In pursuit of performance...

... and a nice round number.

We were hoping to have Intel’s 10th gen HEDT CPUs in this issue, but unfortunately our samples arrived ever so slightly too late to do a proper job of testing, so we’ll have that covered in the next issue. If you’re considering an upgrade to one of these, you’ll also be needing an X299 motherboard – so that’s something we were able to get into this issue. The main motherboard companies are all refreshing their X299 boards for Intel’s 10th gen release and we have a sampling for you to enjoy and consider.

It’s not all about 10th-gen. After hyping it up at Computex back in June this year, the premium i9-9900KS CPU landed… in our Labs. Chris has been giving it a good workout and the review is on page 34. This beast has been rigorously tested and binned by Intel and it’s the best quality silicon the company is able to produce, with the CPU sitting comfortably on 5GHz for every one of its eight cores. This is a rare product that is intended for enthusiasts and gamers, and more than likely those that aren’t inclined to do their own overclocking. That said, the 9900KS still has some headroom for even more performance – depending on the luck of the draw, of course.

Just how your fortune falls when buying a new CPU is still random, as it’s always been – some CPUs are simply more tolerant of above-spec frequencies and voltage. We all know that. But if you absolutely must have a CPU that’s better than the rest, and want to look beyond Intel or AMD’s market-driven product stack structure, there’s always Silicon Lottery (siliconlottery.com). This lot buy many CPUs at a time, then test every single one for maximum OC headroom – then sell them for a markup ranging from reasonable to insane. I love it. They’re preoverclocked by pros with a guaranteed level of above-average performance. What a great idea for a VERY niche business.

I hope your world is calm and stress-free in the lead-up to Christmas, and that the impending break is long and wonderful. See you in a month.

“This beast has been rigorously tested and binned by Intel and it’s the best quality silicon the company is able to produce”