Intel Core i9 Skylake-X i9-7900X BOX (BX80673I97900X)

The fairy tale came true

The 7900X processor is the youngest and, accordingly, the most affordable member of the new Core i9 family (the old geek joke about the fictional i9 has come true, now we are waiting for the i11?). It has ten physical cores and twenty virtual threads, respectively. The greater the number of cores, the lower the base frequency (only 3.3 GHz) is forced to keep within the 140 W thermal package.

Intelligent overclocking

However, for the 7900X, like the older Core i9, two types of overclocking are provided: the updated automatic Turbo Boost 3.0 Max and the classic manual through a free multiplier. Unlike Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, which overclocks all cores slightly or one strongly, Turbo Boost 3.0 Max can increase the frequency of each core separately. So, the most loaded core receives the highest auto-overclocking frequency (4.5 GHz), and the rest — a little lower (4.3 GHz). However, auto overclocking can be short-term (before overheating), and manual overclocking is generally always a “lottery” (a particular instance of the processor can overclock well or badly).

hot temper

Naturally, auto overclocking and manual overclocking are only possible with a truly efficient cooling system. To remove 140+ W of heat from the 7900X, you will need a supercooler or a dropsy. But in the Intel Core i9 family there are even more multi-core and as a result hot chips: 12-core 7920X, 14-core 7940X, 16-core 7960X and 18-core 7980XE. But in our opinion, they are unreasonably expensive, and if such a powerful processor is really needed for work tasks, it is wiser to take a closer look at the more affordable competing AMD Threadripper.