Core i9 9960X
Intel desktop processor · Core i 9th gen · launched Q4 2018
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Launch price in today's dollars
The Core i9 9960X launched at $1,684 in 2018. Adjusted with the U.S. Consumer Price Index, that is about $2,219 in 2026 dollars (7-month average), a 32% rise over 8 years. At its launch price that is 16 Blender points per $100.
Method: launch price × (CPI 2026 average ÷ CPI 2018 average), calendar-year averages of BLS series CPIAUCSL. 2026 covers 7 months so far.
Blender rendering score
Median score 270 (middle half of runs 108–275) across 7 community runs on Blender 4.x with the CPU backend. That is #62 of 290 desktop processors in our dataset with a score, and #2 of 22 in the Core i 9th gen.
This is a rendering benchmark (samples per minute over the monster, junkshop and classroom scenes), not a gaming benchmark. It says how fast the part renders in Blender's Cycles engine and nothing about frame rates. Source: Blender Open Data, CC0, snapshot 2026-09-06.
Specifications
| Vendor | Intel |
|---|---|
| Series | Core i 9th gen |
| Launched | Q4 2018 |
| Launch price | $1,684 (1,000-unit price) |
| Socket | LGA 2066 |
| Cores / threads | 16 / 32 |
| Base clock | 3.1 GHz |
| Boost clock | 4.4 GHz |
| L3 cache | 22 MB |
| Rated power | 165 W (TDP) |
| Tier | 9-series |
The Intel 9-series over time
Intel desktop processors in the same tier around this one, oldest first, re-releases left out. Prices in launch dollars and in 2026 dollars; scores are Blender 4.x medians where they exist.
| Part | Year | Launch price | In 2026 $ | Blender |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i9 7920X | 2017 | $1,199 | $1,619 | 263 |
| Core i9 7940X | 2017 | $1,399 | $1,889 | 222 |
| Core i9 7960X | 2017 | $1,699 | $2,294 | 264 |
| Core i9 7980XE | 2017 | $1,999 | $2,699 | 378 |
| Core i9 9820X | 2018 | $889 | $1,172 | 184 |
| Core i9 9900X | 2018 | $989 | $1,303 | 183 |
| Core i9 9920X | 2018 | $1,189 | $1,567 | — |
| Core i9 9940X | 2018 | $1,387 | $1,828 | 257 |
| Core i9 9960X | 2018 | $1,684 | $2,219 | 270 |
| Core i9 9980XE | 2018 | $1,979 | $2,608 | 288 |
| Core i9 9900K | 2018 | $488 | $643 | 162 |
| Core i9 9900KF | 2019 | $463 | $599 | 157 |
| Core i9 9900 | 2019 | $439 | $568 | 129 |
| Core i9 9900T | 2019 | $439 | $568 | 104 |
| Core i9 10900X | 2019 | $590 | $764 | 202 |
| Core i9 10920X | 2019 | $689 | $892 | 252 |
Compare with
- Core i9 9940X · 2018 · $1,387 · 257
- Core i9 9980XE · 2018 · $1,979 · 288
- Core i9 10920X · 2019 · $689 · 252
- Core i9 10940X · 2019 · $784 · 248
- Core i9 10980XE · 2019 · $979 · 333
- Core i9 7920X · 2017 · $1,199 · 263
- Core i9 7940X · 2017 · $1,399 · 222
- Core i9 7960X · 2017 · $1,699 · 264
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