Intel Core i9-9900KS

The Intel Core i9-9900KS drops into the flagship position in Intel's desktop consumer processor portfolio. So who is going to purchase the 9900KS? Well, presumably I expect it to sell well. There is a small niche of enthusiast DIY aficionados that do...

Intel's special edition is the fastest gaming CPU around, but the relevance of that particular award has lost much of its...

Look, in the current processor landscape, this chip doesn't have much of a reason to exist. You can get similar performance from a 9900K by simply overclocking, rather than paying an extra $128 (£70, AU$100). However, if you are uncomfortable with...

It’s trite at this point but I’ll say it anyway: it’s a great time to be an enthusiast. Competition has driven workstation-class core counts and performance down to the consumer level, and it just keeps getting better. The upcoming HEDT parts from Intel will make this even more interesting, and AMD’s 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X is right around the corner, as well.

The Intel Core i9-9900KS adds a booster rocket to one of the fastest gaming processors out there, but at a cost that most gamers don't need to pay to get the most out of their machines.

Intel's Core i9-9900K unlocks the ultimate in gaming performance, and the highly-binned chips also increase your chances of getting a highly-overclockable chip right out of the box. Just be prepared to pay a premium at retail for the limited-edition chip.

All of this means that, right now, no one mainstream chip is the best at everything. The Intel Core i9-9900KS therefore occupies a niche segment of the premium desktop CPU market where class-leading gaming is the most important criterion. Enough to tempt you? Feel free to let us know.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that Intel needs a next-gen architecture and to move to a more advanced manufacturing process to better battle AMD’s increased core counts and the power advantages of the Ryzen 3000 series, but the company is just not there yet. In the meantime, the Core i9-9900KS and impending Cascade Lake-X parts will be Intel’s weapons of choice and they are still powerful weapons indeed.

If you are looking to build the fastest gaming system in the world, Intel's Core i9-9900KS will get that job done quite easily, although it will cost you.

The Core i9-9900KS is fundamentally a pretty simple product; Intel has taken the best of the Core i9-9900K chips, pushed the frequency even higher, and released them on a limited run as the ‘special edition' Core i9-9900KS. That's about the crux of it,...