While Intel's X299 may not have much fuel left in it against the Ryzen or Threadripper parts, Intel still seems to be focusing their attention on the 3-year-old platform in the HEDT space if the latest rumors are to be believed, readying yet another 10th Gen Core i9 CPU.

Intel's Core i9-10990XE Rumored To Feature 22 Cores, 44 Threads, 380W TDP & The Power To Turn Your PC Into A Nuclear Reactor

Yep, you heard it all, according to Computerbase, Intel's board partners have revealed that the blue giant is working on yet another 10th generation HEDT CPU. It looks like Intel wasn't that impressed with the glowing reviews that the Core i9-10980XE received so they have or are deciding to offer a new chip with an even cooler (or hotter in this case) name, the Core i9-10990XE. The CPU is stated to be in the early validation stage.

Ok so coming to the specifications of this not so mysterious chip, we are looking at 22 cores and 44 threads. It seems like the processor features the XCC (Extreme Core Count) die instead of the HCC (High Core Count) die that is featured on existing 10th Gen HEDT parts. The HCC die maxes out at 18 cores and 36 threads while the XCC die maxes out at 28 cores and 56 threads. This is why extra validation is required because an XCC die won't just magically work on an LGA 2066 socket and there have to be a few key design changes to accommodate the new chip. There's also going to be 30.25 MB of L3 cache on this chip.

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