Skip to content
Main Navigation Puget Systems Logo
  • Solutions
    • Content Creation
      • Photo Editing
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Adobe Lightroom Classic
        • Adobe Photoshop
        • Stable Diffusion
      • Video Editing & Motion Graphics
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Adobe After Effects
        • Adobe Premiere Pro
        • DaVinci Resolve
        • Foundry Nuke
      • 3D Design & Animation
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Autodesk 3ds Max
        • Autodesk Maya
        • Blender
        • Cinema 4D
        • Houdini
        • ZBrush
      • Real-Time Engines
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Game Development
        • Unity
        • Unreal Engine
        • Virtual Production
      • Rendering
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Keyshot
        • OctaneRender
        • Redshift
        • V-Ray
      • Digital Audio
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Ableton Live
        • FL Studio
        • Pro Tools
    • Engineering
      • Architecture & CAD
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Autodesk AutoCAD
        • Autodesk Inventor
        • Autodesk Revit
        • SOLIDWORKS
      • Visualization
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • Enscape
        • Lumion
        • Twinmotion
      • Photogrammetry & GIS
        • Recommended Systems For:
        • ArcGIS Pro
        • Agisoft Metashape
        • Pix4D
        • RealityCapture
    • AI & HPC
      • Recommended Systems For:
      • Data Science
      • Generative AI
      • Large Language Models
      • Machine Learning / AI Dev
      • Scientific Computing
    • More
      • Recommended Systems For:
      • Compact Size
      • Live Streaming
      • NVIDIA RTX Studio
      • Quiet Operation
      • Virtual Reality
    • Business & Enterprise
      We can empower your company
    • Government & Education
      Services tailored for your organization
  • Products
    • Puget Mobile
      Powerful laptop workstations
      • Puget Mobile 16″
    • Puget Workstations
      High-performance desktop PCs
      • AMD Ryzen
        • Ryzen 9000:
        • Small Form Factor
        • Mini Tower
        • Mid Tower
        • Full Tower
      • AMD Threadripper
        • Threadripper 7000:
        • Mid Tower
        • Full Tower
        • Threadripper PRO 7000WX:
        • Full Tower
      • AMD EPYC
        • EPYC 9004/9005:
        • Full Tower
      • Intel Core Ultra
        • Core Ultra Series 2:
        • Small Form Factor
        • Mini Tower
        • Mid Tower
        • Full Tower
      • Intel Xeon
        • Xeon W-2500:
        • Mid Tower
        • Xeon W-3500:
        • Full Tower
    • Custom Computers
    • Puget Rackstations
      Workstations in rackmount chassis
      • AMD Rackstations
        • Ryzen 9000:
        • R132-4U
        • R550-6U 5-Node
        • Threadripper 7000:
        • T121-4U
        • T120-5U
        • Threadripper PRO 7000WX:
        • T141-4U
        • T140-5U (Dual 5090s)
        • EPYC 9004:
        • E140-4U (Quad 4090s)
      • Intel Rackstations
        • Core Ultra Series 2:
        • C132-4U
        • Xeon W-3500:
        • X131-4U
        • X141-5U
    • Custom Rackmount Workstations
    • Puget Servers
      Enterprise-class rackmount servers
      • Rackmount Servers
        • AMD EPYC:
        • E200-1U
        • E120-2U
        • E140-2U
        • E280-4U
        • E281-4U
        • Intel Xeon:
        • X200-1U
        • X240-2U
    • Comino Grando GPU Servers
    • Custom Servers
    • Puget Storage
      Solutions from desktop to datacenter
      • Network-Attached Storage
        • Synology NAS Units:
        • 4-bay DiskStation
        • 8-bay DiskStation
        • 12-bay DiskStation
        • 4-bay RackStation
        • 12-bay FlashStation
      • Software-Defined Storage
        • Datacenter Storage:
        • 12-Bay 2U
        • 24-Bay 2U
        • 36-Bay 4U
    • Recommended Third Party Peripherals
      Curated list of accessories for your workstation
    • Puget Gear
      Quality apparel with Puget Systems branding
  • Publications
    • Articles
    • Blog Posts
    • Case Studies
    • HPC Blog
    • Podcasts
    • Press
    • PugetBench
  • Support
    • Contact Support
    • Support Articles
    • Warranty Details
    • Onsite Services
    • Unboxing
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Our Customers
    • Enterprise
    • Gov & Edu
    • Press Kit
    • Testimonials
    • Careers
  • Talk to an Expert
  • My Account
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Hardware Articles
  4. /
  5. Photoshop CC 2018: Core i7 9700K & i9 9900K Performance

Photoshop CC 2018: Core i7 9700K & i9 9900K Performance

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Matt Bach
Always look at the date when you read an article. Some of the content in this article is most likely out of date, as it was written on October 19, 2018. For newer information, see our more recent articles.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Test Setup & Methodology
  • Benchmark Results
  • Benchmark Analysis
  • Are the 9th Gen Intel Core Processors good for Photoshop?

Introduction

Intel has launched their new 9th Gen Intel Core Processors with a number of improvements including a small frequency bump and an increase in core count. Where the current top-end consumer Core i7 CPU (the Core i7 8700K) has only 6 cores and a max Turbo of 4.7 GHz, the Core i7 9700K and i9 9900K both have 8 cores and a 4.9-5.0 GHz max Turbo frequency. Photoshop tends to primarily rely on just a handful of cores, however, so the question is whether the frequency bump and other architecture improvements are enough to make a significant difference in performance.

If you would like to skip over our test setup and benchmark result/analysis sections, feel free to jump right to the Conclusion section.

Test Setup & Methodology

Listed below are the systems we will be using in our testing:

Test Hardware      
Motherboard: Gigabyte AORUS
Z370 Gaming 5
Gigabyte X299
Designare EX
Gigabyte AORUS
X470 Gaming 7 WiFi
MSI MEG
X399 Creation
CPU: Intel Core i7 8700K 6 Core
3.7GHz (4.7GHz Turbo)


Intel Core i7 9700K 8 Core
3.6GHz (4.9GHz Turbo)


Intel Core i9 9900K 8 Core
3.6GHz (5.0GHz Turbo)
Intel Core i7 7820X 8 Core
3.6 GHz (4.3/4.5GHz Turbo)


Intel Core i9 7900X 10 Core
3.3 GHz (4.3/4.5GHz Turbo)
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 8 Core
3.7GHz (4.3GHz Turbo)
AMD TR 1920X 12 Core
3.5 GHz (4.0GHz Turbo)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S Noctua NH-U12DX i4 Corsair Hydro Series H80i v2
RAM: 4x DDR4-2666 16GB
(64GB total)
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 8GB
Hard Drive: Samsung 960 Pro 1TB M.2 PCI-E x4 NVMe SSD
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Software: Photoshop CC 2018 (ver. 19.1.6)

While benchmarking the i7 9700K and i9 9900K against the i7 8700K is likely the most direct comparison we could make, we also wanted to see how these new CPUs stack up against a number of other processors. AMD vs Intel is always a popular discussion, so we included the Ryzen 7 2700X – which tends to be cheaper than either of these new CPUs – as well as the Threadripper 1920X which is similar in price to the i9 9900K. To get an idea of whether or not purchasing a more expensive Intel CPU would give you a notable increase in performance, we also include the i7 7820X and the i9 7900X.

For the testing itself, we will be using version 18.4 of our Puget Systems Photoshop CC 2018 Benchmark which is currently available for public download. This benchmark tests a range of general tasks (open/save, resize, content aware fill, etc.), filters, as well as panorama photomerge. Full details on the benchmark are available on the benchmark download page.

Benchmark Results

While our benchmark presents various scores based on the performance of each type of task, we also wanted to provide the individual results in case there is a specific task someone may be interested in. Feel free to skip to the next section for our analysis of these results.

Benchmark Analysis

Our Photoshop benchmark tests a large number of tasks that we split into 4 categories: General, Filter, Photomerge, and GPU-accelerated (which contains both general and filter tests). For more information on what is tested, we recommend checking out our benchmark download page

What is immediately clear is that the new i7 9700K and i9 9900K are easily the fastest CPUs currently available for Photoshop. Compared to the Core i7 8700K (which used to be our go-to CPU for a Photoshop workstation), the i7 9700K is about 12% faster in each type of test. This isn't groundbreaking, but it is slightly above the now standard ~10% bump in performance each time Intel launches a new CPU.

The i9 9900K is even faster, however, coming in at 15-20% faster than the i7 8700K. The i9 9900K is more expensive than the 8700K, but if you are looking for the best performance in Photoshop, this is definitely the CPU to use.

Are the 9th Gen Intel Core Processors good for Photoshop?

Yes! The i7 9700K is roughly the same price as the i7 8700K, but performs about 12% faster in most Photoshop tasks. The i9 9900K is a bit more expensive, but in return you should see a 15-20% performance increase over the i7 8700K. Compared to the AMD CPUs we tested, these 9th Gen Intel CPUs are anywhere from 20-30% faster.

9th Gen Intel Core i7 9700K & i9 9900K Photoshop Benchmark
Overall, the new 9th Gen CPUs from Intel are great for Photoshop. A 10-20% performance increase may not be quite worth a straight upgrade from the Core i7 8700K for many users, but depending on how much time you spend waiting for Photoshop to finish a task, these processors could give you a noticeable productivity boost.

Core i7 9700K vs Core i7 8700K for Photoshop

In almost every Photoshop task we tested, the Core i7 9700K is about 12% faster that the Core i7 8700K. If Intel hadn't decided to launch the even faster Core i9 9900K, this would have been the fastest CPU we have ever tested for Photoshop.

Core i9 9900K vs Core i7 8700K for Photoshop

The Core i9 9900K is approximately 20% more expensive than the Core i7 8700K, but in exchange we saw a 15-20% performance increase in Photoshop. With higher-end hardware, it is actually rare to see such a close relationship between an increase in price and the performance gained, which makes the Core i9 9900K excellent for heavy Photoshop users.

If you are interested in how the 9th Gen Intel Core Processors perform in other applications, be sure to check out our recent Processor articles as we have a number of other articles for looking at the i7 9700K and i9 9900K.

CTA Image
Photoshop Workstations

Puget Systems offers a range of powerful and reliable systems that are tailor-made for your unique workflow.

Configure a System!
CTA Image
Labs Consultation Service

Our Labs team is available to provide in-depth hardware recommendations based on your workflow.

Find Out More!

Related Content

  • Puget Mobile 16″ Laptop (2025) Product Showcase
  • Z890 vs. B860 vs. H810
  • Do Graphic and Motion Designers Need GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs?
  • AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D Content Creation Review
View All Related Content

Latest Content

  • Unreal Fest 2025: Highlights from Orlando
  • NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Content Creation Review
  • Puget Mobile 16″ Laptop (2025) Product Showcase
  • Why PugetBench for Premiere Pro is Dropping HEVC Encoding Tests
View All
Tags: 1920X, 2700X, 7820X, 7900X, 8700K, 9700K, 9900K, Photoshop

Who is Puget Systems?

Puget Systems builds custom workstations, servers and storage solutions tailored for your work.

We provide:

Extensive performance testing
making you more productive and giving better value for your money

Reliable computers
with fewer crashes means more time working & less time waiting

Support that understands
your complex workflows and can get you back up & running ASAP

A proven track record
as shown by our case studies and customer testimonials

Get Started

Browse Systems

Puget Systems Mobile Laptop Workstation Icon

Mobile

Puget Systems Tower Workstation Icon

Workstations

Puget Systems Rackmount Workstation Icon

Rackstations

Puget Systems Rackmount Server Icon

Servers

Puget Systems Rackmount Storage Icon

Storage

Latest Articles

  • Unreal Fest 2025: Highlights from Orlando
  • NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Content Creation Review
  • Puget Mobile 16″ Laptop (2025) Product Showcase
  • Why PugetBench for Premiere Pro is Dropping HEVC Encoding Tests
  • NVIDIA Blackwell GPU GenAI Software Support
View All

Post navigation

 Lightroom Classic CC 2018: Core i7 9700K & i9 9900K PerformanceAre the 9th Gen Intel Core Processors good for photo editing? 
Puget Systems Logo
Build Your Own PC Site Map FAQ
facebook instagram linkedin rss twitter youtube

Optimized Solutions

  • Adobe Premiere
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Solidworks
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • Machine Learning

Workstations

  • Content Creation
  • Engineering
  • Scientific PCs
  • More

Support

  • Online Guides
  • Request Support
  • Remote Help

Publications

  • All News
  • Puget Blog
  • HPC Blog
  • Hardware Articles
  • Case Studies

Policies

  • Warranty & Return
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Delivery Times
  • Accessibility

About Us

  • Testimonials
  • Careers
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter

© Copyright 2025 - Puget Systems, All Rights Reserved.