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Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K vs Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K: Comparison
9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K vs 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K l3 cache compared
L3 cache is where these two genuinely part company, 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K 12 MB against 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K 16 MB, a 25% lead for 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K. Blender Cycles (CPU) backs the spec sheet up. 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K scores 170 to 136 over 56 runs, 20% clear. There is a split on pcie generation as well, PCIe 3.0 on the 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K versus 3.0 on the 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K. There is a split on retail availability as well, Discontinued on the 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K versus Retail on the 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K.
9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K vs 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K: which one fits your build
Take the 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K for gaming-focused desktop builds wanting strong 8-core per-core performance without paying for the i9-9900K's hyperthreading. It is not the one for buyers needing maximum multi-threaded throughput for content creation, the 16-thread i9-9900K handles that better. Take the 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K for gaming and productivity desktop builds wanting Intel's strongest mainstream Coffee Lake Refresh performance. Avoid it for buyers wanting the very latest architecture, considerably newer chips offer meaningful IPC and efficiency improvements.
What 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K and 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K have in common
Where they agree, they agree completely, total cores, performance cores, efficiency cores, p-core base clock and tdp included, so the decision does not turn on any of those. They match on 18 further specifications as well.
9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K vs 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K price
Cost splits them too. 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K sits at $374, 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K at $488, 30% more.
Frequently asked questions
Do the 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K and 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K differ on total threads?
Yes. Total Threads reads 8 on the 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K versus 16 on the 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K.
Is the Integrated Graphics the same on the 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K and 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K?
It is. Both are listed at Yes, so it is not a reason to pick one over the other.
Specs and benchmarks
Brand
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Intel
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Intel
Product Line
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Core i7
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Core i9
Form Factor
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Desktop
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Desktop
Model Number
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 9700K
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 9900K
Codename
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Coffee Lake Refresh
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Coffee Lake Refresh
Release Year
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 2018
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 2018
TDP
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 95 W
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 95 W
iGPU
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Intel UHD Graphics 630
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Intel UHD Graphics 630
Market Segment
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Desktop
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Desktop
Microarchitecture
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Coffee Lake Refresh, 9th Gen Intel Core
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Coffee Lake Refresh, 9th Gen Intel Core
Socket
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- FCLGA1151
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- FCLGA1151
Socket Status
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- End of Life
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- End of Life
Process Node
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 14 nm
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 14 nm
Total Cores
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 8
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 8
Performance Cores
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 8
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 8
Efficiency Cores
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 0
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 0
Total Threads
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 8
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 16Best
SMT Enabled
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- No
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Yes
P-Core Base Clock
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 3.6 GHz
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 3.6 GHz
P-Core Boost Clock
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 4.9 GHz
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 5 GHz
L2 Cache
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 2 MB
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 2 MB
L3 Cache
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 12 MB-25%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 16 MBBest
Base Power
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 95 W
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 95 W
Max Turbo Power
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 95 W
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 95 W
Memory Type
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- DDR4-2666
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- DDR4-2666
Max Memory Speed
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 2666 MT/s
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 2666 MT/s
Memory Channels
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 2
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 2
ECC Support
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- No
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- No
Integrated Graphics
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Yes
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Yes
iGPU Model
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Intel UHD Graphics 630
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Intel UHD Graphics 630
Copilot Plus Certified
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- No
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- No
PCIe Generation
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- PCIe 3.0
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 3.0
PCIe Lanes
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 16
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 16
Launch MSRP
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- $374
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- $488
Retail Availability
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- Discontinued
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- Retail
Benchmarks
- Photo Editing
Puget Bench for Photoshop v1.0
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 5,643.13-2%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 5,730.15Best
Puget SystemsView More Details
Puget Systems runs a fixed set of real Photoshop jobs: opening and saving large files, resizing, content-aware fill, blurs and filters. A higher score means less waiting on the tasks a retoucher repeats all day.
Photoshop is decided mostly by how fast a few cores are, not how many there are, so a chip with fewer but faster cores often beats one with more cores. Treat a gap under about 5 percent as something you would never notice while working.
Puget Bench for Lightroom Classic v1.0-1.1
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 3,967.6-14%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 4,635.96Best
Puget SystemsView More Details
Measures a full Lightroom Classic catalogue workflow: importing, building previews, scrolling the library, exporting JPEGs and running the AI tools such as Denoise.
Import and export spread across every core, so core count counts for more here than it does in Photoshop. The AI tools lean on the graphics card, so a CPU gap matters less if you pair either chip with a strong GPU.
- Video Editing
Puget Bench for Premiere Pro v1.0-1.1
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 5,253.42-26%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 7,079.27Best
Puget SystemsView More Details
Plays back and exports 4K and 8K timelines across several camera codecs, with effects and multi-stream sequences, in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Export time rewards more cores, but much of the timeline work runs on the hardware decoder and the graphics card instead of the processor. A small gap here rarely changes how the edit feels.
Puget Bench for DaVinci Resolve v1.0-1.2
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 4,704.93-17%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 5,670.25Best
Puget SystemsView More Details
Grading, effects, AI tools and export in DaVinci Resolve Studio, across the codecs a colourist actually works in.
Resolve leans harder on the graphics card than on the processor, so the CPU difference here is usually smaller than the difference your GPU choice would make. Use it to rule out a bottleneck, not to pick a winner.
Puget Bench for Premiere Pro v2.0
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 77,118.8Best
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 61,772.8-20%
Puget SystemsView More Details
Plays back and exports 4K and 8K timelines across several camera codecs, with effects and multi-stream sequences, in Adobe Premiere Pro.
Export time rewards more cores, but much of the timeline work runs on the hardware decoder and the graphics card instead of the processor. A small gap here rarely changes how the edit feels.
Puget Bench for DaVinci Resolve v2.0-2.1
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 59,085-1%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 59,437Best
Puget SystemsView More Details
Grading, effects, AI tools and export in DaVinci Resolve Studio, across the codecs a colourist actually works in.
Resolve leans harder on the graphics card than on the processor, so the CPU difference here is usually smaller than the difference your GPU choice would make. Use it to rule out a bottleneck, not to pick a winner.
- 3D Rendering
Blender Cycles (CPU)
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 136-20%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 170Best
Blender 4.5, Blender Open Data (CC0). Median of monster + junkshop + classroom, combined samples/min.
Renders a 3D scene using every core. Shows speed for 3D and rendering work, not gaming.
- General CPU
SPECrate® 2017 Integer (base), 1-chip
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 44.8-12%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 51Best
Best published 1-chip result on spec.org, retrieved 23 Sept 2026.
Server-style tasks like compiling and compression on every thread. Best for judging workstation and server work.
SPECrate® 2017 Floating Point (base), 1-chip
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K
- 42.6-1%
- Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K
- 42.9Best
Best published 1-chip result on spec.org, retrieved 23 Sept 2026.
Scientific and engineering tasks on every thread. Rewards core count and memory bandwidth.
SPEC®, SPECrate® and SPECspeed® are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. Copied by permission of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC). Results retrieved from www.spec.org on 23 Sept 2026.
Which one should you pick?
Choose 9700K if you want the higher L2 cache (2 MB vs 2 MB), the higher memory channels (2 vs 2) and the higher PCIe lanes (16 vs 16).
Choose 9900K if you want the higher L3 cache (16 MB vs 12 MB), the higher blender cycles (CPU) (170 vs 136) and the higher SPECrate® 2017 integer (base), 1-chip (51 vs 44.8).
Price comparison
| Retailer | Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9700K | Intel 9th Gen Intel Core i9-9900K |
|---|---|---|
| Consumercarts listing | $374.00 View on Consumercarts listing | $488.00 View on Consumercarts listing |
Disclaimer: The price and specification of the given product may differ from the actual product. Please confirm on the retailer's website before buying.