Intel announces 8th generation Coffee Lake desktop chips, which includes its best gaming...

[midian182]

It’s not even been a year since Intel launched Kaby Lake, but, following last month's unveiling of its U-series 8^th generation Core CPU’s, the company has just announced the Coffee Lake desktop lineup, which includes what Intel is calling its best gaming chip ever.

The new 15W mobile CPUs introduced in August are refreshed version of Kaby Lake built on the 14nm+ process. They offer a 40 percent speed boost over the previous generation and double the core/thread count in chips that previously featured two cores and four threads.

It seems that Intel is trying to steal some of Ryzen’s thunder with the desktop Coffee Lake parts. AMD’s chips boast an increased number of cores/threads compared to what’s come before, and Chipzilla has put a similar plan of action into effect with its 14nm++ parts.

Intel has expanded all of the Coffee Lake desktop chips’ core counts, offering a 25 percent boost to FPS and 45 percent better multitasking performance compared to their 7^th gen CPU counterparts.

The Core i7 chips now feature six cores with hyperthreading. i5 also has six cores, and the previously dual-core i3 becomes a quad-core CPU. And while those extra cores do mean the base frequency is down from Kaby Lake, Turbo frequencies are up slightly.

This new family introduces the first-ever 6-core Intel Core i5 desktop processor and first-ever 4-core Intel Core i3 desktop processor. The family offers a wide range of performance options for consumers with unlocked “K” processors that deliver maximum tuning flexibility at each brand level and up to 40 platform PCIe 3.0 lanes for system expandability on graphics, storage and I/O. These processors are supported with new Intel Z370 chipset-based motherboards.

Intel says the flagship Coffee Lake S-series chip, the i7-8700K, is the best gaming CPU it has ever made. Anand Srivatsa, general manager of the desktop platform group at Intel, suggested it is a better gaming chip than the Core i9-7800X, which, despite the same number of cores/threads, faster memory, and more PCIe lanes, can't match the i7-8700K when it comes to optimized single-threaded performance.

August also brought the disappointing news that Coffee Lake chips will not be compatible with 200-series motherboards. The company has now announced the Z370 chipset, which will support the new chips' increased number of cores through improved power delivery.

Despite using the same LGA 1151 socket, Z370 isn’t compatible with older CPUs. It also features support for DDR4-2666 memory, Thunderbolt 3, and Intel’s Optane system acceleration tech.

The Coffee Lake desktop CPUs will launch on October 5.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/71109-intel-announces-8th-generation-coffee-lake-desktop-chips.html

 

[Puiu]

This is year is going to be remember for many decades to come as the year when the core wars was restarted. 2017 has been amazing for CPUs.

 

[amstech]

Glad the 8700 series is now a 6/12, hopefully 5.2GHz is possible with the 8700/8700K.
Looks to be the chip to get if building a gaming rig and looking to hit around 5.0GHz.

 

[Uncle Al]

Yeah .... what will be even more amazing is how much more REAL performance we'll see and if people are willing to lay down a chunk of change for that slight increase. I figure my i7 is good for a few more years before I start seeing any real drop off.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Coffee Lake? What a ridiculous name. Intel's marketing goons should sit around the boardroom table drinking caffeine free before deciding on names.

 

[BadThad]

Intel cranking out little more than marketing release CPU's lately. Basically the same old, same old Core-based CPU's with small tweaks. One of the main tricks they use is increasing the name - 3700, 4700, 5700 to pressure enthusiasts into thinking they have an old system and need to keep up with the numbers. To that I say BAH! I just build a 4770K system about 3 years ago and guess what? It meets ALL of my needs!

 

[Docus]

Coffee Lake? What a ridiculous name. Intel's marketing goons should sit around the boardroom table drinking caffeine free before deciding on names.

I actually like it. As a confessed caffeine addict, I'm more likely to buy a Coffee Lake than any other ___ Lake processor they come up with.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I actually like it. As a confessed caffeine addict, I'm more likely to buy a Coffee Lake than any other ___ Lake processor they come up with.

I enjoy a cup of coffee just as much as the next person and as an in-house code name, it's fine, but they could be a bit more creative with the release names. Google does it well with their Android OS's named after sweet treats and even AMD could impress with names such as Pile driver, Excavator & Bulldozer, even if those parts couldn't even punch their way out of a paper bag. Coffee Lake, Kaby Lake etc. don't evoke any kind of curiosity simply because they don't sound interesting. Maybe it's their intention to try underplay things but if you're confident you have something good, you'd want to impress the people and that starts with a name. Imagine if the creators of "Hulk" decided to call the character "Henry" instead?..

 

[Docus]

I enjoy a cup of coffee just as much as the next person and as an in-house code name, it's fine, but they could be a bit more creative with the release names. Google does it well with their Android OS's named after sweet treats and even AMD could impress with names such as Pile driver, Excavator & Bulldozer, even if those parts couldn't even punch their way out of a paper bag. Coffee Lake, Kaby Lake etc. don't evoke any kind of curiosity simply because they don't sound interesting. Maybe it's their intention to try underplay things but if you're confident you have something good, you'd want to impress the people and that starts with a name. Imagine if the creators of "Hulk" decided to call the character "Henry" instead?..

Fair enough.
I'd still like a Coffee Lake and a new PC, but I don't think it's in the cards this year. :\

 

[Carmaine]

I actually like it. As a confessed caffeine addict, I'm more likely to buy a Coffee Lake than any other ___ Lake processor they come up with.

I enjoy a cup of coffee just as much as the next person and as an in-house code name, it's fine, but they could be a bit more creative with the release names. Google does it well with their Android OS's named after sweet treats and even AMD could impress with names such as Pile driver, Excavator & Bulldozer, even if those parts couldn't even punch their way out of a paper bag. Coffee Lake, Kaby Lake etc. don't evoke any kind of curiosity simply because they don't sound interesting. Maybe it's their intention to try underplay things but if you're confident you have something good, you'd want to impress the people and that starts with a name. Imagine if the creators of "Hulk" decided to call the character "Henry" instead?..

Hahaha. I kind of agree too. I'm still rocking the 4790K since it came out, and I'll admit that it's code name, "Devil's Canyon" sounded pretty bad ***.

XD

 

[Adhmuz]

About god damn time they start bringing more cores to table, the original i7 920 had the same core count as the out going 7700k, almost 10 years later.

Had I paid for my 6800k in my current system I'd be a tad upset about the news, but I still have the better platform for my needs and it does come with quad channel DDR4, can't touch those potential overclocks however.

 

[Kenrick]

Im waiting for a proper review. Im ready to upgrade my haswell, so its either ryzen or the coffee lake. Im inclining towards intel as usually they dont need optimizations in the software side just to function properly.

 

[lripplinger]

So the LGA 1151 socket remains, but the new chips are only compatible with the new z370 chipset and iterations. I'm guessing maybe the electrical requirements have changed, and thus the meaning the socket wiring might be different, meaning the pins are wired up differently than on Z270/Z170 boards?

 

[Vulcanproject]

Intel just need to stop changing their platform so often. These would be gold if they worked on Z170 and newer boards.

Saying that if you're in the running for a new system Intel have some nice looking chips. 8350K is a 7600K for less than $170 and could be a good buy.

8600K needs to overclock very well because it's up against the Ryzen 1600X which has a major thread advantage, I think it could be the better buy though if you can hit the speeds hinted at (5GHz)

As for the 8700K it's the ultimate gaming CPU and will just sell even at that premium. It should batter the 1700X in games and probably won't be far off in multi threading (despite being 2 cores down!) when both are overclocked. A leak suggested 5.3GHz was possible on a good AIO. Even 'just' 5GHz would mean it had a 25 percent clockspeed advantage over a 4GHz 1700X and likely negate most of the extra cores advantage.

Would be a gaming monster. Sweet chip.

 

[mrjgriffin]

I'm just going to guess these processors will only run on windows 10? they need to run on windows 7...I hate windows 8/8.1 and 10.

 

[Boilerhog146]

So the LGA 1151 socket remains, but the new chips are only compatible with the new z370 chipset and iterations. I'm guessing maybe the electrical requirements have changed, and thus the meaning the socket wiring might be different, meaning the pins are wired up differently than on Z270/Z170 boards?

That's intel for ya.they did the same with the 2011 socket v1 v2 v3 I have a 3930k on v1. Probably just the new features with the chipset.knowing intel.

 

[Kotters]

More chipsets, more platforms, more pasted IHSes.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

I actually like it. As a confessed caffeine addict, I'm more likely to buy a Coffee Lake than any other ___ Lake processor they come up with.

I enjoy a cup of coffee just as much as the next person and as an in-house code name, it's fine, but they could be a bit more creative with the release names. Google does it well with their Android OS's named after sweet treats and even AMD could impress with names such as Pile driver, Excavator & Bulldozer, even if those parts couldn't even punch their way out of a paper bag. Coffee Lake, Kaby Lake etc. don't evoke any kind of curiosity simply because they don't sound interesting. Maybe it's their intention to try underplay things but if you're confident you have something good, you'd want to impress the people and that starts with a name. Imagine if the creators of "Hulk" decided to call the character "Henry" instead?..

1) Coffee Lake is a real lake if Intels codename history is anything to go by so they're not really in the creative naming business. They're into the "finding real landmarks" business. (I found at least 1 real lake named "Coffee Lake" (48 acres) by doing a Google search. Anybody got anything else?

http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/lakepages/LakeDetail.aspx?wbic=2922200&page=map

2) I'd rather Intel speak softly and carry a big stick versus what AMD did with Pile Driver, Excavator and Bulldozer. Now, it's just embarassing for AMD I'm sure but it's the past.

3) Ryzen is a very good and appropriate codename for AMD now.

4) I, like Docus, am a coffee addict. At least 1 cup a day. So I feel compelled to purchase this generation of chip.

5) And you could argue it is an appropriate name. I hear caffeine get's the adrenaline going. And that's a good thing isnt it?

Now, I need to sell my Haswell i5-4590 before it reaches the point of people spitting on me when it's offered to them for free. Like my eMachine T5088. Haswell i5-4590 anyone?

 

[TheBigFatClown]

I'm just going to guess these processors will only run on windows 10? they need to run on windows 7...I hate windows 8/8.1 and 10.

I fought against Windows 10 for so long. I really did. I think Microsoft has given back a lot in the battle. Maybe not all. What can you do now? At least we have options. Windows 7, Linux and all it's flavors have come a long way.

What do you hate specifically?

 

[dcnc123]

Sorry Intel! But my money goes to AMD Threadripper

 

[flipp3r]

Intel cranking out little more than marketing release CPU's lately. Basically the same old, same old Core-based CPU's with small tweaks. One of the main tricks they use is increasing the name - 3700, 4700, 5700 to pressure enthusiasts into thinking they have an old system and need to keep up with the numbers. To that I say BAH! I just build a 4770K system about 3 years ago and guess what? It meets ALL of my needs!

That 1st number is the Generation. Your 4770K is 4th Gen. Easy.

 

[Sotiris Sot]

Lets see how this will go ! I am waiting for benchs!

 

[LeroN]

An Intel's problem is that to outperform Rysen their CPUs should get at least 15-20% higher performance per a core. But tests show 1-10% advantage only between i7-7700k and i7-8700k. In apps optimized for multitasking new i5 CL won't be faster then R5 1600 and i7 CL won't be faster then R7. So you buy new CPU just to have more cores for the future and slightly increased performance in games today. At same time AMD still have a room for price changes. This can be a trap for Intel in a case of a smart AMD's game.

 

[DynamoNED]

On one hand, having lived through the GHz Wars, I'm excited to finally see multi-core computing becoming mainstream. Being stuck on only quad-cores at the top of the mainstream range for the last decade, perhaps now we'll see software finally begin to take real advantage of parallel processing. Bring on the Core Wars, and may the best architecture win!

On the other hand, I'm disappointed to see that "8th Gen" Intel CPU's are basically Kaby Lake Refresh architecturally. The move to Z370 chipset while sticking with Socket 1151 reminds me of the worst of the Socket 775 days. You had to check which revision of Socket 775 your motherboard used to ensure it was compatible with the Socket 775 CPU you were using. (I learned this the hard way when attempting to upgrade a Dell XPS 410 desktop with a Q8400. Thankfully, that motherboard accepted a Q6600 without issue.) Still, I'll withhold judgement until I see 3rd-party benchmarks.

 

[BrianMontanye]

I'm just going to guess these processors will only run on windows 10? they need to run on windows 7...I hate windows 8/8.1 and 10.

The 7th gen ran on 7 just fine. The issue is with MS not patching the OS if you happen to have a post gen 6 processor running win 7/8. You can hack it but really, 10 is pretty decent. No idea on the gen 8 but I would imagine the same issue, as long as there is a chipset driver that will work on the older OS's.