Back in 2017, Intel introduced a series of high-end processors aimed towards gaming performance called Skylake-X at a very high price point (around $2000). Now, after two years, it has launched the next generation of these processors, but at a drastically lower price point. So much so, that people are calling them a bargain.
The flagship of this new X-series lineup, called Cascade-X based on the Cascade Lake architecture, is the Core i9-10908XE, which comes in at $979. This might not sound like much of a bargain, but this processor features a clock speed of 3GHz (4.8 GHz turbo) and packs 18 cores, giving users the ultimate gaming performance in this price range. If this is a bit too much for you, there are other options as well, like the 10-core i9-10900XE ($590), the 12-core i9-10920XE ($689) and the 14-core i9-10940XE ($784).
The chips feature support for up to 256GB of DDR4 RAM, 72 PCIe 3.0 lanes, the upcoming WIFI 6 and faster Ethernet. They will also have a Deep Learning Boost feature which is a bonus for anyone working in Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning.
Intel is touting this series as the ultimate platform for gamers and creatives and based on the technical specifications and the features list, it’s hard to argue with them. Expect the chips to be available by around the middle of November, just in time to compete with the AMD Ryzen 9 due to be launched that month.
