Intel 10980XE

A refreshed refresh just isn’t good enough.

It was as recently as early 2017 that Intel’s high end desktop platform peaked at ten cores. Then everything changed with the release of AMD’s 1st-gen 16-core Threadripper 1950X. Intel’s response was the i9-7980XE – an 18-core monster sourced from its enterprise Xeon range. This kept Intel on top until AMD launched the powerful 32-core Threadripper 2990WX, which Intel countered with a refresh of the 7980XE – the 9980XE.

Now that the quicker Zen 2 Threadripper 3rd-gen is here, and with a 64-core model to come, AMD has dramatically upped the ante. Intel’s response? Refresh the refreshed 9980XE into the 10980XE. Refreshing once raises an eyebrow, but twice is stretching the bounds of credibility, and that’s where we are now with the i9-10980XE.

Though Intel refers to the 10980XE as a 10th generation CPU, there’s really not a lot different architecturally between the 7980XE, 9980XE and 10980XE. All of them are based on the same Skylake-X silicon with its 18 cores and 36 threads, 1MB of L2 cache per-core and 24.75MB of L3 cache. All three CPUs share a 14nm manufacturing process. Intel’s 10nm volume manufacturing seems as far away as ever.

That’s not to say they are 100% the same, as there are a few differences both under the hood and more notably, with revised pricing. Where the 9980XE sold for $2,799, the 10980XE sells for a much more enticing $1,799. That alone makes the 10980XE significantly more attractive from a price/ performance and priceper-core measure.

Compared to the 9980XE, lightly threaded Turbo Boost frequencies have increased, up to a maximum of 4.8GHz with a single core. There’s also some additional subsets to the AVX512 instruction set. Intel calls these instructions DL Boost. These are aimed at accelerating deep learning and AI workloads.

The memory support specifications have improved, with the 10980XE supporting up to 256GB of DDR4-2933 memory, double the 128GB of DDR4-2666 capacity supported by the 9980XE. Cascade Lake-X CPUs get a modest PCIe lane increase too, though there’s no sign of PCIe 4.0 support. All the models in the range support 48 PCIe lanes, which add to those coming from the motherboard chipset give you up to 72 lanes.

Speaking of motherboards, most manufacturers are releasing updated X299 models with things like Wi-Fi 6 and faster-thanGigabit LAN included, which are welcome developments on 2019 HEDT-class systems.

The 10980XE at $1,799 has an added benefit of not forcing users to upgrade to an expensive new motherboard as first generation X299 motherboards will accept 10th generation CPUs after a BIOS update. So while Intel is price competitive in the HEDT market, unfortunately it’s faced with the headache of competition from below as well – particularly from the excellent 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X. It’s this CPU that’s arguably the biggest competition for the 10980XE, and for that matter the likes of the 3900X vs. the rest of the 10th generation lineup.

With Intel struggling to compete with AMD’s core counts, it’s no surprise that the 10980XE is destroyed by the 3960X under highly threaded workloads. It’s somewhat more competitive under lightly threaded loads, but that’s not why people should buy HEDT platforms. Power consumption is also concerning – a stock 10980XE consumes around 229W under full load, compared to the AMD 3950X & 3960X’s 131W and 268W respectively. This indicates Intel is on the limit of how aggressively it can clock Cascade Lake-X. The 10980XE has a lot of OC headroom, though, with its default thermals and performance per-watt already high you’ll need some serious cooling to tame it when overclocking.

In summary, there’s good and bad news for the 10980XE. First, the bad news. Intel is facing competition from AMD’s CPUs from above and below across its entire HEDT range. Threadripper smashes it in performance, while the likes of the desktop Ryzen 3900X and 3950X are competitive while offering better value. The time for refreshes is over. Intel needs a new architecture and manufacturing process or its faces a very difficult couple of years ahead.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that the 10980XE will provide a very strong and relatively affordable performance boost for users coming from the lower core-count 7000- and 9000-series processors, without the need to buy an expensive new motherboard. Software with AVX512 support will also benefit. Sadly there’s not too much more than that. It’s not a bad CPU in isolation, but the competition is simply too strong. How Intel follows this up over the next year or so will be fascinating to watch.

Verdict

The 10980XE isn’t a bad processor, but the competition is simply too good. Intel needs something new.

“It’s somewhat more competitive under lightly threaded loads, but that’s not why people should buy HEDT platforms”.