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Intel Core i9-9920X X-series

Intel Core i9-9920X X-Series: Comprehensive Review of the 2025 Processor

Current as of April 2025

1. Key Specifications: Architecture, Process Technology, and Key Features

The Intel Core i9-9920X processor, released in late 2018, remains in demand in 2025 due to its multi-threaded performance. Despite its age, it continues to hold a position in the workstation niche.

Architecture and Process Technology

- Code Name: SkyLake-X (modification of the SkyLake architecture for HEDT platforms).

- Process Technology: 14 nm (obsolete by 2025 but optimized for high workloads).

- Cores/Threads: 12 cores, 24 threads.

- Base/Boost Frequency: 3.5 GHz / 4.5 GHz (Turbo Boost Max 3.0).

- TDP: 165 W — high power consumption requiring effective cooling.

Key Features

- Support for Intel Hyper-Threading and AVX-512 for professional tasks.

- 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes (expandable to 44 via X299 chipset).

- L3 Cache: 19.25 MB.

Performance

- Geekbench 6: Single-Core — 1368, Multi-Core — 9627.

- For comparison: Ryzen 9 5900X (12 cores) scores ~1500/10500, but is more expensive in 2025.

2. Compatible Motherboards: Sockets and Chipsets

The processor uses the LGA 2066 socket, which limits motherboard choices to outdated but available models.

Recommended Chipsets:

- Intel X299: The only option for SkyLake-X.

- Examples of motherboards: ASUS ROG Rampage VI Extreme, Gigabyte X299 AORUS Gaming 9.

- Features: support for quad-channel memory, overclocking, numerous PCIe slots.

What to Look For:

- VRM Module: Due to the 165 W TDP, a motherboard with a robust power phase (at least 8+ phases) is required.

- VRM Cooling: Boards with heatsinks on MOSFETs — for example, MSI X299 PRO.

- Prices: New X299 motherboards in 2025 are rare, but leftovers are sold for $250–400.

3. Supported Memory

- Type: DDR4 (DDR5 not supported).

- Modes: Quad-channel (optimal configuration for maximum bandwidth).

- Frequencies: Up to 2666 MHz (officially), but overclocking to 3200–3600 MHz is possible on compatible motherboards.

- Maximum Capacity: Depends on the board — usually up to 256 GB (8 slots × 32 GB).

Tip: Use DDR4-3200 CL16 kits (e.g., Corsair Vengeance LPX) for optimal balance of price and performance.

4. Power Supply Recommendations

Considering the 165 W TDP and system requirements:

- Minimum PSU Power: 750 W (for PCs with a GPU at the level of RTX 4070 Ti).

- Recommended: 850 W with 80+ Gold certification or higher (Corsair RM850x, Seasonic PRIME GX-850).

- Features:

- Quality cables and voltage stability are critical for overclocking.

- Avoid cheap PSUs — voltage spikes can damage the CPU.

5. Pros and Cons of Intel Core i9-9920X

Pros:

- High multi-threaded performance for rendering, encoding.

- Affordable price in 2025: $400–500 (new, leftovers in stock).

- Support for quad-channel memory and a large number of PCIe devices.

Cons:

- Outdated 14 nm process: high heat and power consumption.

- No support for PCIe 4.0/5.0 and DDR5.

- Underperforms against Ryzen 9 7900X in single-threaded tasks (~15–20%).

6. Usage Scenarios

Work Tasks:

- 3D Rendering (Blender, V-Ray): 12 cores perform faster than 8-core CPUs.

- Video Editing (Premiere Pro): Rendering acceleration when working with 4K/8K.

- Simulations (ANSYS): AVX-512 enhances performance in scientific calculations.

Gaming:

- Streaming (OBS + gaming): 24 threads allow for video encoding without lag.

- 4K Gaming: The processor will not be a bottleneck with a GPU at the level of RTX 4080.

- Downside: In older games (e.g., CS2), the Ryzen 5 7600X will show higher FPS.

Multimedia:

- Photo processing in Lightroom + parallel browsing and background work — ideal.

7. Comparison with Competitors

- AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (12 cores):

- Pros: 7 nm, PCIe 4.0, lower TDP (105 W).

- Cons: More expensive ($550 in 2025), weaker in AVX workloads.

- Intel Core i7-14700K (20 cores):

- Pros: New 10 nm process, DDR5.

- Cons: Higher price ($600), limited PCIe controller.

- Conclusion: The i9-9920X is a good budget workhorse, but not a future-proof upgrade.

8. Assembly Tips

1. Cooling:

- Minimum — Noctua NH-D15 ($90).

- Optimum — AIO Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 ($120).

2. Case: Choose models with ventilation (Lian Li Lancool III, be quiet! Silent Base 802).

3. Overclocking: VCore voltage should not exceed 1.35 V — otherwise, overheating is inevitable.

4. BIOS: Update to the latest version for improved stability.

9. Final Verdict: Who is the i9-9920X Suitable for in 2025?

This processor is relevant for:

- Budget Workstations: Video editors, engineers who need many cores for $400.

- Upgrade Enthusiasts: If there is an existing X299 board and DDR4.

- Streamers: Streams + discrete GPU — the ideal balance.

Not Recommended:

- Gamers focused on maximizing FPS.

- Users planning to transition to DDR5 and PCIe 5.0.

Conclusion: The Intel Core i9-9920X is a proven option for professionals, but only if compatible components are available. In 2025, it’s a choice for those who value price-performance ratio and multi-threaded power rather than the latest technologies.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Desktop

Launch Date

October 2018

Model Name

The Intel processor number is just one of several factors - along with processor brand, system configurations, and system-level benchmarks - to be considered when choosing the right processor for your computing needs.

i9-9920X

Code Name

SkyLake

CPU Specifications

Total Cores

Cores is a hardware term that describes the number of independent central processing units in a single computing component (die or chip).

Total Threads

Where applicable, Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology is only available on Performance-cores.

Basic Frequency

3.50 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency

Max Turbo Frequency is the maximum single-core frequency at which the processor is capable of operating using Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and, if present, Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 and Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost. Frequency is typically measured in gigahertz (GHz), or billion cycles per second.

4.40 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 Frequency

Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 identifies the best performing core(s) on a processor and provides increased performance on those cores through increasing frequency as needed by taking advantage of power and thermal headroom. Intel® Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 frequency is the clock frequency of the CPU when running in this mode.

4.50 GHz

Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0

Yes

Intel Hyper-Threading Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.

Yes

Intel Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology dynamically increases the processor's frequency as needed by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom to give you a burst of speed when you need it, and increased energy efficiency when you don’t.

2.0

CPU Socket

The socket is the component that provides the mechanical and electrical connections between the processor and motherboard.

FCLGA2066

Technology

Lithography refers to the semiconductor technology used to manufacture an integrated circuit, and is reported in nanometer (nm), indicative of the size of features built on the semiconductor.

14 nm

TDP

165 W

Max. Operating Temperature

Junction Temperature is the maximum temperature allowed at the processor die.

92°C

PCI Express Version

PCI Express Revision is the supported version of the PCI Express standard. Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (or PCIe) is a high-speed serial computer expansion bus standard for attaching hardware devices to a computer. The different PCI Express versions support different data rates.

3.0

Number of PCI Express Lanes

A PCI Express (PCIe) lane consists of two differential signaling pairs, one for receiving data, one for transmitting data, and is the basic unit of the PCIe bus. Max # of PCI Express Lanes is the total number of supported lanes.

Intel 64

Intel® 64 architecture delivers 64-bit computing on server, workstation, desktop and mobile platforms when combined with supporting software.¹ Intel 64 architecture improves performance by allowing systems to address more than 4 GB of both virtual and physical memory.

Yes

Memory Specifications

Memory Type

Intel® processors come in four different types: Single Channel, Dual Channel, Triple Channel, and Flex Mode. Maximum supported memory speed may be lower when populating multiple DIMMs per channel on products that support multiple memory channels.

DDR4-2666

Max Memory Size

Max memory size refers to the maximum memory capacity supported by the processor.

128 GB

Memory Channels

The number of memory channels refers to the bandwidth operation for real world application.

Bus Speed

8 GT/s

Max Memory Bandwidth

Max Memory bandwidth is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored into a semiconductor memory by the processor (in GB/s).

85 GB/s

ECC Memory Supported

ECC Memory Supported indicates processor support for Error-Correcting Code memory. ECC memory is a type of system memory that can detect and correct common kinds of internal data corruption. Note that ECC memory support requires both processor and chipset support.

Miscellaneous

Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)

Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) continues from the existing support for IA-32 (VT-x) and Itanium® processor (VT-i) virtualization adding new support for I/O-device virtualization. Intel VT-d can help end users improve security and reliability of the systems and also improve performance of I/O devices in virtualized environments.

Yes

Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x)

Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. It offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.

Yes

Intel Standard Manageability (ISM)

Intel® Standard Manageability is the manageability solution for Intel vPro® Essentials platforms and is a subset of Intel® AMT with out-of-band management over Ethernet and Wi-Fi, but no KVM or new life cycle management features.

Intel® SSE4.1 | Intel® SSE4.2 | Intel® AVX2 | Intel® AVX-512

Number of AVX-512 FMA Units

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology is an advanced means of enabling high performance while meeting the power-conservation needs of mobile systems. Conventional Intel SpeedStep® Technology switches both voltage and frequency in tandem between high and low levels in response to processor load. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology builds upon that architecture using design strategies such as Separation between Voltage and Frequency Changes, and Clock Partitioning and Recovery.

Yes

Execute Disable Bit

Execute Disable Bit is a hardware-based security feature that can reduce exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks and prevent harmful software from executing and propagating on the server or network.

Yes

Cache

CPU Cache is an area of fast memory located on the processor. Intel® Smart Cache refers to the architecture that allows all cores to dynamically share access to the last level cache.

19.25 MB Intel® Smart Cache

Intel AES New Instructions

Intel® AES New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI) are a set of instructions that enable fast and secure data encryption and decryption. AES-NI are valuable for a wide range of cryptographic applications, for example: applications that perform bulk encryption/decryption, authentication, random number generation, and authenticated encryption.

Yes

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6

Single Core Score

1368

Geekbench 6

Multi Core Score

9627

Geekbench 5

Single Core Score

1167

Geekbench 5

Multi Core Score

11461

Compared to Other CPU

Geekbench 6 Single Core

Core i5-11600T

1454 +6.3%

Xeon D-1735TR

1408 +2.9%

Core i9-9920X X-series

1368

Xeon E3-1575M v5

1326 -3.1%

Xeon E3-1285L v4

1283 -6.2%

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

Xeon W-3275

11142 +15.7%

Ryzen AI Max Pro 380

10309 +7.1%

Core i9-9920X X-series

9627

Xeon W-11955M

9081 -5.7%

Xeon Gold 5220R

8591 -10.8%

Geekbench 5 Single Core

Ryzen 3 PRO 7330U

1239 +6.2%

Ryzen 3 5425U

1202 +3%

Core i9-9920X X-series

1167

Xeon E-2126G

1137 -2.6%

Xeon Gold 5320T

1116 -4.4%

Geekbench 5 Multi Core

Core i9-7960X X-series

13911 +21.4%

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X

12525 +9.3%

Core i9-9920X X-series

11461

Core i5-12600KF

10549 -8%

Core i5-13400T

9828 -14.2%