Benchmarks show Core i9-9990XE with 14 cores at 5GHz that is not for sale separately

A system builder has put online benchmarks of the Intel Core i9-9990XE. That is a processor that is not for sale to consumers, but is reportedly sold by Intel to OEMs through auctions. The CPU runs at 5GHz on all fourteen cores.

Puget Systems owns a copy of the Core i9-9990XE and runs benchmarks with Adobe software. The system builder confirms that it is a chip that is only available to OEMs and is sold once a quarter through an auction. This confirms the company’s previous rumors.

The Core i9-9990XE has fourteen cores and they all simultaneously reach a turbo speed of 5GHz. The maximum turbo speed is 5.1GHz with two cores active. The special chip has fewer cores than the top model that consumers can buy: the Core i9-9980XE. However, that processor has a lower turbo speed of 4.5GHz. In terms of core configuration, the i9-9990XE corresponds to the Core i9-9940X, but it does not reach high speeds.

Puget Systems has run benchmarks in Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects and Lightroom. In almost all tests, the Core i9-9990XE comes out on top thanks to its high clock speed, but the difference with the much cheaper Core i9-9900K, which also reaches 5GHz, is small. In Photoshop, that processor is slightly faster.

The system builder does not comment on the price of the processor. The company concludes that the Core i9-9990XE is in many cases the fastest Intel CPU, but that it is also a niche product where many barriers have to be overcome. For example, serious cooling is needed to keep the chip cool with a TDP of 255W.