The Intel Core i9-9900KS Special Edition Review: 5.0 GHz on All the Cores, All the Ti

[harlan4096]

OUR VERDICT
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.

Intel's Core i9-9900K sits atop the desktop PC gaming throne with leading performance in a wide range of games, allowing Intel to dominate the sliver of the ultra-high-end processor market where it remains uncontested in raw performance by AMD's competing Ryzen 3000 processors.

Intel designed its new Core i9-9900KS Special Edition to take things one step further by taking the best silicon from its -9900K manufacturing line to create a new halo part specifically for gamers and streamers that boosts to 5.0 GHz on all cores. Surprisingly, Intel only assigns a $513-$524 recommended price for the chips, which is a relatively slim $25 premium over the standard -9900K models.

Given the blistering-fast performance we found in our tests, that pricing would equate to a wonderful deal if you could find the chip at recommended levels, but we fully expect retailers to take advantage of the limited availability (the KS is only available until the end of the year) and charge a premium.

For enthusiasts and gamers that don't want to deal with the hassles of overclocking, or for extreme overclockers looking for that last drop of performance, the Core i9-9900KS is unquestionably the new leader in gaming performance at both stock and overclocked settings. The gaming performance delta between the -9900KS and competing chips is often substantial enough that gaming enthusiasts looking for the absolute most performance, regardless of price, will seek out the processor.
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