Intel Core i9-10980XE Cascade Lake-X 18 Core, $979 US CPU Review With MSI Creator X299 – Creation Enthusiasts Ahoy!

Four years ago, Intel was the undisputed leader of the high-end desktop market. Intel's Extreme Edition processors were the top of the line chips that people could buy and their accompanying platform was unrivaled in the industry.

However, we can't say the same in 2019. Intel's HEDT has seen no major change in the last two years. We get the same platform and the same underlying architecture with no increase in core and thread count. Even the platform remains unchanged and Intel's AIB partners are to credit for their efforts to make the X299 platform still feel refreshing.

Technically, Intel's 10th Gen X-series lineup isn't anything to get excited aside from a slight clock speed bump but what's noteworthy is the pricing. Intel's latest pricing strategy was to make 10th Gen X-series processors more competitive in performance per dollar by slashing off major $$$ from their lineup. Intel claimed up to 2.09x better performance per dollar on the new X-series line compared to Skylake-X. Here, Intel is simply comparing their Core i9-7980XE, a $1999 US CPU with their $979 US Core i9-10980XE.

But since Intel announced their 10th Gen X-series parts, AMD introduced the Ryzen 9 3950X. A 16 core chip with Zen 2 cores for a price of $749 US. The processor is supported by the mainstream AM4 platform which means that the cost of building a 16 core PC is now cheaper than Intel's line. That may also explain why the lineup launching today is missing a 16 core part but existed in the previous 7th Gen and 9th Gen X-series lineup.

AMD Threadripper vs Intel Core - More Than Just Core Wars

Before I start this review, let's take a quick recap of the core wars that's been going on since the beginning of 2017 between AMD and Intel. Prior to 2017, the industry was used to the annual 4 core mainstream and 8/10 core high-end desktop refreshes that Intel produced. Intel was also on top of the game since AMD's Bulldozer (and its various iterations) didn't pose major threat & Zen was still under-development.

So how did Intel go from the leader of the HEDT space to being crushed by AMD's mainstream chip platform? You are expecting me to blame Intel's reliance on 14nm for this issue and while it is a factor, it isn't as big as some other bad decisions that went into Intel's HEDT lineup starting with the 7th Generation Core-X series. You see, back in 2017, there was no AMD HEDT lineup and Intel was considered to be the bleeding-edge HEDT offerer in the market space. While AMD had started pushing Intel to offer more cores in the mainstream segment (e.g. four cores flagship on Kaby Lake vs 6 cores flagship on Coffee Lake), they weren't expecting or rightly put, weren't in the mood to innovate their HEDT lineup any time soon.

Then 1st Gen Threadripper happened and we all know how AMD caught Intel with their pants off. The problem wasn't that Intel didn't have the platform to compete against AMD, it's more to do with their laziness on how they wanted to continue offering 10 cores / 20 thread chips as flagship HEDT parts for years to come. You see, Intel had the technology to offer 12 cores and 24 threads back in their Ivy Bridge generation, 18 cores and 36 threads in the Haswell generation & same in the Skylake generation. However, knowing they dominated the market, the didn't see the reason to innovate the HEDT space anytime soon.

HEDT & Mainstream Segment Core/Thread Count Race:

Year	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
AMD HEDT	N/A	16 / 32	32 / 64	32 / 64	64 / 128
Intel HEDT	10 / 20	18 / 36	18 / 36	18 / 36 28 / 56 (Xeon W-3175X)	18 / 36 28 / 56 (Xeon W-3175X)
AMD Mainstream	8 / 8	8 / 16	8 / 16	16 / 32	16 /32
Intel Mainstream	4/8	6 / 12	8 / 16	8 / 16	10 / 20

So what do you when your darkest nightmare comes true? Rush to rebadge Xeon parts which could've been done early on and don't give partners enough time to evaluate your new chips on their products, resulting in a botched launch. Intel's first Core-X lineup was a mess and that is why it took Intel 3 generations just to fix the problems of their first X-series lineup.

The 3 years of Threadrippers have also been building up to this moment. While Intel was fixing their X-series lineup, AMD was gaining at both fronts, the market and mind share. You have to sacrifice margins for market share gains and word of mouth to spread before you start hiking up prices for higher profits.

AMD's Threadrippers are repurposed EPYC chips just like how Intel's Core X processors are repurposed Xeon chips that couldn't pass the server-level qualifications. This was another factor which if Intel could've considered earlier on wouldn't get their HEDT lineup into so much trouble. AMD was willing to cut the profit margins offering the same core counts of their EPYC lineup on the Threadripper parts. Intel might have downplayed the fact that in the coming years, AMD's Ryzen Threadripper core count would match the EPYC lineup. This is a superb game played by AMD where their first-generation Threadripper had half the core count of EPYC Naples and only the second generation that launched a year later offered the full 32 cores. This is changing with 3rd generation as the Threadripper 3990X will be carrying 64 cores, same as the top-end EPYC chip.

Intel HEDT Processor Families:

Intel HEDT Family	Gulftown	Sandy Bridge-E	Ivy Bridge-E	Haswell-E	Broadwell-E	Skylake-X	Skylake-X	Skylake-X	Cascade Lake-X
Process Node	32nm	32nm	22nm	22nm	14nm	14nm+	14nm+	14nm+	14nm++
Flagship SKU	Core i7-980X	Core i7-3960X	Core i7-4960X	Core i7-5960X	Core i7-6950X	Core i9-7980XE	Core i9-9980XE	Xeon W-3175X	Core i9-10980XE
Max Cores/Threads	6/12	6/12	6/12	8/16	10/20	18/36	18/36	28/56	18/36
Clock Speeds	3.33/3,60 GHz	3.30/3.90 GHz	3.60/4.00 GHz	3.00/3.50 GHz	3.00/3.50 GHz	2.60/4.20 GHz	3.00/4.50 GHz	3.10/4.30 GHz	3.00 / 4.80 GHz
Max Cache	12 MB L3	15 MB L3	15 MB L3	20 MB L3	25 MB L3	24.75 MB L3	24.75 MB L3	38.5 MB L3	24.75 MB L3
Max PCI-Express Lanes (CPU)	32 Gen2	40 Gen2	40 Gen3	40 Gen3	40 Gen3	44 Gen3	44 Gen3	44 Gen3	44 Gen3
Chipset Compatiblity	X58 Chipset	X79 Chipset	X79 Chipset	X99 Chipset	X99 Chipset	X299	X299	C612E	X299
Socket Compatiblity	LGA 1366	LGA 2011	LGA 2011	LGA 2011-3	LGA 2011-3	LGA 2066	LGA 2066	LGA 3647	LGA 2066
Memory Compatiblity	DDR3-1066	DDR3-1600	DDR3-1866	DDR4-2133	DDR4-2400	DDR4-2666	DDR4-2800	DDR4-2666	DDR4-2933
Max TDP	130W	130W	130W	140W	140W	165W	165W	255W	165W
Launch	Q1 2010	Q4 2011	Q3 2013	Q3 2014	Q2 2016	Q3 2017	Q4 2018	Q4 2018	Q4 2019
Launch Price	$999 US	$999 US	$999 US	$1059 US	$1700 US	$1999 US	$1979 US	~$4000 US	$979 US

AMD is also taking Intel's position, becoming the leader of the HEDT market but at the same time, not let this platform become stagnant. AMD is aware that eventually, Intel would have a response which is the next topic I want to shed light on so they want to stay on the high-ground whenever Intel tackles them but also try to maximize profits when there is no competition which we can get a slight hint of from the 3rd Gen Threadripper prices. AMD is easing up on the prices and only Intel themselves is to blame. You can read our review of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3970X here.

As for this review, I will be taking a look at the Intel Core i9-10980XE on MSI's brand new X299 Creator motherboard. The Core i9-10980XE retails for $979 US as of today while the MSI X299 Creator has a retail price of $539 US.

The Intel X299 continues as the chipset of choice for Intel's enthusiast platform. The Intel X299 platform has continued for 3 good years and now enters its fourth. The X299 platform has seen many launches, the first-gen existed of the Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X lineup with the latter being discontinued last year. The second-gen saw the release of Skylake-X refresh and this year, we are getting the Cascade Lake design for X299.

Intel X299 PCH Features

Intel’s new X299 chipset supports all LGA 2066 socketed Core-X processors. The X299 platform will be centered around the LGA 2066 socket which will be compatible with at least three generations of processors. In specs, the X299 chipset offers up to 24 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes. The chip also offers up to quad-channel memory with speeds up to DDR4-2933 MHz (native).

Intel X299 has full support for CPU overclocking which is a bonus. While that's a plus, independent testings performed prior to our review revealed that the chips don't feature in chip soldering and use the thermal paste as a layer that connects the die with the heat spreader. This may result in higher temperatures but we have to find that our in our own tests.

The Basin Falls PCH also offers a maximum of 14 USB ports (10 USB 3.0 Max), 8 SATA 3.0, and Intel LAN (Jacksonville PHY) controllers. The chipset can also drive three M.2 drives with Intel RST tech. Additional features include Enhanced SPI, SPI, LPC, SMBus and HD audio which are integrated underneath its hood.

Intel X299 Chipset Features:

Chipset	Intel X79 “Patsburg”	Intel X99 “Wellsburg”	Intel X299 "Basin Falls" With KBL-X	Intel X299 "Basin Falls" With SKL-X
SKU Focus Segment	Enthusiast Desktop	Enthusiast Desktop	Enthusiast Desktop	Enthusiast Desktop
CPU Support	Sandy Bridge-E / Ivy Bridge-E	Haswell-E / Broadwell-E	Kaby Lake-X	Skylake-X / Cascade Lake-X
CPU Core Options	4, 6	6, 8, 10	4	6, 8, 10, 12, 14,16, 18
Max Chipset PCI-E Lanes	8	8	24	24
Max CPU PCI-E Lanes	Up To 40	Up To 40	Up To 16	Up To 44
Memory Type	DDR3	DDR4	DDR4	DDR4
Memory DIMMs	Quad Channel (8)	Quad Channel (8)	Dual Channel (4)	Quad Channel (8)
Overclocking	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0 Support	No	No	No	Yes
Intel Optane Technology	No	No	Yes	Yes
Intel Rapid Storage Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Rapid Storage Technology For PCIe Storage Drive Support	No	No	Yes	Yes
RAID 0,1,5,10	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Smart Response Technology	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Integrated LAN	Yes	1 GbE	Integrated MAC	Integrated MAC
Total USB Ports (Max USB 3.0)	N/A	6	10	10
Total USB Ports (Max USB 2.0)	14	14	14	14
Max SATA 6 Gbps Ports	6 (2 Rated at Full 6 Gbps)	10	8	8
TDP	7.8W	6.5W	6.0W	6.0W

Intel LGA 2066 Socket - Now With Cascade Lake-X Support

Since nothing on the platform has changed, the LGA 2066 also continues on as the socket of choice for Intel's HEDT platform. All Core-X processors are compatible with the LGA 2066 socket but some motherboard makers have only listed support for 9th and 10th Gen Core-X processors due to BIOS limitations on certain motherboards.

The LGA 2066 socket features 2066 pins which support Cascade Lake-X and Skylake-X CPUs but doesn't allow compatibility with Intel Xeon processors. The Intel Xeon class processors that are part of the Skylake-SP family will be featured on the much different LGA 3647 socket which is huge compared to LGA 2066.

Cooler Compatibility With LGA 2066 Socket

The socket hasn't changed so you won't have any trouble with compatibility on the new boards. Even older LGA 2011 socket retention brackets are compatible with LGA 2066 so you are pretty much good with any cooler you bought in the last 5 years or so.

As for a cooler recommendation, I would personally advise users to go for a liquid cooling option since the Core-X processors are heat spitting monsters at full load. You need good cooling to hit good temperatures.

The Intel 10th Gen X-series lineup consists of four SKUs, an 18 core, a 14 core, a 12 core, and a 10 core processor. All are fully unlocked for overclocking, are hyperthreading enabled and feature the company’s latest Turbo Core 3.0 technology.

The new lineup is still based on the Skylake-X microarchitecture and the 14nm process, however, the company has taken steps to make the 10th generation significantly more competitive in the market which includes:

1- Significantly lower pricing per core vs the 9th generation Core X family.
2- Higher single and all-core turbo clock speeds vs the 9th gen family.
3- Support for Intel Performance Maximizer, 2.5G Intel i225 Ethernet and Wi-Fi 6.

There are various technologies that are featured on Skylake-X processors that lead to better performance and efficient CPU functioning. Upgrades such as the new Mesh architecture interconnect and Turbo Boost MAX 3.0 have already been detailed, more details on them can be found in the links below:

• Intel Skylake-X Processor - Mesh Interconnect Architecture
• Intel Skylake-X Processor - Turbo Boost Max 3.0 Frequency

Intel Core i9-10980XE Processor

Priced at $979 (you are paying $54.38 per core) and featuring the Cascade Lake architecture, the Core-i9 10980XE is the first 18 core processor from Intel priced under $1000 US. It packs 8 cores and 36 threads. It features a base clock of 3.3 GHz as well as a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 of 4.8 GHz. An all-core boost of 3.8 GHz is specced for this processor. The 18 MB of L2 cache is complimented by 24.75  MB of L3 cache and features quad-channel DDR4-2933 memory. The Core i9-10980XE has a TDP of 165W.

Intel Core i9-10940X Processor

Priced at $784 (you are paying $56.00 per core) and featuring the Cascade Lake architecture, the Core-i9 10940X packs 14 cores, and 28 threads. It features a base clock of 3.3 GHz as well as a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 of 4.8 GHz. An all-core boost of 4.1 GHz is specced for this processor. The 14 MB of L2 cache is complimented by 19.25 MB of L3 cache and features quad-channel DDR4-2933 memory. The Core i9-10940XE has a TDP of 165W.

Intel Core i9-10920X Processor

Priced at $689 (you are paying $57.41 per core) and featuring the Cascade Lake architecture, the Core-i9 10920X packs 12 cores, and 24 threads. It features a base clock of 3.5 GHz as well as a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 of 4.8 GHz. An all-core boost of 4.3 GHz is specced for this processor. The 12 MB of L2 cache is complimented by 16.50 MB of L3 cache and features quad-channel DDR4-2933 memory. The Core i9-10920XE has a TDP of 165W.

Intel Core i9-10900X Processor

Priced at $590 (you are paying $59.00 per core) and featuring the Cascade Lake architecture, the Core-i9 10900X packs 10 cores, and 20 threads. It features a base clock of 3.7 GHz as well as a Turbo Boost Max 3.0 of 4.7 GHz. An all-core boost of 3.8 GHz is specced for this processor. The 10 MB of L2 cache is complimented by 13.75 MB of L3 cache and features quad-channel DDR4-2933 memory. The Core i9-10980XE has a TDP of 165W.

Intel 10th Gen Core i9 'Cascade Lake' X-Series CPU Lineup

CPU Name	Cores / Threads	Base Clock	Single Core Turbo	All Core Turbo	L3 Cache	TDP	Price
Intel Core i9-10980XE	18/36	3.0 GHz	4.8 GHz	3.8 GHz	24.75 MB	165W	$979
Intel Core i9-10940X	14/28	3.3 GHz	4.8 GHz	4.1 GHz	19.25 MB	165W	$784
Intel Core i9-10920X	12/24	3.5 GHz	4.8 GHz	4.3 GHz	16.50 MB	165W	$689
Intel Core i9-10900X	10/20	3.7 GHz	4.7 GHz	3.8 GHz	13.75 MB	165W	$590

MSI very recently new creator-focused X299 motherboard with their X299 Creator leading the pack. The entire lineup is purpose-built for the 10th Gen X-series processors.

The MSI Creator X299 motherboard features a unique all-black color scheme with Mystic RGB that illuminates through the diamond cut-outs over the PCH and I/O heatsink. The motherboard uses a 12 phase IR Digital VRM which 90A power stages and the LGA 2066 socket is fed power by not one but three 8-pin connectors. The VRMs are cooled by an aluminum heatsink which comes with heat pipe cooling that extends all the way into the heatsink next to the I/O. There are eight DDR4 DIMM slots that can support 256 GB of memory in quad-channel mode at speeds of up to 4266 MHz OC+.

MSI X299 Creator Motherboard Features:

• Supports Intel Core X-series Processors 10000/9000/78xx(above)series for LGA2066 Socket
• Supports DDR4 Memory, 8 DIMMs, Quad Channel Max Frequency DDR4-4266+(OC)
• More Powerful than Enough: dedicate 12 phases 90A digital power to CPU, with an all-aluminum design
• More Efficiency for Data Transfer: 10G LAN + Intel Gigabit LAN with Intel WIFI 6 and bandwidth management
• More Compatibility for Storage: 7 x Turbo M.2 with M.2 XPANDER-AERO, 1 x Turbo U.2
• More Flexibility for Temperature Control: Full fan control with 8 PWM fan headers and 1 dedicated thermal sensor
• Lightning USB 20G: Powered by ASMedia ASM3242 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 controller, offers the fastest USB speeds with stability.
• M.2 Shield Frozr: Strengthened built-in M.2 thermal solution. Keeps M.2 safer and faster
• Core Boost: With premium layout and fully digital power design to support more cores and provide better performance
• Triple 8 Pin Power Supply: By providing triple 8 pin connectors to ensure adequate power supply to unleash ultimate multi-core CPU performance
• Mystic Light: 16.8 million colors / 29 effects controlled in one click. Mystic Light Extension supports RGB, Rainbow and Corsair LED strip
• Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality
• DDR4 Boost with Steel Armor: Fully isolated, shielded and optimized DDR4 PCB design to give your DDR4 memory a performance boost
• Multi-GPU: With Steel Armor PCI-E slots. Supports up to 4-Way NVIDIA SLI & 4-Way AMD Crossfire
• THUNDERBOLTM3: Exclusive expansion card offering dual DisplayPort and dual Thunderbolt 3 for the full 4K video experience.

For expansion, the motherboard offers four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots & triple M.2 slots which are covered by the M.2 Shield Frozr heatsink. All four PCIe 3.0 x16 slots feature metal bracing for durability and the same goes for the DDR4 slots. Storage includes eight SATA III ports along with two front-panel USB 3.2 headers and a USB 3.2 front panel connector. There's also a U.2 port below the SATA ports which can be used for connecting U.2 SSDs. The PCH is covered by a large aluminum heatsink that comes with Mystic Light RGB as mentioned earlier.

As for the I/O ports, the motherboard houses a ton of them which include one USB 3.2 Gen 2, 7 USB 3.2 Gen 1, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a 7.1 channel HD Audio jack powered by Realtek ALC1220 Codec (Nachimic), a 10G Ethernet LAN port (Aquantia AQC107), a 1G Ethernet LAN port (Intel I219V), PS/2 port, two antenna slots, a Clear CMOS button and  Flash BIOS button. The motherboard package will include the M.2 Xpander-Aero Add-in-card which offers four extra M.2 slots which are cooled by the Aero cooler which is the same one that MSI uses on their graphics cards and also the PCIe x1 Thunderbolt M3 AIC which allows transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps. The motherboard has an official retail price of $539 US.

MSI X299 Creator Motherboard Product Gallery:

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The MSI X299 Creator motherboard comes inside a large, rectangular-shaped box. This package is very heavy compared to other boards but it shows that MSI has packed a lot of goodies aside from the motherboard inside the box. The other noteworthy thing about the package is the whole white color scheme which gives it a very minimalistic and clean look.

As with the color choice, the marketing material and logos featured on the box are very simple. It features a large Creator X299 product name on the front coupled with an MSI dragon logo. Intel's Core, X299 Chipset & Optane Memory logos can be spotted too along with NVIDIA SLI, AMD CFX & MSI Mystic Light RGB logos.

The back of the box contains all the marketing details along with product specifications. Some of the highlighted features include Intel Wi-Fi 6, Lightning USB, 10G SUPER LAN, M.2 XPANDER AERO, Extended heatsink design, M.2 Shield Frozr, and Thunderbolt M3.

The motherboard and accessories are packed in separate containers. The accessories box includes three compartments, each of which has different accessories. The cables and antenna mount can be found in the MSI bag which is a good touch rather than spreading them inside the box. The two other accessories include the M.2 Xpander Aero and the Thunderbolt M3 add-in cards.

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All of the accessories featured in the MSI bag include:

• - Quick Installation Guide
• - 4 x SATA Data Cables
• - 1 x MSI Case Badge
• - 2 x Fan Headers
• - 2 x ARGB Extenders
• - 2 x MSI WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antennas
• - 3 x Screws for M.2 Sockets

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The MSI M.2 Xpander Aero card bundled with the X299 Creator is a really good accessory. It offers up to four full-length M.2 devices to be featured on it while getting cooled off by a large heatsink that is cooled by MSI's GPU-grade Aero fan design. The card comes in a dual-slot design & receives power through a single 6-pin connector. The more interesting thing about this AIC is that it is rated to operate at up to PCIe 4.0 bandwidth which means you can also use it with a PCIe 4.0 compliant motherboard.

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The other highlighted accessory of the MSI X299 Creator is the Thunderbolt M3. This AIC offers two DisplayPort outputs and two Thunderbolt 3 outputs. You can also daisy chain for up to a total of 6 Thunderbolt devices.

Out of the box, the motherboard has a very unique design and layout. The motherboard sticks to the larger E-ATX form factor but comes with a very neat layout that I am super excited about. Let's see how this board really performs!

The MSI X299 Creator is a very neat and well laid out motherboard. Everything about this board feels very premium and the design choice used here is solid from top to bottom. The E-ATX form factor the motherboard carries makes it feel a little bit too big but that's also one thing that you should expect from a proper high-end desktop motherboard.

At first glance, it feels like the motherboard features a singular matte-black color scheme with some reflective accents on the I/O shield and the PCH heatsink but the X299 Creator rocks a two-tone design that is actually hidden beneath the three M.2 heatsinks.

The color scheme isn't all bling and that's a good thing, rather than focusing on cosmetics, MSI paid focus to what needed more attention and they got a lot right on this motherboard. Plus, the motherboard is aimed at content creators and high-end users who want the best performance, not the best bling. Regardless, there's enough bling to keep RGB lovers like myself want to buy this board. There's an option to disable the RGB completely and still the motherboard would look great.

The motherboard comes in at a price point of over $500 US price and has a ton of features to talk about so let's get started.

The board uses the LGA 2066 socket to support the Intel Core-X series processors. The socket is compatible with both Intel Skylake-X and Cascade Lake-X processors. The socket LGA 2066 is super-easy to use. You open two latches as pointed on the socket itself, align the processor with the two notches on the sides while facing the triangle marking with the one on the socket and that's it. Then proceed to close the two latches, starting with the one you previously opened and you have successfully installed the processor.

The motherboard packs a 12+1 phase digital design to power the CPU. The motherboard also makes use of 90A Dr.MOS Power Chokes to deliver massive amounts of power to the socket to keep the CPU running stable and ready for the most demanding workloads.

The CPU is supplied power through triple 8 pin power connectors. This will feed the CPU with up to 450W of power.

MSI highlights the following reasons for featuring three 8-pin connectors on their X299 Creator motherboard:

• Triple power connectors reduce the temperature up to 30 degrees for both power cable and power connectors.
• The lower temperature protects all the components on the motherboard, also prevent any dangerous situation on your whole system.
• For high-end multiple core processors, triple power connectors provide the best condition for all cores extreme overclocking and 24/7 working that creators need.

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There's a comprehensive heatsink layout on the motherboard which includes the primary VRM heatsink which comes with an all-aluminum design and has a full copper heat pipe that extends towards the extended heatsink under the I/O cover.

The motherboard has a total of eight DDR4 DIMM slots which can support up to 256 GB (Quad Channel) memory. These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 4266+ (O.C) MHz. Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation.

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 and triple M.2 slots. The board can support 4-Way multi-GPU (CrossfireX / SLI). The M.2 slots are rated to support NVMe PCI-e Gen3 x4 and Intel Optane series memory. Only a CPU that offers 44 lanes can deliver full x16 operation on two SLI or Crossfire configured discrete GPUs.

• 4 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slots
  • Support x8/ x8/ x16/ x8 and x16/ x0/ x16/ x8 modes with the 48-lane CPU.
  • Support x8/ x8/ x16/ x8 and x16/ x0/ x16/ x8 modes with the 44-lane CPU.
  • Support x8/ x8/ x8/ x0 and x16/ x0/ x8/ x0 modes with the 28-lane CPU.

1. The PCI_E4 slot will run 3.0 x4 speed with a 44-lane CPU when installing the M.2 PCIe device into the M2_3 slot.
2. The PCI_E4 slot is unavailable with a 28-lane CPU.

MSI has featured their PCIe Steel Armor technology on the expansion slots. Not only do these slots offer a solid cover plate for high-end cards but it also prevents from any sort of signal interference.

The supported types for the M.2 socket are 22110, 2280, 2260, 2242 and 2230. M.2 slots offer up to 32 GB/s link speed compared to just 6 GB/s on SATA 3 bus.

All M.2 slots can operate at full x4 (32 GB/s) speeds, provided that enough PCIe lanes are available. Otherwise, users will have the choice to select from PCIe and SATA 3 modes. All three come with the MSI M.2 Shield Frozr heatsinks which provide adhesive thermal tapes so that heat can easily be transferred to the aluminum frames and blown off by the chassis airflow.

The X299 PCH is housed beneath a metallic heatsink with an MSI logo embedded in it. The MSI PCH heatsink looks really nice with the triangular textured acrylic design. There are several RGB LEDs embedded underneath the acrylic cover which provide a nice and subtle lighting effect when the board is powered on.

Storage options include 8 SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 8 different storage devices at a single time. There's also a single Turbo U.2 port that runs at PCIe 3.0 x4 mode.

Following is a list of all internal connectors on the motherboard:

• 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
• 3 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connectors
• 1 x flat 4-pin ATX 12V power connector (Provides additional power for PCIe x16 slots)
• 8 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
• 1 x U.2 port
• 2 x USB 2.0 connectors (support additional 4 USB 2.0 ports)
• 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 connectors (support additional 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 ports)
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port
• 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector
• 4 x 4-pin system fan connectors
• 2 x 4-pin extend system fan connectors
• 1 x 4-pin water-pump fan connector
• 1 x 3-pin Water Flow connector
• 1 x Front panel audio connector
• 2 x System panel connectors
• 1 x TPM module connector
• 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector
• 1 x 2-pin Thermal Sensors connector
• 1 x Thunderbolt Add-on Card Connector
• 1 x Virtual RAID on CPU connector

In terms of audio, the MSI X299 Creator comes with the latest Audio Boost technology, featuring a Realtek ALC1220 codec that powers the 7.1 channel HD audio jack. The audio PCB is isolated from the rest of the motherboard and has its own heatsink featured over it.

The motherboard comes with a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C and dual USB 3.2 Gen 1 front panel headers. The CMOS battery is situated right beneath the middle M.2 Shield Frozr heatsink so you would have to take it off whenever you need to access the CMOS battery.

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The I/O on the motherboard includes the following ports:

1. Clear CMOS Button
2. Keyboard / Mouse
3. Gigabit LAN
4. 10G LAN
5. Audio Connectors
6. Flash BIOS Button
7. Wireless / Bluetooth
8. USB 2.0
9. USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A
10. USB 3.2 Gen2x2 20G Type-C
11. USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A
12. Optical S/PDIF out

MSI X299 Creator Mystic Light Gallery:

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For this review, I was provided the Core i9-10980XE from Intel themselves. The X299 Creator was provided by MSI while the rest of the equipment was sent by their respective manufacturers. The test setup configuration can be found in the chart below.

MSI X299 Creator & Intel Core i9-10980XE Test Platform:

Processors Used	AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990X AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X Intel Core i9-10980XE Intel Core i9-7980XE Intel Core i9-9900KS AMD Ryzen 9 3950X AMD Ryzen 9 3900X AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Motherboards Used	MSI X299 Creator (Intel 10980XE) Z390 AOURS Master (Intel 9900KS) ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme Alpha (AMD 2990WX) ASRock X399 Taichi (AMD 1950X) MSI MEG X570 Unify (AMD 3950X) ASRock X570 Taichi (AMD 3900X, 3700X)
Memory	G.SKILL Trident Z RGB Series 32 GB (4 x 8GB) CL16 3600 MHz
Video Cards	MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Lightning Z
Power Supply	ASUS ROG THOR 1200W
Cooling Solutions	Corsair H115i Pro AIO Liquid
Solid State Drive	Samsung SSD 960 EVO M.2 (512 GB)
BIOS Used	7B96v10 (MSI X299 Creator)
OS	Windows 10 64-bit

The Intel Core i9-10980XE is a very power-hungry chip and as such, overclocking was very limited for my sample. The Intel Core i9-10980XE hit a maximum of 4.7 GHz across all cores at a voltage of 1.310V. With the settings, we booted and stress-tested the processor for 1 hour in Prime 95 which ran stable.

3DMark Time Spy CPU Performance

3DMark Firestrike is the widely popular video card benchmark test for Windows that is designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance. While the overall benchmark is great, the utility also provides a good indication of the CPU performance.

Blender

Blender is the free and open source 3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.

Cinebench R20

Cinebench is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s hardware capabilities. Improvements to Cinebench Release 20 reflect the overall advancements to CPU and rendering technology in recent years, providing a more accurate measurement of Cinema 4D’s ability to take advantage of multiple CPU cores and modern processor features available to the average user.

Cinebench R15

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross-platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more.

Geekbench 5

Geekbench 5, the latest major upgrade to Primate Labs’ easy-to-use cross-platform benchmark, is now available for download. Geekbench 5 allows you to measure your system’s power more accurately than ever before.

HandBrake

HandBrake is a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.

PCMark 10

PCMark 10 is a complete PC benchmarking solution for Windows 10. It includes several tests that combine individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing and gaming. Specifically designed for the full range of PC hardware from netbooks and tablets to notebooks and desktops, PCMark 10 offers complete Windows PC performance testing for home and business use.

POV-Ray

The POV-Ray package includes detailed instructions on using the ray-tracer and creating scenes. Many stunning scenes are included with POV-Ray so you can start creating images immediately when you get the package.

SuperPI

Super PI is used by many overclockers to test the performance and stability of their computers. In the overclocking community, the standard program provides a benchmark for enthusiasts to compare “world record” pi calculation times and demonstrate their overclocking abilities. The program can also be used to test the stability of a certain overclock speed.

WinRAR

WinRAR is a powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompresses RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from the Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file format.

X264 HD Encode Benchmark

This benchmark measures the encoding performance of the processor. It offers a standardized benchmark for the clip as well as the encoder used is uniform.

Ashes of The Singularity

Stardock's Ashes of the Singularity RTS title is a new take on the historical genre. The game incorporates several things that many pc gamers have been curious about and anxious to try for themselves such as Explicit Multi-Adapter Support and full Asynchronous Compute under DirectX 12 API. We tested the game at 1440P with 4x MSAA on Crazy Settings under DirectX 12.

Battlefield V

Battlefield V brings back the action of the World War 2 shooter genre. Using the latest Frostbite tech, the game does a good job of looking gorgeous in all ways possible. From the open-world environments to the intense and gun-blazing action, this multiplayer and single-player FPS title is one of the best looking Battlefields to date. The game was tested at max settings at 1440p.

DOOM

In 2016, Id finally released Doom. My testing wouldn’t be complete without including this title. It's a hell fest featuring fast-paced FPS action and tons of demons to kill. The latest title is based on both Vulkan and OpenGL APIs that take advantage of the latest multi-core and multi-GPU upgrades.

GTA V

GTA V is one handsomely optimized title for the PC audience. It's scalable across various PC configurations and delivers an impressive frame rate. Rockstar did an amazing job with the PC build of GTA V and it comes with a large array of settings that can be configured by PC gamers. We tested the title at 1440P with everything set to Ultra and 4x MSAA.

Mass Effect Andromeda

Being a huge fan of the Mass Effect series, I was highly anticipating the arrival of Andromeda to store shelves. Now that it’s here, I put the fastest gaming card to the test. Using Frostbite, the latest Mass Effect title looks incredibly gorgeous and the open-world settings on the different planets immerses you a lot.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus continues the journey of Artyom through the nuclear wasteland of Russia and its surroundings. This time, you are set over the Metro, going through various regions and different environments. The game is one of the premier titles to feature NVIDIA’s RTX technology and does well in showcasing the ray-tracing effects in all corners. The game was tested at Ultra setting with RTX settings turned off at 1440p.

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

Sequel to The Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of The Tomb Raider is visually enhanced with an updated Foundation Engine that delivers realistic facial animations and the most gorgeous environments ever seen in a Tomb Raider Game. The game is a technical marvel and really shows the power of its graphics engine in the latest title.

Sid Meir's Civilization VI

Civilization VI is the pinnacle of the series. It's featured huge, sweeping changes, and nothing was left out. Everything has found a purpose, they all work together in tandem but also have a reason to stand alone. It uses a more fleshed out engine that now supports DirectX 12 capabilities. We tested the game with every setting maxed out (4x MSAA, 4096x4096 shadow textures) at 1440P in DirectX 12.

Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs 2 once again takes us on a hacking tour, but this time in the city of San Francisco. Using a very evolved version of the OPUS engine the developers should have a better grasp of things this go around than they did with Watch Dogs. The new engine incorporates several NVIDIA Gameworks technologies and is seen as one of the most graphics-intensive titles to launch this year. We tested the game on a mix of Ultra and high settings at 1440P (Temporal Filtering Disabled).

When it comes to power consumption, there are a few things we should take note of. First of all, Intel has focused on efficiency for several years but as we have seen, they are starting to loose rapidly at this front. The Intel Core-X processors are based on a revised 14nm process while the competition has moved to 7nm.

All Intel Core-X "Cascade Lake-X" chips are rated at 165W. Intel states that the higher TDP not only compensates for higher frequencies but should also provide stable overclocking performance. The latter was true in our testing but we saw higher figures when we ran overclocking. Regardless, you can see the entire system power consumption numbers in the chart below:

The Core-X series processors don't only consume higher power, they also release huge amounts of heat. It's well known that Intel is using a TIM based solution between the IHS and die rather than a proper soldered solution like AMD uses on Ryzen. Intel used properly soldered designs on their last generation HEDT processors but they have done away with it. This will lead to poor heat that results in higher temperatures. I used the Corsair H115i Pro for testing.

Intel Core i9-10980XE - The Cheaper Way To Build A HEDT Rig

Today is a great day to be a high-end desktop enthusiast as both Intel and AMD unveil their next-gen processors and platforms aimed at the high-end consumer market. Intel is lifting the embargo first and officially launching the 10th Gen X-series processors along with the refreshed X299 lineup from their AIB partners.

Intel's 10th Gen X-series brings a lot of what we were already familiar with with the past iterations of X-series and some new changes. For starters, Intel's X-series processors now offer the new 10th Gen Cascade Lake-X design which is based on a super-refined 14nm process node. Cascade Lake is also supposed to add software-side mitigations against CPU vulnerabilities but there are new CPU vulnerabilities popping up every month or so and even Cascade Lake couldn't survive their nasty onslaught.

With that said, some new features for the 10th Gen X-series family, especially the Core i9-10980XE, include up to 4.8 GHz boost clocks, support for 256 GB memory with speeds of up to 2933 MHz, an updated Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 and Deep Learning boost algorithm, 72 PCIe (Gen 3) platform lanes, 2.5G Intel Ethernet controller (i225) and Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 support. Most of the changes here are on the platform side which is made possible by AIBs who are always trying to deliver the best HEDT boards for the respective high-end CPUs. 256 GB capacities are possible through the use of dual capacity memory which is now available by several memory manufacturers and the new wireless & ethernet capabilities are also added on the board side. Intel's opening up 44 PCIe lanes across the entire 10th Gen lineup which is great while the remaining 28 PCIe lanes are offered by the X299 PCH.

The Intel Core i9-10980XE specifically is a decent processor for under $1000 US. That's the main change that we are getting this year. The pricing has seen a major cut and now we are getting a faster processor than the i9-9980XE at half the price. It was a necessary change considering the Ryzen 9 3950X from AMD launched before it and offers surprisingly good performance for $749 US with its 16 cores and 32 threads. That's the main competition of this chip as the AMD Threadripper lineup has moved one step ahead and would remain the undisputed king of the hill as you will see in our Ryzen Threadripper 3970X review in a few hours. The AMD Ryzen 9 3950X really gives the i9-10980XE in multi-threaded workloads and the heightened IPC has given AMD enough room to take up Intel's HEDT in gaming benchmarks too. At 1440p, I couldn't find a major difference between the i9-10980XE and Ryzen 9 3950X. Plus the fact that AMD's 3950X has the advantage of a lower platform price while supporting PCIe Gen 4.

It all boils down to what you're looking for. If you want a HEDT platform with quad-channel DDR4 memory and up to 72 PCIe lanes, then Intel's Core i9-10980XE under $1000 US is the cheaper way to go as AMD's Threadripper platform now starts at over $2000 US (Ryzen Threadripper 3960X + TRX40 Motherboard). If you want more cores for cheaper, then sure, Ryzen 9 3950X is an absolute champ for the price. Intel still has the upper hand when it comes to clock speeds and overclocking the processor was pretty easy to get to 4.7 GHz across all cores. The temperatures on the 10980XE are also decent enough when cooled by a 280/360mm AIO liquid cooler but the power numbers can get pretty concerning when overclocked.

Overall, it was good on Intel's part that they made the price cut and not get demolished by the Threadripper lineup. The 10980XE still manages to find a competitive spot against the 3950X and is one of the better HEDT CPUs which gets a recommendation from me for being the highest core count and the fastest clock HEDT processor under $1000 US.

MSI X299 Creator - Superbly Designed For Intel's HEDT!

The second product I focused on in this review is the MSI X299 Creator motherboard. Using a ton X299 motherboard over the years, I found this one to be the most exciting of them all. There are some reasons why this motherboard is so special, it's design and quality just radiates out on you as soon as you take it out of the box.

The design of the motherboard is super impressive, it packs all the bells and whistles of a high-end desktop motherboard. It supports fast memory, fast storage and houses a solid 13 phase VRM that let me overclock the 10980XE to 4.7 GHz across all cores. The VRM temps were under 60C at full load and even with overclocking, seeing them under 70C was impressive considering the previous X299 motherboards shot past 80C when the CPU was overclocked. The motherboard features a lot of expansion options, there are four PCIe 3.0 full-length slots, triple M.2 slots on the board & four more M.2 slots on the Xpander Aero AIC which is a fantastic addition alongside the Thunderbolt 3 card.

The RGB implementation is very subtle, giving a nice display inside your PC. You can also disable the RGB LEDs from the BIOS or the bundled software which is super-easy to use. The BIOS on the X299 Creator is as good as it gets, giving users a lot of tuning options to select from. You can see them below:

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A dial on the motherboard let's you select from 11 stages (GOES ALL THE WAY UP TO 11 IS A THING ON THIS BOARD). These stages have pre-defined overclocking profiles which the motherboard can configure for your processor. Do note that software-enabled profiles usually lead to higher supply of voltages than manual overclocking leading to higher temperatures and power consumption. A Debug LED is coupled with diagnostic LEDs while power/reset switches are located at the bottom of the board, right next to the dual BIOS switch.

There's ample amount of storage in the form of 8 SATA III ports and even a single Turbo U.2 port. Tons of USB Gen 3.2 connectors, both on the case and on the rear I/O panel are featured, making this board a dream for connectivity enthusiasts. Talking about connectivity, the motherboard has a 10G and a 1G Ethernet LAN option which is great for networking heavy workloads. There's also the added benefit of WiFi 6 which you can connect to the dual-antenna bands that ship with the board.

For $539 US, the MSI X299 Creator may just be the best workstation, creator and gaming-focused motherboard that I have seen yet, offering the best connectivity and I/O features in a design that looks beyond stunning. If you're hunting for an Intel 10th Gen HEDT CPU like the Core i9-10980XE, do consider the MSI X299 Creator as it would go really well along with the rest of your build!

The post Intel Core i9-10980XE Cascade Lake-X 18 Core, $979 US CPU Review With MSI Creator X299 – Creation Enthusiasts Ahoy! by Hassan Mujtaba appeared first on Wccftech.

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