Intel has confirmed that its high-end 10th Gen Core processors will come in considerably cheaper than their 9th Gen predecessors, in an apparent admission that AMD's Ryzen family is putting pressure on the company's margins.
Due to launch in November, Intel's 10th Gen Core i9 desktop parts will arrive at a considerable discount compared to their 9th Gen equivalents - as little as half as much for the top-end Intel Core i9-10980XE Extreme Edition part, the company has confirmed, which will be available in recommended customer tray pricing of $979 per processor. While still an undeniably hefty chunk of change, especially given there's retail margin and tax to be included on top of that tray pricing, it's undeniably lower than the $1,979 the company charges for the last-generation Core i9-9980XE.
Aside from the top-end 3GHz-base, 4.8GHz-turbo, 18-core/36-thread (18c/36t) Core i9-10980XE, pricing has been confirmed at: $784 for the Core i9-10940X, a 14c/28t, 3.3GHz-base, 4.8GHz-turbo part; $689 for the Core i9-10920X 12c/24t, 3.5GHz-base, 4.8GHz-turbo part; and $590 for the Core i9-10900X 10c/20t, 3.7GHz-base, 3.7GHz-turbo part. All include a quad-channel DDR4 memory controller and a 165W thermal design profile (TDP). The full specs, including all-core boost speeds and L3 cache levels, are thus:
| Processor | Cores/Threads | Base Freq. | All-Core Boost | TB2 Freq. | TB3 Freq. | L3 Cache | TDP | RCP Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i9-10980XE | 18/36 | 3.0GHz | 3.8GHz | 4.6GHz | 4.8GHz | 24.75MB | 165W | $979 |
| Intel Core i9-10940X | 14/28 | 3.3GHz | 4.1GHz | 4.6GHz | 4.8GHz | 19.25MB | 165W | $784 |
| Intel Core i9-10920X | 12/24 | 3.5GHz | 4.3GHz | 4.6GHz | 4.8GHz | 19.25MB | 165W | $689 |
| Intel Core i9-10900X | 10/20 | 3.7GHz | 4.3GHz | 4.5GHz | 4.7GHz | 19.25MB | 165W | $590 |
Intel hasn't made an official announcement on the cuts, which appear to be driven by increasing competition from AMD's rival Zen-based Ryzen and Threadripper processor families, but Client Computing Group vice-president Frank Soqui told CNET that the new pricing was due to customers being 'stuck in the top part of the mainstream' due to the gulf in cost between the company's Core i7 mainstream parts and high-end desktop (HEDT) Core i9 range.
UK retail pricing for the parts, which will include a retailer markup and VAT, have not yet been confirmed; availability is confirmed for November.
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