Intel Core i9-9900 vs Intel Core i7-4790

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i9-9900 CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-4790
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i7-4790

CPU comparison

Intel Core i9-9900 or Intel Core i7-4790 - 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 i9-9900 has 8 cores with 16 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 5.00 GHz. Up to 128 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i9-9900 was released in Q2/2019.

The Intel Core i7-4790 has 4 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.00 GHz. The CPU supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-4790 was released in Q2/2014.
Intel Core i9 (78) Family Intel Core i7 (293)
Intel Core i 9000 (34) CPU group Intel Core i 4000 (64)
9 Generation 4
Coffee Lake S Refresh Architecture Haswell S
Desktop / Server Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor --
Intel Core i9-10900 Successor --

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i9-9900 has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 16 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i9-9900 is 3.10 GHz (5.00 GHz) while the Intel Core i7-4790 has 4 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i7-4790 is at 3.60 GHz (4.00 GHz).

Intel Core i9-9900 Characteristic Intel Core i7-4790
8 Cores 4
16 Threads 8
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading Yes
No Overclocking ? No
3.10 GHz Frequency 3.60 GHz
5.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 4.00 GHz
4.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 3.80 GHz

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Intel Core i9-9900 Characteristic Intel Core i7-4790
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core i9-9900 or Intel Core i7-4790 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.

Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU Intel HD Graphics 4600
0.35 GHz GPU frequency 0.35 GHz
1.20 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.20 GHz
9.5 GPU Generation 7.5
14 nm Technology 22 nm
3 Max. displays 3
24 Compute units 20
192 Shader 160
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
64 GB Max. GPU Memory 2 GB
12 DirectX Version 11.1

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.

Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU Intel HD Graphics 4600
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) No
Decode / Encode Codec h264 Decode / Encode
Decode / Encode Codec VP9 No
Decode / Encode Codec VP8 No
No Codec AV1 No
Decode / Encode Codec AVC Decode / Encode
Decode Codec VC-1 Decode
Decode / Encode Codec JPEG Decode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i9-9900 can use up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 42.7 GB/s. The Intel Core i7-4790 supports up to 32 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 25.6 GB/s.

Intel Core i9-9900 Characteristic Intel Core i7-4790
DDR4-2666 Memory DDR3-1600
128 GB Max. Memory 32 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
42.7 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 25.6 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
16.00 MB L3 Cache 8.00 MB
3.0 PCIe version 3.0
16 PCIe lanes 16
15.8 GB/s PCIe Bandwidth 15.8 GB/s

Thermal Management

The thermal design power (TDP for short) of the Intel Core i9-9900 is 65 W, while the Intel Core i7-4790 has a TDP of 84 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i9-9900 Characteristic Intel Core i7-4790
65 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 84 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core i9-9900 is manufactured in 14 nm and has 16.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i7-4790 is manufactured in 22 nm and has a 8.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i9-9900 Characteristic Intel Core i7-4790
14 nm Technology 22 nm
Monolithic Chip design Monolithic
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) x86-64 (64 bit)
SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2 ISA extensions SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AVX2
LGA 1151-2 Socket LGA 1150
VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
Yes AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Windows 11, Linux Operating systems Windows 10, Linux
Q2/2019 Release date Q2/2014
550 $ Release price 280 $
show more data show more data


Rate these processors

Here you can rate the Intel Core i9-9900 to help other visitors make their purchasing decisions. The average rating is 5.0 stars (2 ratings). Rate now:
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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 5 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 7 CPU benchmarks

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
1284 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
974 (76%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
12205 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
4564 (37%)

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 i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
1292 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
981 (76%)

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 i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
8047 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
3732 (46%)

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 i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
1637 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
1217 (74%)

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 i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
7619 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
4081 (54%)

Cinebench R20 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
518 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
384 (74%)

Cinebench R20 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R20 is the successor of Cinebench R15 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
4346 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
1819 (42%)

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 i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
Intel UHD Graphics 630 @ 1.20 GHz
461 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
Intel HD Graphics 4600 @ 1.20 GHz
384 (83%)

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 i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
16769 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
7229 (43%)

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 i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 3.10 GHz
5010 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.60 GHz
2062 (41%)

Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
219 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
145 (66%)

Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R15 is the successor of Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
1931 (100%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
728 (38%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
51 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 4.00 GHz
231 (100%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
62 (100%)

Blender 2.81 (bmw27)

Blender is a free 3D graphics software for rendering (creating) 3D bodies, which can also be textured and animated in the software. The Blender benchmark creates predefined scenes and measures the time (s) required for the entire scene. The shorter the time required, the better. We selected bmw27 as the benchmark scene.
Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
460 (100%)

CPU-Z Benchmark 17 (Single-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 i9-9900 Intel Core i9-9900
8C 16T @ 4.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Intel Core i7-4790 Intel Core i7-4790
4C 8T @ 3.80 GHz
403 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i9-9900 Intel Core i7-4790
Unknown Unknown

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