Intel Launches Most Powerful Laptop Processor Ever: 4.8GHz Core i9-8950HK Will Have Six Cores

Processor manufacturer Intel has announced its first six-core mobile processors including the monstrous overclockable Core i9-8950HK, paving the way for super-powerful laptops with 50% more cores compared to the previous generation

The new 8th Generation Intel Core mobile processors include five six-core models ranging from the Core i7-8750H and Core i7-8850H, each with 9MB cache, plus two Xeon CPUs and the fastest of the bunch – the Core i9-8950HK, which sports 12MB cache as well as an unlocked multiplier for overclocking.

It’s the first Core i9-branded mobile CPU, with other Core i9 models having landed on the desktop in 2017 and can reach a maximum boost frequency of 4.8GHz, but still keep within Intel’s thermal design power of 45W – the same as a Core i5-7300HQ, which has just four cores. Intel’s previous most powerful mobile CPUs have reached up to four cores, but the latest move, almost certainly designed to counter AMD’s Ryzen Mobile CPUs, see the core count increasing by up to 50% across the range.

Intel is increasing its mobile CPU core counts by at least 50% across the range, also offering its most powerful laptop CPU ever.

For example, the new Core i5-8400H will offer four cores and eight threads; apart from one or two exceptions, all the previous Core i5 mobile CPUs have offered two cores, but now even the slowest of the bunch, the Core i5-8259U, will offer four cores and eight threads.

The Core i9-8950K also has a new feature called Velocity Boost, which allows the processor to reach much higher frequencies than normal so long as its temperature remains below 50°C – that will obviously be dependant on the laptop’s cooling ability but it could give a noticeable performance boost and sounds like a similar feature to AMD’s Mobile XFR, which works in a similar way.

Intel’s move in the mobile CPU arena is almost certainly a reaction to AMD’s Ryzen Mobile CPUs, which look set to offer four cores and eight threads as well as Radeon RX Vega graphics. While Intel might not match AMD in the onboard graphics stakes, combined with an AMD or Nvidia GPU in the same laptop as well as the first six-core mobile CPU, Intel laptops with its new 8th-gen six-core CPUs will offer some serious grunt.