Intel’s Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs have been the staple processors of PC gaming for completely yonks – they usually don’t present any indicators of going away, both. Right now, we’re on the eighth and ninth technology of Intel Core CPUs, that are collectively identified beneath the umbrella time period of ‘Coffee Lake’. It’s been some time since I’ve up to date this information, so right here’s a recent take a look at every little thing it’s essential find out about Intel’s present crop of desktop CPUs, together with all of the completely different mannequin names, specs and costs, what separates a Coffee Lake from a Kaby Lake/Skylake/Ice Lake and all different method of ‘lakes’, which motherboard you want for an Intel Core CPU, in addition to what’s coming subsequent from the world of Intel.
Intel Coffee Lake: what’s it?
Coffee Lake is the manufacturing code identify given to all of Intel’s eighth and ninth technology processors. This consists of their most recognisable Core model, in addition to their entry-level Pentium and Celeron processors. The latter two are inclined to solely be present in very fundamental methods that aren’t kitted out for gaming, so for the rest of this text, I’ll be concentrating on Intel’s Coffee Lake Core processors.
The best option to discover out if a Core CPU is a Coffee Lake one is to take a look at its mannequin quantity. If it’s a part of Intel’s 8000 or 9000 household – for instance, the Intel Core i5-8400 or Intel Core i7-9700Okay – then you definitely’re in Coffee Lake territory.
Coffee Lake CPUs all use a 14 nanometer (nm) manufacturing course of. This refers back to the measurement of a processor’s particular person transistors. The smaller they’re, the extra you’ll be able to cram onto a single piece of silicon, leading to higher efficiency than chips with bigger, and thus fewer, transistors packed into the identical floor space.
Technically, Intel are a bit behind the curve right here, as AMD have already jumped to utilizing a 12nm course of for his or her newest Ryzen CPUs. Intel, then again, have chosen to keep on with the identical 14nm manufacturing course of as its final three generations of processor for Coffee Lake, albeit utilizing a course of that’s vastly ‘improved’ and extra environment friendly than their earlier 14nm Broadwell, Skylake and Kaby Lake chips. To use the official parlance, it’s technically referred to as 14nm++.
The most vital factor about Coffee Lake, nevertheless, isn’t the variety of transistors it has – it’s the variety of cores that include every CPU. Whereas earlier Core i3 processors solely ever had two cores at their disposal, Coffee Lake Core i3 CPUs now include 4. Intel’s Core i5 and Core i7 branches additionally bought a lift, going from 4 cores to 6, whereas their very first Core i9 CPUs have eight.
The finish result’s a large improve in efficiency throughout the board – notably on the decrease finish of Intel’s Core household – with out an excessive amount of of a large improve in worth, making them extra aggressive within the face of AMD’s exceedingly good worth Ryzen CPUs.
Intel Coffee Lake specs and worth
Just like earlier generations of Intel processor, desktop Coffee Lake CPUs are break up into three principal brackets: Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7. Core i3 CPUs are usually focused towards lower-end finances PCs, Core i5s are usually an excellent shout for mid-range machines, whereas Core i7s are correct high-performance powerhouses.
Intel’s additionally not too long ago launched an much more highly effective household of Core i9 Coffee Lake processors, too. Previously, Core i9 processors have been meant for professional-grade workstations – not the likes of shopper PCs, however this all modified with the introduction of the Core i9-9990K. There’s nonetheless solely one in all them obtainable in the intervening time, however there are sure to be extra becoming a member of the Core i9 ranks within the months to return.
You may additionally come throughout some with a + check in entrance of them, too, such because the Intel Core i7+ 8700. This means the processor has Intel’s super-duper Optane Memory on board for even sooner speeds and decrease latency.
Here’s a listing of all of them in useful desk type, with the highest CPU in every Core class listed on the high.
| Core i3 | Cores / Threads | Base clock velocity | Turbo Boost velocity | TDP | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i3-9350KF | 4 / 4 | 4.0GHz | 4.6GHz | 91W | £195 / $173 |
| Core i3-8350Okay | 4 / 4 | 4.0GHz | N/A | 91W | £168 / $170 |
| Core i3-8300 | 4 / 4 | 3.7GHz | N/A | 62W | £159 / $214 |
| Core i3-8100 | 4 / 4 | 3.6GHz | N/A | 65W | £120 / $119 |
| Core i5 | Cores / Threads | Base clock velocity | Turbo Boost velocity | TDP | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i5-9600Okay | 6 / 6 | 3.7GHz | 4.6GHz | 95W | £248 / $260 |
| Core i5-9400 | 6 / 6 | 2.9GHz | 4.1GHz | 65W | £195 / $182 |
| Core i5-8600Okay | 6 / 6 | 3.6GHz | 4.3GHz | 95W | £260 / $260 |
| Core i5-8600 | 6 / 6 | 3.1GHz | 4.3GHz | 65W | £257 / $245 |
| Core i5-8500 | 6 / 6 | 3.0GHz | 4.1GHz | 65W | £207 / $220 |
| Core i5-8400 | 6 / 6 | 2.8GHz | 4.0GHz | 65W | £194 / $194 |
| Core i7 | Cores / Threads | Base clock velocity | Turbo Boost velocity | TDP | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i7-9700Okay | 8 / 8 | 3.6GHz | 4.9GHz | 95W | £410 / $410 |
| Core i7-8086Okay | 6 / 12 | 4.0GHz | 5.0GHz | 95W | £435 / $475 |
| Core i7-8700Okay | 6 / 12 | 3.7GHz | 4.7GHz | 85W | £387 / $370 |
| Core i7-8700 | 6 / 12 | 3.2GHz | 4.6GHz | 65W | £331 / $305 |
| Core i9 | Cores / Threads | Base clock velocity | Turbo Boost velocity | TDP | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i9-9900Okay | 8 / 16 | 3.6GHz | 5.0GHz | 95W | £525 / $530 |
There are a few issues to notice right here, as you’ve in all probability observed a few these have additional letters caught on the tip. KF means they’re ‘unlocked’ and due to this fact ripe for overclocking, however they don’t have any onboard graphics, so that you’ll positively have to pair them with a graphics card as a way to see something in your monitor. Regular Okay processors, then again, are unlocked and have onboard graphics identical to the remainder of Intel’s Core CPUs. You’ll must be sure to truly pair them with a motherboard that really helps overclocking to benefit from it, although. Speaking of which…
What motherboard do I want for Coffee Lake CPUs?
Although Coffee Lake CPUs bodily match into the identical LGA 1151 motherboard sockets as Skylake and Kaby Lake chips, you sadly can’t simply bung your shiny new Coffee Lake chip into any previous LGA 1151 board: chances are high it received’t work. Instead, it’s essential be sure to get one with a 300-series chipset in it. 100- and 200-series chipsets are for Skylake and Kaby Lake processors solely.
I’ve lined this topic in additional element over in our motherboard / CPU combo guide, however basically, you’re in search of one in all 4 principal motherboard sorts:
- H310 (priced between £50 – £78 within the UK and $55 – $85 within the US)
- B360 (priced between £60 – £118 within the UK and $63 – $155 within the US)
- H370 (priced between £80 – £130 within the UK and $85 – $154 within the US)
- Z370 (priced between £100 – £230 within the UK and $100 – $190 within the US)
- Z390 (priced between £120 – £260 within the UK and $115 – $290 within the US)
Naturally, cheaper 300-series motherboards are usually higher companions for lower-end Coffee Lake chips, whereas dearer motherboards will allow you to get the very best out of your Core i7s and overclockable Core i5s. The Z390 chipset was additionally launched alongside Intel’s Core i9 CPUs to assist customers get the very best out of their tremendous quick processors.
What’s with all of the lakes? How is Coffee Lake completely different to Kaby Lake and Skylake?
Intel’s had a factor about watery naming conventions ever because the starting of the 2010s. Before they began on their ‘Lake’ theme, we had a pair of ‘bridges’ within the type of 2011’s Sandy Bridge and 2012’s Ivy Bridge, earlier than shifting onto some ‘wells’ with Haswell and Broadwell.
Then got here Skylake, which got here to be referred to as Intel’s sixth technology of desktop CPUs. These chips additionally used the 14nm manufacturing course of, and had mannequin names equivalent to Core i5-6600Okay and Core i7-6700.
However, Skylake can be the identify of the underlying microarchitecture utilized by Intel’s seventh technology of desktop processors, Kaby Lake (Core i5-7350Okay and Core i7-7600Okay, and so forth), and even the present eighth Gen, Coffee Lake. It’s additionally set to type the idea of Intel’s subsequent set of processors, that are at the moment codenamed Ice Lake.
So technically, we’ve been utilizing ‘Skylake’ chips for the final three years. That’s largely all the way down to Intel ditching their so-called ‘tick-tock’ improve mannequin of yore, the place a ‘tick’ yr represented a shrinking of nanometers, and a ‘tock’ yr launched a brand new micro-architecture. Indeed, the final ‘tock’ was that preliminary introduction of Skylake. Now, we’re alleged to be in a ‘process, architecture, optimization’ mannequin, however all we’ve had are optimizations as a result of the following course of (or nanometer shrinking) ended up getting delayed.
Indeed, we’ve now had one other optimisation refresh within the type of Intel’s ninth Gen of Coffee Lake CPUs. These have been constructed to mitigate in opposition to the Meltdown and Spectre safety vulnerabilities that have been blown open originally of 2018.
However, at CES 2019, Intel lastly confirmed that their new Ice Lake processors would lastly be right here by the tip of 2019. Sort of.
So the place does Ice Lake slot in?
Ice Lake will lastly transfer Intel’s CPUs onto the long-awaited 10nm manufacturing course of, and it’s coming someday in Holiday 2019. Ice Lake can even be working Intel’s new Sunny Cove structure, which guarantees to ship huge enhancements in AI computations and machine studying over the present Skylake micro-architecture, and most significantly keep on Intel’s watery naming conventions.
At the second, although, Ice Lake is simply slated to reach on laptops by the tip of 2019, so we could properly have to attend till the latter a part of 2020 earlier than we see the desktop variations begin to arrive. As of but, there’s no affirmation in regards to the sort of costs we will anticipate to see, or what sort of specs they’ll have.
Still, the options Intel have talked about to date definitely sound promising for laptops. With the facility effectivity boosts that include shifting to 10nm, this implies massively improved battery life – more than 24 hours, Intel informed Digital Trends – and laptops with a lot thinner chassis, all with out the standard compromises on efficiency.
Ice Lake can even have built-in assist for Thunderbolt 3, permitting for knowledge switch speeds of as much as 40Gbps, plus Wi-Fi 6 (or 802.11ax) for the very best wi-fi web speeds. Lots of routers don’t truly assist this but, however no less than Intel’s new processors will probably be prepared for once they do.
And lastly, they’ll have all the suitable safety, i.e: correct {hardware} fixes, in opposition to the Spectre and Meltdown flaws talked about above.
Check again recurrently for extra updates as and once they’re introduced.
