Intel introduced the new Coffee Lake processors: 6/12-core i7, six-core i5, quad-core i3

On September 24, 2017, Intel officially announced the 8th generation Core processors (Coffee Lake). Among other things, the company said that the new 6/12-core Core i7-8700K is the best gaming processor from Intel (measured by fps on a sample of AAA games). In addition, for the first time, the company completes the Core i5 family with six-core chips.



Core i7-8700K - a clear flagship among all the new products presented. In Gears of War, it shows fps by 25% more than the 7th generation Core i7-7700K processor (4 cores, 8 threads). It is clear that multithreaded applications should receive the greatest performance gain (if there are already 12 threads). That's right: if you simultaneously play Player Unknown: Battlegrounds , while keeping a record and video broadcasting on the Internet, the performance gain is 45%, Intel representatives said.



Of course, not only players, but also users of other multi-threaded applications will receive a performance benefit. For example, a significant difference should be observed in programs like Adobe Premiere Pro for video editing, although Intel does not give benchmarks, this is just a guess.



All new processors are made according to the technical process, which Intel calls 14-nm ++, that is, this is the third generation of the 14-nanometer process technology (two pluses correspond to two improvements from the original version).



The main characteristics of the 8th generation processors

CPU	Number of cores	Frequency (base)	Frequency (boost)	L3 cache	Tdp
i7-8700K ($ 359)	6/12	3.8 GHz	4.7 GHz	12 MB	95 W
i7-8700 ($ 303)	6/12	3.2 GHz	4.6 GHz	12 MB	65 W
i5-8600K ($ 257)	6/6	3.6 GHz	4.3 GHz	9 MB	95 W
i5-8400 ($ 182)	6/6	2.8 GHz	4.0 GHz	9 MB	65 W
i3-8350K ($ 168)	4/4	4.0 GHz	not	6 MB	91 W
i3-8100 ($ 117)	4/4	3.6 GHz	not	6 MB	65 W

Core i5 and i7 processors work with DDR4-2666 memory, and Core i3 - with DDR4-2400 memory.



Increasing the number of cores across the entire processor line, Intel seems to be playing AMD on the field, that is, trying to build a defense strategy against a competitor. The increased number of cores on processors at the same price is one of the key strategies on which AMD Ryzen’s proposal is based. On the other hand, Intel itself rarely increases the number of cores in its CPU. Having done this now, it not only offers users a better product, but also strikes a competitor.



Intel is increasing the number of cores in its non-HEDT processors for the first time since 2006, when Core 2 Extreme QX6700 was released. Until now, if you wanted more than four cores, you had to switch to HEDT processors (high-end desktop). Now more than 4-core processors have finally become standard. Intel has to make such sacrifices to oppose the Ryzen!







The new processors had to slightly reduce the clock frequency. The Core i7-8700K has a base clock frequency 500 MHz less than the Kaby Lake i7-7700K. However, in the turbo mode, the frequency is already 200 MHz more, which is rather strange. According to some experts, the reduction of the base clock frequency is associated with restrictions on maximum power consumption. This is hinted that the TDP in the i7-8700K compared to the i7-7700K increased slightly: from 91 to 95 watts.



Mark "K" in the name of the chip also means that these chips are unlocked for overclocking. In terms of the number of cores and the L3 cache size, they do not differ from their counterparts without the “K”, but initially operate at a higher frequency and emit more heat, that is, consume more energy.



All processors work in the LGA 1151 socket with the new Intel Z370 chipset, more advanced than the Z270 chipset for Kaby Lake processors. Here, the memory clock frequency slightly increased, the number of PCI 3.0 lines increased to 40, there is built-in support for Thunderbolt 3.0. The transition to new motherboards was in any case necessary, because six-core processors require new ways of supplying power from the motherboard, said Anand Srivatsa, general manager of desktop platforms at Intel.







All processors also support Intel Optane memory acceleration technology. Now the Intel Optane device works as a kind of SSD analogue for the data that got into the cache, even if the HDD is installed on the computer.



Taking orders for new chips starts on October 5th. Deliveries will begin October 20, 2017.