X470
• 16 GB G. Skill Trident Z 3200 MHz. CAS 16
• Nvidia RTX 2080 Founders Edition
• Enermax Platimax 1350 Watt 80+ Platinum PSU
• Samsung 250 GB 960 EVO (OS Drive)
• Swiftech H240 X3 AIO Cooler
• In Win 101c

Synthetic Benchmarks

• Aida64 Engineer
• CineBench R15
• Handbrake
• PCMark 10
• WinRAR
• 264 FHD
• 265

Utilities

• CPUZ
• Hardware Monitor
• Core Temp
• Intel Extreme Tuning Utility

Gaming Benchmarks

• 3DMark Firestrike
• 3DMark Time Spy
• Assassins Creed Origins
• Far Cry 5
• GTA V
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider

For synthetic benchmarks, each benchmark was run on each system three times. Then we picked the best of the three results. The system was allowed to idle in between each benchmark for no less than 30 minutes. This give the processor time to rest and cool down a bit before the nest test is performed. The ambient temperature is kept as close to 21°c, or 70°f as possible. We use both Core Temp and Hardware Monitor to record temperatures and CPUZ to validate clock speeds and voltages.

For gaming benchmarks, I chose 5 games, and mostly new titles. Games were tested with an both the MSI Gaming x Trio RTX 2080 and the Founders Edition RTX 2080. The MSI Gaming X Trio was used in both Intel system and the Founders Edition was used in the AMD Ryzen 2700x system. This was only because the Gaming X Trio wouldn’t fit in the In Win 101c that the Ryzen system is in. I tested the new Assassins Creed Origins, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Grand Theft Auto 5, Watch Dogs 2 and the newest game in my test suite, Far Cry 5. Each of the were tested in 1080p, 1440p and 4k.