i9-7960X

The buzz since Intel announced it was bringing an 18-core CPU to the consumer market has been palpable: users are anticipating this to be Intel’s best performing processor, and want to see it up against the 16-core AMD Threadripper (even at twice the cost). Intel is the incumbent: it has the legacy, the deep claws in software optimization, and the R&D clout to crush the red rival. However, a jump as large as this, moving from 10-core to 18-core in consumer, is a step Intel has been reluctant to make in the past. In this first analysis, we’ve run a few tests on the new 18-core (and 16-core) from Intel to find out the lie of the land.