Intel’s upcoming Kaby Lake desktop processors are set to release in early 2017, and will provide a performance increase over the current Skylake CPU lineup.
Upgrading from a Skylake to a Kaby Lake processor should be relatively pain-free, as the two processors generations use the same LGA-1151 motherboard socket, meaning you won’t have to switch out your motherboard to upgrade your CPU.
Various specifications and benchmarks for Intel’s upcoming desktop processor lineup have been revealed in the last couple of months, providing a general outline of what to expect from Kaby Lake.
It is important to note however, that Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform for Kaby Lake processors.
Tick-Tock
Intel has traditionally used a Tick-Tock model which outlines its approach to die shrink and microarcheticture optimisations.
However, it has broken this tradition with Kaby Lake, opting to further optimise the 14nm Skylake architecture instead of introducing a new 10nm microarchitecture.
This means that while Kaby Lake processors will feature a reasonable performance increase, it will not have the same effect as the expected die shrink.
This will instead occur with the release of Intel’s planned 10nm Cannonlake architecture.
Specifications
Intel recently revealed the specifications and details of various Kaby Lake Core i5 and Core i7 processors via a Product Change Notification document sent through public channels.
The document shows that at least eleven quad-core Kaby Lake processors are expected to release in Q1 2017.
While the CPU PCN document outlined the basic specifications and names of the chips, it only provided a base clock speed figure and not boost clock speeds, which are expected be considerably higher.
Below are the leaked Kaby Lake processor specifications:
|
Model
|
Physical Cores
|
Threads
|
Base Clock Speed
|
TDP
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i7-7700K | 4 | 8 | 4.2GHz | 95W |
| Core i7-7700 | 4 | 8 | 3.6GHz | 65W |
| Core i7-7700T | 4 | 8 | 2.9GHz | 35W |
| Core i5-7600K | 4 | 4 | 3.8GHz | 95W |
| Core i5-7600 | 4 | 4 | 3.5GHz | 65W |
| Core i5-7600T | 4 | 4 | 2.8GHz | 35W |
| Core i5-7500 | 4 | 4 | 3.4GHz | 65W |
| Core i5-7500T | 4 | 4 | 2.7GHz | 35W |
| Core i5-7400 | 4 | 4 | 3.0GHz | 65W |
| Core i5-7400T | 4 | 4 | 2.4GHz | 35W |
| E3-1205v6 | ? | ? | 3.0GHz | ? |
Performance Improvements
While the desktop processor performance improvements of Kaby Lake are still largely unknown, mobile Kaby Lake processors have been reliably benchmarked and may provide some idea of the boost offered by their desktop counterparts.
Below are a number of benchmarks detailing the performance increase offer by Intel’s mobile Kaby Lake processors:
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