Intel may accelerate its CPU timeline in response to Ryzen, report says

By Brad Jones April 19, 2017

8th gen intel core launch — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Since its launch in February, Ryzen has proven to be a major boon for AMD, prompting speculation that the company is in the midst of a major comeback. That seems to have triggered a response from its biggest rival, as Intel is apparently making preparations to accelerate its release schedule.

Sources in the Taiwanese computing industry are reporting that Intel will lift the lid on its Basin Falls platform at Computex 2017, according to Hexus. This event begins at the end of May, which means that the reveal is coming a few months earlier than previously anticipated.

Basin Falls is comprised of the Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors, as well as the X299 chipset. Skylake-X will apparently consist of three 140W processors that utilize architectures with six, eight, or 10 cores. A 12-core variant will apparently follow in December. Basin Falls is expected to launch at E3 2017 in June, several weeks after it is scheduled to be unveiled at Computex.

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Meanwhile, Intel is also amending its plans for the release of the 14nm Coffee Lake architecture. The first chips produced as part of the line were expected to be made available in early 2018, but it now seems that they could be released as early as August.

Intel has apparently increased its manufacturing capacity by purchasing five new EUV machine sets from Dutch photolithography specialists ASML. This hardware will be used to make several K-series Core i3, i5, and i7 processors and Z370 chipsets available later this year, with further CPUs and H370, H310, and B360 chipsets set to follow in subsequent months.

If Intel’s amended schedule is accurate, the company is poised to showcase Basin Falls at two major conferences related to the computing and video game industries. As its years-long rivalry with AMD continues, all eyes will be on Basin Falls over the next few months.

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Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…

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