Last time when we were talking about 8th Gen Intel Core Series CPUs, we saw a couple of Quadcore i5 & i7 processors that were made for Ultrabooks as they actually belong to the U-series that used to come with Dual Core CPUs until the 7th Gen Core processors. But, even those Quadcore 8th Gen U-series was an extension to the pre-existing Kaby Lake architecture.
So, everyone seemed to be quite a bit disappointed as a new architecture codenamed Coffee Lake was expected to debut as the core architecture for the 8th Generation CPUs. But, with a recent announcement, Intel has made their 8th Gen Desktop Processors official & yes sir, they’re based on the new Coffee Lake architecture.
So, Intel has actually launched two variants of all the three series. So, literally there are two i3 variants called the i3-8100 & the i3-8350K, two i5 variants called the i5-8400 & the i5-8600K and two i7 variants called the i7-8700 & the i7-8700K.
Now, all the i3 CPUs now come with Quadcore (4-core) configurations & all the i5 CPUs now come with Hexacore (6-core) configurations. But, neither of these have Hyperthreading built in. So, the i3 CPUs have 4 cores & 4 threads and the i5 CPUs have 6 cores & 6 threads. The i7 CPUs also have a Hexacore (6-core) configurations but, they also support Hyperthreading. So, the i7 CPUs have 6 cores & 12 threads that make them more powerful on the multi-threaded side.
As far the Specifications go, here is a chart that lists the important specs & shows a comparison between all the variants,
| i3-8100 | i3-8350K | i5-8400 | i5-8600K | i7-8700 | i7-8700K | |
| Process Technology | 14 nm | 14 nm | 14 nm | 14 nm | 14 nm | 14 nm |
| Number Of Cores | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Number Of Threads | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 12 |
| Base Frequency | 3.6 GHz | 4.0 GHz | 2.8 GHz | 3.6 GHz | 3.2 GHZ | 3.7 GHz |
| Max Frequency | – | – | 4.0 GHz | 4.3 GHz | 4.6 GHz | 4.7 GHz |
| Cache Size | 6 MB | 8 MB | 9 MB | 9 MB | 12 MB | 12 MB |
| Max PCIe Lanes | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| TDP | 65W | 91W | 65W | 95W | 65W | 95W |
| Memory Type | DDR4-2400 | DDR4-2400 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 |
| Max Memory Channels | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | Intel UHD Graphics 630 | Intel UHD Graphics 630 |
| Graphics Dynamic Frequency | 1.10 GHz | 1.15 GHz | 1.05 GHz | 1.15 GHz | 1.20GHz | 1.20 GHz |
| Listed Price | $117 | $168 | $182 | – | – | – |
These CPUs are compatible with Intel’s new Z370 motherboard platform and both the Motherboard & the CPUs are not backwards compatible with the predecessors. But, there are definitely some significant improvements that Intel has done across the platform. The Dual Core i3 line & the Quadcore i5 & i7 line from the previous generation got bumped to a Quadcore i3 line & Hexacore i5 & i7 lines.
Also, the Cache Sizes saw a significant bump where the i3 variants got a bump to 6MB & 8MB, the i5 variants got a bump to 9MB & the i7 variants got a bump to a freaking 12MB of Cache Memory.
That literally means that the 8th Gen CPUs are faster & can deliver way better multicore performance, at similar prices of the 7th Gen CPUs & that’s really a welcome step. But, there are still compromises & some of them are pretty disappointing compared to the AMD Ryzen Offerings.
- Intel is still stuck with 16 PCIe Lanes when AMD is offering 24 on their Ryzen CPUs
- Hexacore is great to have but, AMD is already offering 8 cores in the Ryzen 7 1800X that the i7-8700K will compete head to head.
- All the Ryzen CPUs come Unlocked for overclocking but, even in the 8th Generation & a brand new architecture you still need to buy the more expensive K version of CPUs to be able to Overclock.
That clearly makes the AMD Ryzen CPUs a better value for money compared to the new 8th Gen Intel Core Processors. But, that doesn’t mean that as a processor the Ryzen will also beat the 8th Gen Core CPUs in terms of performance & reliability. There is much more to consider like the Thermal Management & other optimizations that the OEM does on the factory. So, to confirm which one is a better Processor we need to compare them in real life. Before that, commenting anything may be misleading.
Intel also claims that these new 8th Gen CPUs have Frame Rate improvements upto 25% in Games compared to their 7th Gen Predecessors. In Content Creation, the editing Speeds are also upto 65% faster compared to a 3 Year Old PC.
Anyway, we are really happy to see Intel finally improving their product line & we’re definitely impressed by the 8th Gen Coffee Lake processors. This also makes us more exited for their upcoming 10nm Based Processors of this generation. But, that’ll definitely come late & maybe with the 8th gen Core i9 Processors later in 2018. But, if Intel wants to push that in their H-series Laptop Processors as well, we give them a freaking welcome.
So, what are your thoughts on the 8th Generation Coffee Lake processors ? Are you thinking to pick one up ? Definitely let us know in the comments section below.
Information Sources: Intel’s Press Release & Intel ARK
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