Intel has debuted the Core X Series - a set of four processors - for gaming and other intensive applications such as high-end video editing. All of the chips, once again, have the Core i9 branding but what is very notable is that prices have been slashed versus predecessors.
There’s one reason for that - AMD. The last couple of years has seen AMD finally compete with Intel on performance again, which means that there’s proper competition in the market, the like of which we haven’t seen for well over a decade. The latest, third generation of AMD’s Threadripper is due out soon based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture.
Sitting above the Core i7 and Core i9 chips, the new Cascade Lake-X processors (based on the ageing Skylake microarchitecture) useIntel’s new processor naming structurethat’s designed to be simpler but is actually way more confusing.
As is traditional, the highest spec Core i9-10980XE chip - with 18 cores, 36 threads - is called Xtreme, but it’s this time joined by three other X-Series buddies. As we mentioned, the 18 core chip is notable because of its much lower price point - $979 versus the whopping $1.990 part price of thei9-9980XEit replaces.
There will eventually be newer versions of these chips based on theincoming Ice Lake microarchitecture, but that seems a little way off at present.
Intel’s latest failure to make amark in the mobile space with 5G modems for Applemeans it’s doubling down on its work in traditional computing, where it also faces a threat from not only AMD but other entrants such as Qualcomm with itsSnapdragon 8cx platform. While Intel still dominates this space, others are looking to park their tanks.
