i9-9900KF vs Ryzen Threadripper 2950X

Place in the ranking	317	674
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	8.16	8.20
Market segment	Desktop processor	Desktop processor
Series	AMD Ryzen Threadripper	Intel Core i9
Power efficiency	9.75	11.46
Architecture codename	ZEN+ (2018−2019)	Coffee Lake-R (2018−2019)
Release date	6 August 2018 (6 years ago)	7 January 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$899	$488

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance per price, higher is better.

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and i9-9900KF have a nearly equal value for money.

Detailed specifications

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and Core i9-9900KF basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores	16 (Hexadeca-Core)	8 (Octa-Core)
Threads	32	16
Base clock speed	3.5 GHz	3.6 GHz
Boost clock speed	4.4 GHz	5 GHz
Bus type	no data	DMI 3.0
Bus rate	4 × 8 GT/s	4 × 8 GT/s
Multiplier	35	no data
L1 cache	1.5 MB	512 KB
L2 cache	8 MB	2 MB
L3 cache	32 MB	16 MB (shared)
Chip lithography	12 nm	14 nm
Die size	213 mm²	no data
Maximum core temperature	no data	100 °C
Maximum case temperature (TCase)	no data	72 °C
Number of transistors	9600 Million	no data
64 bit support	+	+
Windows 11 compatibility	+	+
Unlocked multiplier	+	+

Compatibility

Information on Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and Core i9-9900KF compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration	1 (Uniprocessor)	1 (Uniprocessor)
Socket	Socket TR4	FCLGA1151
Power consumption (TDP)	180 Watt	95 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and Core i9-9900KF. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensions	no data	Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2
AES-NI	+	+
AVX	+	+
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)	no data	+
Turbo Boost Technology	no data	2.0
Hyper-Threading Technology	no data	+
TSX	-	+
Idle States	no data	+
Thermal Monitoring	-	+
Precision Boost 2	+	no data

Security technologies

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and Core i9-9900KF technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT	no data	-
EDB	no data	+
Secure Key	no data	+
MPX	-	+
Identity Protection	-	+
SGX	no data	Yes with Intel® ME
OS Guard	no data	+

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and Core i9-9900KF are enumerated here.

AMD-V	+	-
VT-d	no data	+
VT-x	no data	+
EPT	no data	+

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and Core i9-9900KF. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory types	DDR4 Quad-channel	DDR4-2666
Maximum memory size	2 TiB	128 GB
Max memory channels	4	2
Maximum memory bandwidth	93.867 GB/s	42.671 GB/s
ECC memory support	+	-

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and Core i9-9900KF.

PCIe version	no data	3.0
PCI Express lanes	no data	16

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance rating. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 18.89
+61.2%

i9-9900KF 11.72

Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 29447
+61.2%

i9-9900KF 18264

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 1260

i9-9900KF 1725
+36.9%

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X 8485
+4.2%

i9-9900KF 8140

Gaming performance

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	18.89	11.72
Recency	6 August 2018	7 January 2019
Physical cores	16	8
Threads	32	16
Chip lithography	12 nm	14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	180 Watt	95 Watt

Ryzen Threadripper 2950X has a 61.2% higher aggregate performance score, 100% more physical cores and 100% more threads, and a 16.7% more advanced lithography process.

i9-9900KF, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 5 months, and 89.5% lower power consumption.

The Ryzen Threadripper 2950X is our recommended choice as it beats the Core i9-9900KF in performance tests.

Should you still have questions on choice between Ryzen Threadripper 2950X and Core i9-9900KF, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.