Intel announces ultra-fast 8-core Special Edition Core i9 9900KS; AMD fights back with super-cheap 7nm 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X

Today at Computex 2019, Intel and AMD have both unveiled their latest chips. Intel previewed its Special Edition Core i9 9900KS, an 8-core chip with the unique ability to run all of the cores at 5GHz simultaneously. The company also revealed details of Ice Lake, its 10nm mobile processors.

At the same time, AMD has also announced the Ryzen 3000 range of CPUs. Included in this range is the Ryzen 9 3900X, a 12-core chip running at 4.6GHz -- for the bargain price of $499.

See also:

• Compulab Airtop3 Linux Mint mini computer has fanless Intel Core i9 9900K and NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000
• Intel announces it is exiting 5G mobile modem market after Apple and Qualcomm bury the hatchet
• Microsoft launches new 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 with 8th Gen Intel quad-core i5 processor

Intel's Special Edition Core i9-9900KS can run at 4GHz as standard, and 5GHz in Turbo mode -- a marked improvement on the Core i9-9900K. Pricing for the new chip has not yet been revealed, but it is unlikely to be particularly cheap. In terms of support, the Special Edition Core i9-9900KS can be installed on motherboards that currently support the Core i9-9900K, although a firmware update will be needed first.

The chip is due to ship this year, although Intel has not yet given an indication of exactly when it will be. Integrated graphics for the Special Edition Core i9-9900KS are the same as the Core i9-9900K, and this in conjunction with all cores running at 5GHz leads Intel to say that it makes "the world's best gaming desktop processor even better".

Also unveiled was Ice Lake -- Intel's first volume 10nm mobile processor. It features an 11th-generation graphics engine which Intel expects to "nearly double the performance compared with Intel Gen 9 graphics".

AMD, however, has pretty much managed to steal the show. The 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X is a 7nm desktop chip which will be available to buy for just $499, despite offering better performance (on paper at least) than Intel's competing 12-core i9-9920X, which costs over $1,100. AMD latest offering runs at 4.6GHz and is PCIe 4.0 enabled. There's 6MB of L2 cache, 64MB of L3 cache, and a thermal design power (TDP) of 105W.

This chip -- and four others in the latest Ryzen range -- will be available from July 7.