Intel Announces Pricing and Availability of the 5.0 GHz Core i9-9900KS Processor

Intel has made their formal announcement – including pricing and availability – of the new Core i9-9900KS Special Edition; the 5.0 GHz all-core turbo version of the Core i9-9900K first announced back in May at Computex, and most recently shown at IFA 2019, though TDP and pricing had remained a mystery until today.

Pricing and availability

Intel states that the Core i9-9900KS will be available beginning October 30, with a recommended customer price of $513. But this price will probably go up quickly as the press release also states that “this special edition processor will be available for a limited time only”.

TDP and Other Details

The Core i9-9900KS processor carries a 127W TDP, up from the 95W of the original Core i9-9900K. The new Core i9-9900KS also features a higher base clock speed of 4.0 GHz (vs. 3.60 Ghz with the i9-9900K). Other than clock speeds and TDP this new chip shares the specs of the i9-9900K; both are unlocked 8-core/16-thread parts with 16MB of Intel Smart Cache and 16 PCIe lanes (up to 40 platform PCIe lanes).

The full list of features provided by Intel follows:

• Up to 5.0 GHz all-core turbo frequency; up to 4.0 GHz base frequency, which allow games to run faster when they scale across more cores for higher frame rates
• Eight cores, 16 threads, 127W TDP, 16 MB Intel Smart Cache, and up to 40 platform PCIe lanes Compatible with existing Z390 motherboards
• Up to 27%2 faster mega-tasking when you simultaneously game, stream and record compared with a 3-year-old PC
• Up to 35%3 more frames per second compared with a 3-year-old PC
• Up to 17% faster4 4K video editing compared with the previous generation and up to 78% faster compared with a 3-year-old PC
• One-year warranty
• Overclock confidently with new and enhanced features like Intel Performance Maximizer, which makes it easy to dynamically and reliably custom-tune the unlocked processor based on the processor’s individual performance DNA

The full press release with performance claim footnotes is available from Intel, here.

Quantities Will Be Limited

Given the binning process required to produce a Core i9-9900K that clocks at a full 5.0 GHz on all cores out of the box, it comes as no real surprise that this will have a limited availability. The recommended pricing is aggressive at $513 (though what this translates to at retail remains to be seen), as this is just $28 above the $485 mark we’ve seen from the i9-9900K for some time now.

“Gamers and overclocking enthusiasts will be able to take performance to the max with the 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900KS Special Edition processor. Only select chips from Intel wafers can achieve this specification to run up to 5.0 GHz all-core turbo. Quantity is limited for this special edition product.”

Review in the Works

We have one of these Special Edition processors in hand, and will have a review available in the very near future. Stay tuned!