Intel's Core i9 is a powerful beast, but it's not perfect for gaming just yet

Intel recently introduced its Core i9 processor family. Core i9 is the most expensive and powerful CPU from the company to date, and it’s also probably the powerful computer processor that you can get right now. Of course, the Core i9 processors aren’t cheap at all — they start at $1,000.

Reviews for Intel’s latest Core i9 processors went live recently, and the processors are getting some very good reviews for the most part. According to reviews from AnandTech and Tom’s Hardware, the Intel Core i9 is the most powerful processor you can buy right now. But if you are a gamer, you should probably avoid the Core i9 processors for now as they won’t really boost your gaming performance.  The reviews mention that the new chips from Intel will only benefit things like video editing but for gaming, you won’t see much of a difference mostly due to the fact that the majority of games aren’t really optimized for the new technology that’s packed into the new chips.

As noted by BGR, AMD’s latest Ryzen processor offers 70% of the performance from the Intel Core i9, but it costs less than half the price of the Core i9. Adding to that, AnandTech mentioned in its review that “to play it cheaper but competitive,” users should get the AMD Ryzen 7. The review from Tom’s Hardware also reported poor thermal performance, along with a regression in the performance of some games which is very interesting, too. The review extends to mention:

“Core i9-7900X performs well in our productivity, workstation, and HPC tests. The mesh-imposed disparities aren’t as pronounced in those benchmarks. But we also have re-run Ryzen 7 1800X benchmarks to think about. Pressure to size up has pushed AMD’s flagship down to $460, less than half of what a Core i9-7900X would cost. While Intel may capture the top 1% of high-end enthusiasts with Skylake-X, everyone else has to consider whether Ryzen may be the smarter buy.”

To sum it all up, Intel’s new Core i9 are powerful but expensive — if you’re a gamer, you won’t see a major improvement in your gaming performance just yet and you should probably opt for the Ryzen which is cheaper even though it offers slightly less power than the Core i9. If you are into all the CPU tech, you can find AnandTech’s full review here, and Tom’s Hardware’s full review here.