Intel Core i7-990X vs MediaTek Helio P18

Last updated:

CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i7-990X CPU1 vs CPU2 MediaTek Helio P18
Intel Core i7-990X MediaTek Helio P18

CPU comparison

Intel Core i7-990X or MediaTek Helio P18 - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Intel Core i7-990X has 6 cores with 12 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.73 GHz. Up to 24 GB of memory is supported in 3 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-990X was released in Q1/2011.

The MediaTek Helio P18 has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.00 GHz. The CPU supports up to 4 GB of memory in 1 memory channels. The MediaTek Helio P18 was released in Q1/2018.
Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition (24) Family Mediatek Helio (37)
Intel Core i7 900 (4) CPU group MediaTek Helio P10 (3)
1 Generation 1
Gulftown Architecture Cortex-A53
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i7-990X has 6 CPU cores and can calculate 12 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i7-990X is 3.46 GHz (3.73 GHz) while the MediaTek Helio P18 has 8 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the MediaTek Helio P18 is at 2.00 GHz.

Intel Core i7-990X Characteristic MediaTek Helio P18
6 Cores 8
12 Threads 8
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
Yes Hyperthreading No
Yes Overclocking ? No
3.46 GHz (3.73 GHz) A-Core 2.00 GHz
8x Cortex-A53
-- B-Core --

NPU AI performance

The performance values of the processor's AI unit. The isolated NPU performance is specified here, the total AI performance (NPU+CPU+iGPU) can be higher. Processors with support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors.

Intel Core i7-990X Characteristic MediaTek Helio P18
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --
-- NPU + CPU + iGPU --

Integrated graphics (iGPU)

The Intel Core i7-990X or MediaTek Helio P18 has integrated graphics, called iGPU for short. The iGPU uses the system's main memory as graphics memory and sits on the processor's die.

no iGPU GPU ARM Mali-T860 MP2
GPU frequency 0.80 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 0.80 GHz
-- GPU Generation Midgard 4
Technology 28nm
Max. displays 2
-- Compute units 2
-- Shader 32
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory --
-- DirectX Version 11

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

no iGPU GPU ARM Mali-T860 MP2
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 No
No Codec VP8 Decode / Encode
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC No
No Codec VC-1 No
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i7-990X can use up to 24 GB of memory in 3 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 25.6 GB/s. The MediaTek Helio P18 supports up to 4 GB of memory in 1 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 7.4 GB/s.

Intel Core i7-990X Characteristic MediaTek Helio P18
DDR3-1066 Memory LPDDR3-933
24 GB Max. Memory 4 GB
3 Memory channels 1 (Single Channel)
25.6 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 7.4 GB/s
No ECC No
1.50 MB L2 Cache --
12.00 MB L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version --
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i7-990X is 130 W, while the MediaTek Helio P18 has a TDP of --. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i7-990X Characteristic MediaTek Helio P18
130 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) --
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i7-990X is manufactured in 32 nm and has 13.50 MB cache. The MediaTek Helio P18 is manufactured in 28 nm and has a 0.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i7-990X Characteristic MediaTek Helio P18
32 nm Technology 28 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8-A (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2 ISA extensions --
LGA 1366 Socket --
VT-x, VT-x EPT Virtualization None
No AES-NI No
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems Android
Q1/2011 Release date Q1/2018
1059 $ Release price --
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i7-990X to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (1 ratings). Rate now:
Here you can rate the MediaTek Helio P18 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 0 stars (0 ratings). Rate now:


Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-990X
6C 12T @ 3.73 GHz
639 (100%)
MediaTek Helio P18 MediaTek Helio P18
8C 8T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-990X
6C 12T @ 3.46 GHz
3765 (100%)
MediaTek Helio P18 MediaTek Helio P18
8C 8T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-990X
6C 12T @ 3.73 GHz
660 (100%)
MediaTek Helio P18 MediaTek Helio P18
8C 8T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-990X
6C 12T @ 3.46 GHz
3247 (100%)
MediaTek Helio P18 MediaTek Helio P18
8C 8T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-990X
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
MediaTek Helio P18 MediaTek Helio P18
ARM Mali-T860 MP2 @ 0.80 GHz
54 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-990X
6C 12T @ 3.46 GHz
6975 (100%)
MediaTek Helio P18 MediaTek Helio P18
8C 8T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Multi-Core)

The CPU-Z benchmark measures a processor's performance by measuring the time it takes the system to complete all benchmark calculations. The faster the benchmark is completed, the higher the score.
Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-990X
6C 12T @ 3.46 GHz
2460 (100%)
MediaTek Helio P18 MediaTek Helio P18
8C 8T @ 2.00 GHz
0 (0%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i7-990X MediaTek Helio P18
Unknown Unknown

Popular comparisons containing this CPUs

1. Intel Core i7-920Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-920 vs Intel Core i7-990X
2. Intel Core i7-980XIntel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-980X vs Intel Core i7-990X
3. Intel Core i5-12400FIntel Core i7-990X Intel Core i5-12400F vs Intel Core i7-990X
4. Intel Core i7-990XIntel Core i9-9900K Intel Core i7-990X vs Intel Core i9-9900K
5. Intel Core i7-930Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-930 vs Intel Core i7-990X
6. AMD Ryzen 9 5950XIntel Core i7-990X AMD Ryzen 9 5950X vs Intel Core i7-990X
7. Intel Core i7-3970XIntel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-3970X vs Intel Core i7-990X
8. Intel Core i7-965Intel Core i7-990X Intel Core i7-965 vs Intel Core i7-990X
9. MediaTek Helio P18Intel Core i5-680 MediaTek Helio P18 vs Intel Core i5-680
10. Intel Core i7-990XIntel Core i5-9400F Intel Core i7-990X vs Intel Core i5-9400F


back to index