The first Core i9 processors were announced by Intel for desktops last year. The top-of-the-line option was for those who needed the extra firepower and it was only a matter of time before these chips were released for laptops as well. Intel has done just that today by launching Core i9 processors for laptops. The company brands the Core i9 as the “the best gaming and creation laptop processor Intel has ever built.”
Intel’s new 8th Generation Core i9, i7, and i5 processors for laptops are based on the Coffee Lake platform and use the 14nm process technology to deliver impressive performance gains. The company claims that the chip provides an up to 29 percent overall performance boost compared to the previous 7th Generation chips with a 41 percent improvement for gaming.
The 8th Gen Intel Core i9-8950HK is the flagship chip as it’s the first Intel mobile processor with six cores and 12 threads. It will ship fully unlocked and features the new Intel Thermal Velocity Boost with automatically increases clock frequency up to 200 MHz if the processor temperature is low enough and turbo power budget is available. Intel says that this results in a turbo frequency of up to 4.8 GHz.
Intel has also added support for its Optane memory to the 8th Generation mobile and desktop platforms. Its OEM partners will soon have devices out in the market which take advantage of the new chips. OEMs like Samsung have already announced new gaming machines that are powered by the company’s first processor with six cores and 12 threads.