Intel Core i9-9900K vs Intel Core i7-9700K

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core i9-9900K CPU1 vs CPU2 Intel Core i7-9700K
Intel Core i9-9900K Intel Core i7-9700K

CPU comparison

Intel Core i9-9900K or Intel Core i7-9700K - 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 i9-9900K 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 i9-9900K was released in Q4/2018.

The Intel Core i7-9700K has 8 cores with 8 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 4.90 GHz. The CPU supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core i7-9700K was released in Q4/2018.
Intel Core i9 (78) Family Intel Core i7 (293)
Intel Core i 9000 (34) CPU group Intel Core i 9000 (34)
9 Generation 9
Coffee Lake S Refresh Architecture Coffee Lake S Refresh
Desktop / Server Segment Desktop / Server
-- Predecessor Intel Core i7-8700K
Intel Core i9-10900K Successor Intel Core i7-10700K

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core i9-9900K has 8 CPU cores and can calculate 16 threads in parallel. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i9-9900K is 3.60 GHz (5.00 GHz) while the Intel Core i7-9700K has 8 CPU cores and 8 threads can calculate simultaneously. The clock frequency of the Intel Core i7-9700K is at 3.60 GHz (4.90 GHz).

Intel Core i9-9900K Characteristic Intel Core i7-9700K
8 Cores 8
16 Threads 8
normal Core architecture normal
Yes Hyperthreading No
Yes Overclocking ? Yes
3.60 GHz Frequency 3.60 GHz
5.00 GHz Turbo Frequency (1 Core) 4.90 GHz
4.70 GHz Turbo Frequency (All Cores) 4.60 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 i9-9900K Characteristic Intel Core i7-9700K
-- AI hardware --
-- AI specifications --

Internal Graphics

The Intel Core i9-9900K or Intel Core i7-9700K 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 UHD Graphics 630
0.35 GHz GPU frequency 0.35 GHz
1.20 GHz GPU (Turbo) 1.20 GHz
9.5 GPU Generation 9.5
14 nm Technology 14 nm
3 Max. displays 3
24 Compute units 24
192 Shader 192
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
64 GB Max. GPU Memory 64 GB
12 DirectX Version 12

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

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core i9-9900K can use up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The maximum memory bandwidth is 42.7 GB/s. The Intel Core i7-9700K supports up to 128 GB of memory in 2 memory channels and achieves a memory bandwidth of up to 42.7 GB/s.

Intel Core i9-9900K Characteristic Intel Core i7-9700K
DDR4-2666 Memory DDR4-2666
128 GB Max. Memory 128 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 2 (Dual Channel)
42.7 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 42.7 GB/s
No ECC No
-- L2 Cache --
16.00 MB L3 Cache 12.00 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 i9-9900K is 95 W, while the Intel Core i7-9700K has a TDP of 95 W. The TDP specifies the necessary cooling solution that is required to cool the processor sufficiently.

Intel Core i9-9900K Characteristic Intel Core i7-9700K
95 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 95 W
119 W @ 28 s TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
100 °C Tjunction max. 100 °C

Technical details

The Intel Core i9-9900K is manufactured in 14 nm and has 16.00 MB cache. The Intel Core i7-9700K is manufactured in 14 nm and has a 12.00 MB cache.

Intel Core i9-9900K Characteristic Intel Core i7-9700K
14 nm Technology 14 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 1151-2
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, Windows 11, Linux
Q4/2018 Release date Q4/2018
650 $ Release price 520 $
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 7 CPU benchmarks
⌀ Multi core performance in 10 CPU benchmarks

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
77 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.90 GHz
74 (96%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
640 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.90 GHz
532 (83%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
1294 (97%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.90 GHz
1336 (100%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
12812 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
10326 (81%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
1342 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.90 GHz
1302 (97%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
8779 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
7421 (85%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
1650 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.90 GHz
1589 (96%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
8182 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
7361 (90%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
518 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.90 GHz
481 (93%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
4995 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
3656 (73%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
Intel UHD Graphics 630 @ 1.20 GHz
461 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
Intel UHD Graphics 630 @ 1.20 GHz
461 (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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
171 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
134 (78%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
18702 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
14555 (78%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
163.8 (75%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
217.1 (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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
545 (99%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
549 (100%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 3.60 GHz
5502 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 3.60 GHz
4167 (76%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 5.00 GHz
219 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.90 GHz
214 (98%)

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 i9-9900K Intel Core i9-9900K
8C 16T @ 4.70 GHz
2245 (100%)
Intel Core i7-9700K Intel Core i7-9700K
8C 8T @ 4.60 GHz
1520 (68%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core i9-9900K Intel Core i7-9700K
Memory PC Intel i9-9900K
Multimedia Office PC Intel Core i9 9900K
Corsair ONE i160 Kompakter Gaming-PC Intel Core i9-9900K
Memory PC Intel i7-9700K
Memory PC Aufrüst-Kit Bundle i7-9700K
Megaport High End Gaming-PC Intel Core i7-9700K

Comparison of the two processors

These two processors come from the ninth generation of Intel's Core I series and are based on the Coffee Lake Refresh architecture. The processors are manufactured using the 14 nanometer process and are suitable for the LGA 1151-2 socket.

If you look at the two processors you don't see at first glance where the differences are, because the two processors released in the fourth quarter of 2018 both have 8 cores and the clock frequencies are similar, with the Intel Core i9 -9900K, the base clock frequency is 3.60 gigahertz and the maximum turbo clock is 5.00 gigahertz. The Intel Core i7-9700K has the same basic clock rate of 3.60 gigahertz and the maximum turbo clock frequency of 4.90 gigahertz is only slightly below that of the comparison processor.

But there is one thing that actually makes the difference here, because the Intel Core i9-9900K supports Hyper-Threading technology, whereas the Intel Core i7-9700K does not. This is also the reason why the Core i9 processor can achieve an approx. 20 percent better value in the multi-core benchmarks.

Both processors are equipped with the same internal graphics unit. The Intel UHD Graphics 630, manufactured using the 14 nanometer process, is used here. This graphics unit clocks at up to 1.20 gigahertz (maximum dynamic clock frequency) and has 24 execution units with a total of 192 shaders.

Both the Intel Core i9-9900K and the Intel Core i7-9700K have 2 memory channels with which up to 128 gigabytes of DDR4-2666 RAM can be operated. Both processors do not support working memory with automatic error correction.

The processors have a TDP of 95 watts and have 16 PCIe lines in version 3.0.

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