Temperatures

Lot of X299 boards run extremely hot if you use overclocking.

Main reason for this is simpler and cheaper VRM and also bad heatsinks being just slab of aluminium made be designer without any fine fins.

Heatsink designs

In present day it is usually designers who make heatsinks even for HEDT motherboards.
They are made for looks, and not to be efficient in their real function.

Horrible one

Bad one

Better one

Really nice

Nice videos on thermal issues

Processors we are looking for:

Processors are main issue of x299 platform, good models are very expensive and rare on used market still.
With time it can change with appearance of used Xeon models form big datacenters, but now it is almost no of such offers present in most countries including China.

Desktop aka Core models

Older models that all use thermal paste

Thermal issues of first gen chips

• Core i5-7640X, $242 MSRP
  • 4 cores / 4 threads
  • 4.0Ghz Base frequency, 4.2Ghz Turbo Boost
  • Dual channel DDR4 memory controller!
  • 4x256KB L2 cache
  • 6MB L3 Cache
  • 16 PCIe lanes!
  • 112 W TDP
• Core i7-7740X, $339 MSRP
  • 4 cores / 8 threads
  • 4.3Ghz Base frequency, 4.5Ghz Turbo Boost
  • Dual channel DDR4 memory controller!
  • 4x256KB L2 cache
  • 8MB L3 Cache
  • 16 PCIe lanes!
  • 112 W TDP
• Core i7-7800X, $389 MSRP
  • 6 cores / 12 threads
  • 3.5Ghz Base frequency, 4.0Ghz Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 6x1MB L2 cache
  • 8.25MB L3 Cache
  • 28 PCIe lanes
  • 140 W TDP
• Core i7-7820X, $599 MSRP
  • 8 cores / 16 threads
  • 3.6Ghz Base frequency, 4.3Ghz(4.5Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 8x1MB L2 cache
  • 11MB L3 Cache
  • 28 PCIe lanes
  • 140 W TDP
• Core i9-7900X, $999 MSRP
  • 10 cores / 20 threads
  • 3.3Ghz Base frequency, 4.3Ghz(4.5Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 10x1MB L2 cache
  • 13.75MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 140 W TDP
• Core i9-7920X, $1199 MSRP
  • 12 cores / 24 threads
  • 2.9Ghz Base frequency, 4.3Ghz(4.4Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 12x1MB L2 cache
  • 16.5MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 140 W TDP
• Core i9-7940X, $1399 MSRP
  • 14 cores / 28 threads
  • 3.1Ghz Base frequency, 4.3Ghz(4.4Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 14x1MB L2 cache
  • 19.25MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP
• Core i9-7960X, $1699 MSRP
  • 16 cores / 32 threads
  • 2.8Ghz Base frequency, 4.2Ghz(4.4Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 16x1MB L2 cache
  • 22MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP
• Core i9-7980XE, $1999 MSRP
  • 18 cores / 36 threads
  • 2.6Ghz Base frequency, 4.2Ghz(4.4Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 18x1MB L2 cache
  • 24.75MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP

Newer models that all use STIM and not thermal paste

• Core i9-9800X, $589 MSRP
  • 8 cores / 16 threads
  • 3.8Ghz Base frequency, 4.4Ghz(4.5Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 8x1MB L2 cache
  • 16.5MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP
• Core i9-9820X, $898 MSRP
  • 10 cores / 20 threads
  • 3.3Ghz Base frequency, 4.1Ghz(4.2Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 10x1MB L2 cache
  • 16.5MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP
• Core i9-9900X, $989 MSRP
  • 10 cores / 20 threads
  • 3.5Ghz Base frequency, 4.4Ghz(4.5Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 10x1MB L2 cache
  • 19.25MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP
• Core i9-9920X, $1189 MSRP
  • 12 cores / 24 threads
  • 3.5Ghz Base frequency, 4.4Ghz(4.5Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 12x1MB L2 cache
  • 19.25MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP
• Core i9-9940X, $1387 MSRP
  • 14 cores / 28 threads
  • 3.3Ghz Base frequency, 4.4Ghz(4.5Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 14x1MB L2 cache
  • 19.25MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP
• Core i9-9960X, $1684 MSRP
  • 16 cores / 32 threads
  • 3.1Ghz Base frequency, 4.4Ghz(4.5Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 16x1MB L2 cache
  • 22MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP
• Core i9-9980XE, $1979 MSRP
  • 18 cores / 36 threads
  • 3Ghz Base frequency, 4.4Ghz(4.5Ghz Max) Turbo Boost
  • Quad channel DDR4 memory controller
  • 18x1MB L2 cache
  • 24.75MB L3 Cache
  • 44 PCIe lanes
  • 165 W TDP