Alleged Intel Core i9-9980XE Basin Falls Refresh Benchmark Leak Shows 18-Core HEDT Goodness

Earlier this month Intel announced seven new members of its Core X-Series of “Basin Falls Refresh” HEDT processors. The flagship of the family is the Core i9-9980XE, which supplants the Core i9-7980XE that launched last year.Given that this newest crop of HEDT processors is supposed to hit store shelves next month, it should come as no surprise that the Core i9-9980XE is already turning up in benchmarks online. In this case, the processor was found in the 3DMark database. The Core i9-9980XE managed to deliver a CPU score of 10,729 points in TimeSpy.

According to this particular benchmark, the processor has a base clock of 3GHz and a max turbo clock of 4.5GHz (which matches up with specs provided by Intel). Architecturally, the Core i9-9980XE is very similar to its Core i9-7980XE predecessor, with the primary differences coming down to increased base/boost clock speeds which are possible due to 14nm++ tweaks. For example, the Core i9-7980XE has a base clock of 2.6GHz and a max turbo boost of 4.4GHz. Both processors have 18 cores/36 threads, 24.75MB of Intel Smart Cache, support for DDR4-2666 memory and a TDP of 165 watts.

For those planning on putting a Core i9-9980XE in your X299-based rig, it’s going to cost you a pretty penny. Intel shows the list price of the processor at $1,979. If you want comparable performance but with a much more palatable price tag, AMD is countering with its second-generation Ryzen Threadripper processors. The 18-core/36-thread Ryzen Threadripper 2950X costs just $899 while the 32-core/64-thread Ryzen Threadripper 29990WX still undercuts the new Intel flagship at $1,799.