Update September 7, 2017: If you’ve been waiting patiently for Intel’s Coffee Lake, then fear not. A new leak surrounding Intel’s 8th Gen distribution indicates that you might be able to get your hands on the new six-core silicon even earlier than expected.
If you can’t wait for 8th Gen processors, here’s our list for the best CPU for gaming.
Thanks to a deleted Reddit comment over at r/Intel, spotted by Videocardz, we can now expect a potential launch date of October 5, 2017. The leak comes in the form of an inventory enquiry for the 8700K, the six-core/12-thread flagship processor, from an unknown British retail source.
It’s possible that this is purely the date the stock is launched into the channel, with actual retail release following later. But whether we’re talking about an October 5 or October 10 launch, Coffee Lake is getting mighty close now.
The source also reports a base clockspeed of 3.7 Ghz, which matches up with what we are expecting from the flagship Coffee Lake chip. Unfortunately for us, the pricing for the 8700K has been removed from the screenshot. It is a possibility that we will see a price bump in comparison to the 7th gen equivalent processors, however – Intel will be trying to stay competitive with AMD’s Ryzen chips, which already offer more cores at less price-per-core.
Original story September 6, 2017: Intel’s Coffee Lake processors are expected ‘before the holiday season’, but Intel may have given away a more precise launch date during their 8th Gen launch Facebook live stream.
Intel kicked their 8th Gen Core launch off with mobile processors expected to be available in laptops later in September. Previous generations saw these low-end mobile processors launched in the back-to-school period, with the serious desktop processors making there way onto the scene at the start of the new year.
This time around, however, the desktop chips will be launching within the same year, just ten months after the Kaby Lake launch. Thanks to some tactical/awkward coffee cup* placement – yes, really – during the Intel 8th Gen launch live stream, it’s possible October 10, 2017 may be our launch date.
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Gregory Bryant, senior vice president at Intel, just about managed to get his cup, inscribed with ‘October’ down at the right point. Meanwhile, another employee precariously held a cup inscribed with ‘10. 2017’ in one hand, while awkwardly browsing on their 2-in-1 laptop with the other. It’s all a bit too relaxed at Intel HQ if you ask me.
It’s also possible both cups/mugs/coffee receptacle are simply there to denote an October release and not necessarily a specific date. Y’know, doubling-down, just in case Bryant missed his damned mark like he did in all the rehearsals…
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Intel’s 8th Gen is going to be made up of three separate microarchitectures: Kaby Lake Refresh, Coffee Lake, and Cannonlake. Both Kaby Lake Refresh and Coffee Lake are using the 14nm process, albeit with the 14nm+ and 14nm++ designs respectively. Six Coffee Lake processors have been certified by Intel and are expected to launch before the end of the year.
This Kaby Lake Refresh is being utilised within low-power mobile chips, while Coffee Lake is going to make up the bulk of desktop processors. Cannonlake, however, will be Intel’s first 10nm processor, although it’s only expected to make up ultra-low power chips within the 8th Gen, and not until later in 2018.
*Yes, they are cups not mugs. Artistic license.