Intel Core i9-15900K / Core Ultra 9 285K to Boost up to 5.5GHz, 700MHz Less than the i9-14900KS

Intel Core i9-15900K / Intel Core Ultra 9 285K Overview

1. Architecture and Cores:

   • The Core i9-15900K/Core Ultra 9 285K will feature 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores.
   • These cores are based on the Lion Cove and Skymont architectures, respectively.
   • The chips will be manufactured using the Intel 20A / TSMC N3B process node.

2. Clock Speeds:

   • Unfortunately, the Core i9-15900K/Core Ultra 9 285K won’t be able to reach the boost clocks of its predecessors.
   • While the Core i9-14900K boasts a boost clock of 6.2GHz, the 14900KS goes even higher.
   • The Core i9-15900K/Core Ultra 9 285K, however, will top out at just 5.5GHz, according to the latest rumors.
   • This 500-700MHz deficit in operating clocks might impact single-core performance gains.

3. Cache Improvements:

   • The “Lion Cove” P-cores will allegedly feature 3MB of L2 cache, which is 50% more than what we saw in the previous Raptor Cove architecture.
   • In total, the Core i9-15900K/285K will have 36MB of shared L3 cache (combining L2 and L3 cache) similar to the 13900K/14900K.

4. Chipset and Features:

   • Z890 motherboards will support Thunderbolt 4 and offer four more PCIe NVMe lanes compared to the Z790.
   • However, this upgrade is limited to the higher-end offerings, and the budget B860 chipset won’t receive the same treatment.
   • The Arrow Lake-S desktop processors will also feature up to 4 Xe Cores for graphics, with variants for lower-end parts.

5. Core Ultra Branding:

   • Intel’s 15th Gen Arrow Lake-S processors will launch with the updated “Core Ultra” branding.
   • The lineup will range from Ultra 5 to Ultra 9, with existing Core i3 rebrands serving the lower-end markets.

In summary, while the Core i9-15900K/Core Ultra 9 285K may not reach the same boost clocks as its predecessors, it brings improvements in cache and features. Keep an eye out for its official release to see how it performs in real-world scenarios! 🚀🔍