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IntelBX80684I59600K
IntelCL8068404069006
▲ 9130,311 ▼

6 Cores, 6 Threads @3.7GHz, Coffee Lake.
Release date: Q4 2018.

VS
▲ 53295 ▼
  

8 Cores, 16 Threads @2.30 GHz, 45 W.
Release date ≈ Q1 2019.

Effective Speed 
+18%
Real World Speed
Performance profile from 332,289 user samples
Benchmark your CPU here
321,194 User Benchmarks
Best Bench: 103% Base clock 3.7 GHz, turbo 5.15 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 82% Base clock 3.7 GHz, turbo 4.3 GHz (avg)
Poor: 82% Great: 103%
SPEED RANK: 138th / 1468
Gaming
Gaming 93%
Nuclear submarine
Desktop
Desktop 95%
Nuclear submarine
Workstation
Workstation 77%
Battleship
11,095 User Benchmarks
Best Bench: 90% Base clock 2.3 GHz, turbo 3.95 GHz (avg)
Worst Bench: 56% Base clock 2.3 GHz, turbo 0.8 GHz (avg)
Poor: 56% Great: 90%
SPEED RANK: 271st / 1468
Gaming
Gaming 79%
Battleship
Desktop
Desktop 81%
Aircraft carrier
Workstation
Workstation 73%
Battleship
Effective Speed
Effective CPU Speed 		93.2 % Faster effective speed.
+18% 		78.9 %
Average Score 
+16%
Memory
Avg. Memory Latency 		91 Pts Lower memory latency.
+11% 		81.7 Pts
1-Core
Avg. Single Core Speed 		135 Pts Faster single-core speed.
+18% 		114 Pts
2-Core
Avg. Dual Core Speed 		268 Pts Faster dual-core speed.
+22% 		219 Pts
4-Core
Avg. Quad Core Speed 		525 Pts Faster quad-core speed.
+28% 		411 Pts
8-Core
Avg. Octa Core Speed 		688 Pts 697 Pts +1%
Overclocked Score 
+8%
Memory
OC Memory Latency 		96.5 Pts +5% 92.3 Pts
1-Core
OC Single Core Speed 		153 Pts Faster OC single-core speed.
+12% 		136 Pts
2-Core
OC Dual Core Speed 		306 Pts Faster OC dual-core speed.
+15% 		265 Pts
4-Core
OC Quad Core Speed 		604 Pts Faster OC quad-core speed.
+19% 		507 Pts
8-Core
OC Octa Core Speed 		822 Pts 936 Pts Faster OC octa-core speed.
+14%
Value & Sentiment 
+1,936%
Market Share
Based on 69,025,094 CPUs tested
See market share leaders
Market Share
Market Share (trailing 30 days) 		1.17 % Insanely higher market share.
+3,800% 		0.03 %
User Rating
UBM User Rating 		91 % Much more popular.
+72% 		53 %
Nice To Haves 
+26%
Age
Newest 		72 Months 67+ Months Slightly more recent.
+7%
64-Core
OC Multi Core Speed 		848 Pts 1,209 Pts Much faster OC 64-core speed.
+43%
64-Core
Avg. Multi Core Speed 		717 Pts 924 Pts Faster 64-core speed.
+29%
Specifications 
Launch Date
Launch Date 		Q4'18 Q2'19
Cache
Cache 		9 MB SmartCache 16 MB SmartCache
Max Turbo Frequency
Max Turbo Frequency 		4.60 GHz 4.80 GHz
Bus Speed
Bus Speed 		8 GT/s DMI3 8 GT/s DMI
Max Memory Size
Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type) 		64 GB 128 GB
Memory Types
Memory Types 		DDR4-2666 DDR4-2666, LPDDR3-2133
Memory Bandwidth
Max Memory Bandwidth 		41.6 GB/s 41.8 GB/s
Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency
Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency 		1.15 GHz 1.20 GHz
Package Size
Package Size 		37.5mm x 37.5mm 42mm x 28mm
Hyper-Threading Tech
Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology ‡ 		No Yes

More specs » More specs »
Conclusion 
Average Bench 93.2%
Average Bench 78.9%

The hex-core i5-9600K is third in Intel’s line-up of 9th generation Coffee Lake CPUs. It has a TDP of 95W and requires an aftermarket cooler (such as the $20 GAMMAXX 400). The 9600K was designed to be overclocked. Once this is enabled in the BIOS (requires a Z-series motherboard), the 9600K runs 10% faster. In terms of performance, the i5-9600K is almost unbeatable for desktop users and it has sufficient multi-core performance to handle all but the most demanding workstation tasks. For CPU encoding (Cinebench, Blender, Handbrake etc.) the Ryzen 3000 series offers great 64-core performance. For example the overclocked Ryzen 3600 is approximately 13% worse for gaming, desktop and normal consumer workloads but it is 27% faster for 64-core processing. CPU encoding is akin to using hair clippers on a lawn, encoding tasks are far better performed by dedicated hardware such an NVENC or QuickSync. At stock clocks the i5-9600K is around 8% slower than Intel’s flagship i9-9900K but when both are overclocked, the 9600K closes the gaming gap to within two or three percent. Considering that the 9900K is the fastest gaming processor available, and almost twice the price of the 9600K, this is no small feat. The i5-9600K is aimed squarely at gamers who are not willing to compromise on performance but don't want to pay more than they need to. [Oct '18 CPUPro]

MORE DETAILS

The low 2.3GHz base clock makes this CPU actually somewhat nice to use in the 2019 MacBook Pro 16”.  [May '23 Honque]

MORE DETAILS

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