Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Intel leaks suggest a 40th-anniversary CPU is coming soon

Jayce Wagner
By

It’s been nearly 40 years since Intel’s first x86 chip, the 8086, hit the market started its slow takeover of the microprocessor industry. If you’ve ever used a computer, you’ve used a processor based on the x86 architecture. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the 8086 chip, rumor has it Intel is planning to roll out a special edition processor with a few tricks up its sleeve.

According to several sources, the 40th anniversary processor will be called the i7-8086K, an unlocked six-core processor with a clock speed of 4.0GHz. Wccftech reports that the chip, if its specs are to be believed, will be among the fastest six-core processors on the market.

Recommended Videos

“The Core i7-8086K has similar core configuration as the Core i7-8700K. It features six cores, 12 threads and 12 MB of L3 cache. The TDP is maintained at 95 watts which is the same as the Core i7-8700K. The clock speeds are currently the fastest for an Intel 6 core processor,” Wccftech reports.

Related

The processor features a base clock of 4.0GHz with turbo boost speeds up to 5.1GHz. Apparently that’s only using a single core, however. The multi-core boost performance tops out at 4.4GHz without any overclocking.

The performance cited comes from Chinese-language sources which claim to have acquired a sample of the i7-8086K processor, so take the news with a grain of salt. That said, it wouldn’t be the first time Intel has rolled out an anniversary edition of one of its flagship processors — and it wouldn’t be the first time said processor was something a little special.

To commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Pentium line, Intel released the Pentium G3258 processor which featured surprisingly robust overclock capabilities as an homage to notoriously overlock-friendly Pentium Celeron chips.

So this is all something Intel has done before. The leaks also suggest fortuitous timing for the proposed i7-8086K. Computex lands on June 8, which would be very close to the actual 40th anniversary of the original x86 processor. Whether or not we’ll see this anniversary edition, or if it’s just an elaborate hoax, remains to be seen, but these leaks definitely make a strong case that Intel could have something special planned.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jayce Wagner
Jayce Wagner
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A staff writer for the Computing section, Jayce covers a little bit of everything -- hardware, gaming, and occasionally VR.
A major era in Intel chip technology may be coming to an end
An Intel processor over a dark blue background.

Intel's next-generation Arrow Lake chips are said to be coming out later this year, but we don't know much about them just yet. However, a new leak shows us that two crucial features may be missing from the next-gen CPU lineup: hyperthreading and support for the AVX-512 extension. If Intel is ditching hyperthreading, it's not entirely unexpected, but it might make it trickier for even its best processors to beat AMD.

Hyperthreading allows physical cores in Intel processors to perform two tasks simultaneously, improving efficiency and performance in multi-threaded applications. Intel first introduced it in 2002, but it hasn't used the technology in every generation of its CPUs between then and now. The tech was all but gone from client processors for many years following its launch, although it was still present in certain models. Since then, Intel has selectively implemented HT across its product stack. In the last few years, it became a staple, especially in midrange and high-end chips.

Read more
What is CPU usage, and how to fix high CPU usage
Over the shoulder view of a person using a Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 laptop.

PC freezing, going slow, or running into hitches where it shouldn't? Even if you have one of the best processors, high CPU usage could be to blame.

Unfortunately, if you aren't too computer savvy, what this means, what part of your computer causes the issue, and CPU failure symptoms are all sort of a mystery.

Read more
Intel’s CPUs just got way more confusing
Intel Core i5-14600K processor inside its socket.

Intel announced a slew of new processors during CES 2024, including mobile and desktop CPUs and the new Intel Core Series 1 made for thin-and-light laptops. Some are destined to make the list of the best processors, but Intel's naming conventions are only getting more confusing, with machines sporting both its old naming convention and the new Core Ultra rebrand in 2024.

Starting with the Intel Core HX series, Intel is introducing five new CPUs made for gamers and creators, starting with the high-end Intel Core i9-14900HX, followed by the Core i7-14700HX, the Core i7-14650HX, the Core i5-14500HX, and lastly, the Core i5-14450HX. The top chip in the lineup sports a whopping 24 cores and 32 threads.

Read more