Skip to main content

Put down that wallet before buying a PC — Intel just teased its eighth-gen CPU

8th gen intel core launch
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Intel is such a tease. After spending for what seemed like forever talking about its seventh-generation “Kaby Lake” desktop processors, the company finally revealed the chips in January during the CES 2017 tech convention. Now, just mere weeks later, Intel is already teasing us with a new dangling carrot: Eighth-generation Intel Core processors.

The tease showed up on Intel’s official Twitter account revealing that its eighth-generation CPUs are on the 2017 roadmap for the second half of the year. However, the real meat of the story behind the social tease is that Intel “mentioned” its upcoming Core i7-8000 processor series during its investors meeting on Thursday. The chips will be based on Intel’s 14nm plus processing technology it used with the seventh-generation chips.

If you’re scratching your head with this one, you’re not alone. Intel was expected to launch three 14nm+ processor families in the second half of 2017 and into the first quarter of 2018: Kaby Lake-X, Skylake-X, and Coffee Lake. The supposed high-end Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors are actually expected to launch during Gamescom 2017 in August supporting Intel’s flagship X299 platform for enthusiasts.

Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X will be based on the 14nm plus process node and marketed under the Core i7-7000 K-Series brand. Skylake-X will have a maximum core count of 10 and Kaby Lake-X will have a maximum core count of four. At least four SKUs will be made available at launch.

That leaves Coffee Lake, which was expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2018. These will be six-core mainstream processors based on the 14nm plus process node, and split up into Coffee Lake-U (ultra-low power), Coffee Lake-X (enthusiast desktop), Coffee Lake-S (mainstream desktop), and Coffee Lake-H (notebook) SKUs. They reportedly not only improve on the Kaby Lake design, but include “architectural enhancements.”

That’s supposedly everything Intel is expected to roll out from its 14nm plus process technology. The 2-in-1 device Intel showcased during its CES 2017 keynote was a Cannon Lake processor based on the company’s 10nm process technology. Cannon Lake chips are expected to arrive in 2-in-1s and similar products during the back half of 2017.

So what Intel is likely teasing on Twitter is Coffee Lake. That’s just a guess, and Intel wasn’t willing to talk about the eighth-generation lineup outside what it revealed through Twitter. Intel told us that the new chips were only “briefly mentioned” during Thursday’s investor meeting. Sigh.

Ultimately, customer will see 20-30 percent better performance with the eighth-generation Core i7-8000 Series chips than they did with the Skylake family. That’s due to a 10 percent performance increase when moving from Skylake to Kaby Lake, and a 15 percent performance increase when moving from Kaby Lake to Coffee Lake.

Since Intel won’t spill the official goods behind its Twitter post, we’ll have to wait for the Computex and/or CeBit tech conventions later this year. We already know Intel isn’t sweating AMD’s Ryzen invasion, and this is probably one of the reasons why.

Editors' Recommendations

Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
PC airflow guide: How to position your fans for best cooling
Exhaust fan in PC case.

Fan placement is an important component in your system's cooling. The quantity, positioning, and orientation of fans affects overall system performance, noise levels, and how often you need to clean your whole system out. Although you aren't going to see a dramatic difference in your PC's performance from adding one more fan, or making sure they're pushing instead of pulling (or vice versa), it's still useful to optimize this part of your PC's cooling to get the best experience for you, the PC user.

So, whether you're looking to boost your system's cooling to improve your overclock, or want to keep your fan speeds as low as possible without overheating, here's a guide to PC airflow, as well as some suggestions on fan placement and position that you might find useful.
Get the basics down

Read more
Why you should buy a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook Air
The 14-inch MacBook Pro on a window sill.

There are plenty of reasons to buy a MacBook Air instead of a MacBook Pro. If you want a MacBook on a budget, you don't necessarily need the goodies that come with upgrading to the MacBook Pro.

That being said, I'm going to argue for spending a little more. In my experience, the MacBook Pro offers several distinct advantages that help justify a higher price, especially with the introduction of the more affordable MacBook Pro 14 with the base M3. If you can stretch your budget a bit, here's why I think you should buy a MacBook Pro instead of a MacBook Air.
Setting the stage: pricing

Read more
Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: finally time to upgrade?
The screen of the Surface Pro 9.

Windows 11 is the newest version of Windows, and it's one of the best Windows versions released. At launch, the operating system was very similar to Windows 10, but it has morphed a lot over the past several years. Now, Windows 11 has several key differences compared to Windows 10.

If you've been holding out on upgrading, we have everything you need to know about Windows 11 and how it's different than Windows 10 in this article. We'll detail the differences, as well as show you the areas where Windows 11 is growing faster than Windows 10.
Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: what's new

Read more