Latest specifications of Intel's upcoming 8th generation Coffee Lake desktop processor family have leaked out. The latest details come from multiple sources and confirm the clock speeds of the new hexa core chips that will be available for the first time on Intel's mainstream platform.
Intel Coffee Lake Six Core Processor Details Leak Out - Core i7-8700K Clocks Up To 4.3 GHz
Now the details are really interesting and they also confirm a few things which we have heard in the previous week. The leak comes straight from an Intel manifesto which shows three products that are based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It should be pointed out that all three CPUs have six cores and that's really interesting. We can tell that the fastest model is the Core i7-8700k but don't know exactly what the remaining two chips would be called at launch.
Intel Core i7-8700K - The Flagship and First Six Core Mainstream CPU With 4.3 GHz Boost Clocks
So for the details, the first processor is the Core i7-8700K. This chip has 6 cores and 12 threads. The chip is clocked at a base frequency of 3.7 GHz and has a minimum core frequency set at 0.8 GHz which is for idle mode. The chip features a boost clock of 4.3 GHz on a single core, 4.2 GHz in dual core mode while quad and hexa core boost clocks are rated at 4.0 GHz which is impressive. The CPU has a BCLK frequency of 100 MHz which is expected from Intel CPUs. The chip features an unlocked multiplier as suggested by the "IA (Intel Architecture) Overclock Capable" panel.
The chip has dual channel memory support with native speeds of 2400 MHz. There's a total of 12 MB of smart cache on the processor, referring to the total L3 cache. The chip will be shipping with Intel's GT2 level graphics core with a minimum clock speed of 350 MHz. The interesting thing is that the chip packs a 95W TDP and is compatible with the LGA 1151 socket which means that Intel may allow Coffee Lake support on 200-series and even 100-series motherboards although there will be a new chipset known as Z390 launching alongside the chips.
The other two processors are very interesting too. There's another 95W chip that features clock speeds of 3.2 GHz base, 3.6 GHz (single core / dual core) boost and 3.4 GHz (quad core and hexa core) boost. This chip also supports overclocking but the clock speeds are rather lower for it to be a Core i5 K-Series chip. The other is a 65W part so we can take a guess that this is a T-Series, low TDP chip that comes with clock speeds of 3.1 GHz base but higher boost speeds of 4.2 GHz (single core), 4.1 GHz (dual core) and 3.9 GHz (quad and hexa core) boost clocks. Remaining specifications of the chips are rather similar.
Moving on, we have a CPU-z screenshot of an Intel Coffee Lake chip with 6 cores and 12 threads. This chip shows a 80W TDP and a clock speed of 3.50 GHz which boosts up to 3.9 GHz across all cores. There's no such chip mentioned in the Intel manifesto but it's a really interesting finding by Videocardz. It may turn out to be a very early engineering sample which it shows it is so final clock speeds and TDP may be even higher.
Intel Coffee Lake 8th Gen Desktop Core Lineup:
| CPU Name | Intel Core i3-8100 | Intel Core i3-8350K | Intel Core i5-8400 | Intel Core i5-8600K | Intel Core i7-8700 | Intel Core i7-8700K | Intel Core i7-8086K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Family | Coffee Lake-S | Coffee Lake-S | Coffee Lake-S | Coffee Lake-S | Coffee Lake-S | Coffee Lake-S | Coffee Lake-S |
| CPU Process | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm | 14nm |
| CPU Cores | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| CPU Threads | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Base Clock | 3.60 GHz | 4.00 GHz | 2.80 GHz | 3.60 GHz | 3.20 GHz | 3.70 GHz | 4.00 GHz |
| Boost Clock (Max) | N/A | N/A | 4.00 GHz | 4.30 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 4.70 GHz | 5.00 GHz |
| Boost Clock (6 Core) | N/A | N/A | 3.50 GHz | 4.40 GHz | 4.20 GHz | 4.30 GHz | 4.30 GHz |
| L2 Cache | 1 MB (256 KB per Core) | 1 MB (256 KB per Core) | 1.5 MB (256 KB per Core) | 1.5 MB (256 KB per Core) | 1.5 MB (256 KB per Core) | 1.5 MB (256 KB per Core) | 1.5 MB (256 KB per Core) |
| L3 Cache | 6 MB | 6 MB | 9 MB | 9 MB | 12 MB | 12 MB | 12 MB |
| Overclocking Support | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Socket Support | LGA 1151 | LGA 1151 | LGA 1151 | LGA 1151 | LGA 1151 | LGA 1151 | LGA 1151 |
| PCH | 300-Series | 300-Series | 300-Series | 300-Series | 300-Series | 300-Series | 300-Series |
| TDP | 65W | 91W | 65W | 95W | 65W | 95W | 95W |
| Price | $117 US | $168 US | $182 US | $257 US | $303 US | $359 US | $429 US |
Intel Coffee Lake 6 Core, 12 Thread Processor CPU-z Screenshot (Via Videocardz):
Intel Coffee Lake S CPU Lineup To Feature Hyperthreaded Core i7 and Core i5 Models With Up To 6 Cores, Core i3 To Boast 4 Cores – Support Recommended on Z370 Platform With LGA 1151 V2 Socket
The Coffee Lake S family which is the codename for the mainstream desktop platform is already known to feature the first 6 core mainstream processor from Intel. The processor lineup will launch in the third quarter with a release focused around August at Gamescom 2017. The release will include a series of 6 and 4 core models. There will also be dual core models added to the lineup but later in the first quarter of 2018.
The new 6 core parts will feature 50% more cores, threads and cache compared to current offerings. So we are looking at next-generation Core i7 mainstream SKUs with 6 cores, 12 threads and 12 MB of L3 cache. Similarly, the Core i5 models will be the first Intel mainstream models with full support for hyperthreading. The Core i5 models will ship with 6 core, non hyperthreaded and 4 core, hyperthreaded SKUs. There is internal discussion at Intel to allow hyper threading support on even the six core variants which would be nice.
The Core i5 models will ship with 4 cores, 8 threads and 8 MB of L3 LLC (Last Level Cache). This is up from 4 cores, 4 threads and 6 MB of LLC on the current Core i5 model. All models in the Coffee Lake S family will feature the next generation Intel GT2 tier graphics chip.The Pentium series will include 2 cores, 4 threads and up to 4 MB of L3 cache. There will also be some models with 3 MB L3 cache while featuring GT1 tier graphics chips.
Six core coming to mainstream platforms sounds great but there's still a lot that needs to be done. AMD has six and eight core processors on their mainstream platform that perform great and do so at amazing prices. If Intel really wants to show their support for desktop mainstream users, then it may have to be a mix of great performance and competitive pricing otherwise Ryzen may take the cake once again.
