A month after the announcement of the eighth generation Core processors for laptops, Intel officially introduced a new chip formation for desktop computers, code-named Coffee Lake. They are manufactured using an improved 14nm process technology and, as in the case of the mobile Kaby Lake Refresh, contain more cores than their predecessors. If we do not take into account the decisions of the HEDT class, then this is the first increase in the number of cores in the "desktop" Intel CPUs since 2006, when the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 was released.
The Core i7 and i5 have six cores, while the Core i3 has four. At the same time, the i7 series models implement HyperThreading technology, thanks to which they execute 12 threads simultaneously. All six new products, which are listed on the slide below, are equipped with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 630 GPU and can work with Intel Optane drives. Support for DDR4-2666 is also announced, with the exception of Core i3 compatible with DDR4-2400.
The nominal clock speed of the most powerful member of the family - Core i7-8700K - is 3.7 GHz, which is 500 MHz less than last year's Core i7-7700K. At the same time, under load, the chip develops 200 MHz more - 4.7 GHz. The difference between the "passport" frequency and turbo mode reaches almost 27%, but dynamic acceleration turbo boost Max 3.0 is not used here, we are talking only about the usual Turbo Boost 2.0. Obviously, Intel resorted to a new frequency formula in order to achieve a performance increase without a serious increase in heat dissipation requirements: the TDP of the Core i7-8700K is 95 W, which is only 4 W more than the i7-7700K.
Talking about the speed of new processors, the developers promise a 25% increase in frame rates in modern games, 65% faster in content creation applications such as Adobe Photoshop, and 32% faster 4K video processing. Together with computing power prices have also risen: for example, the cost of the i7-8700K in batches of 1000 units is $359, which is 18% more expensive than the 7700K model. The retail sale of new items will arrive on October 5 this year, deliveries to computer manufacturers will begin in the fourth quarter.
Simultaneously with CPU Coffee Lake Intel announced the Z370 chipset supporting them. The press release states that motherboards based on the chipset meet the increased power requirements of 8th generation six-core Core processors and allow you to install RAM DDR4-2666 standard. The first solutions based on the Z370 will also be announced on October 5, but some of them are already online before the deadline.
The beginning of April was marked by the mass release of new Intel products: eighth generation processors (Coffee Lake) and chipsets for them. New season trends: 6-core mobile processors, new Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) functionality, lower power consumption for high-performance processors, and a plus sign for Optane-compatible models. We won’t talk about the latter (we’ll get by with a picture), but we’ll go through the rest in more detail.
New desktop and mobile chipsets
In addition to the previously lone Z370 chipset, Intel released full set models for all applications: workstations, home PCs and budget options. The line building logic is the same as before: Z370 - advanced home, H370 - home / office, Q370 - corporate. The latter differs from all support vPro.
The main feature of the 2018 chipsets was the support for the 802.11ac (2Tx2R) standard, which provides data transfer rates up to 1.7 Gbps. Wi-Fi is implemented using CNVi technology, the meaning of which is to transfer all complex and expensive interface components (logic, memory) to the chipset, leaving only the M.2 radio module “outside”. It should be noted, however, that the available functionality does not mean at all that manufacturers motherboards will use it, since the implementation costs money (in this case, about $15). Keep this in mind, especially when choosing a budget option.
The second interesting feature is the introduction of USB 3.1 Gen 2 support into the chipset (speed up to 10 Gb / s). The table shows the maximum possible number of ports, in reality there will be as many as the configuration of the HSIO lines will allow (say, unspecified 10G Ethernet on-board ports also use this resource, and not only them).
The line of mobile chipsets also looks familiar: HM370 (home), QM370 (work), QMS380 (budget work). Functionality with minor nuances repeats desktop counterparts, the latter lacks USB 3.1 G2, vPro is present in corporate models.
Mobile processors: the six-core flagship and the long-awaited Xeon E
From now on, top wearable devices can have up to 6 cores and 12 threads - because now we have the Core i9-8950HK, the first i9 in the mobile segment and so far the only one. The plate compares the new flagship with the previous one.
Draws attention to several points. First, the flagship is still open to overclocking. Secondly, the maximum frequency is really maximum, even compared to desktop models. Thirdly, here we see support for Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology.
TVB - further development Turbo technologies boost. If the processor temperature remains below a certain level (in this case 53°C), one of its cores can increase its frequency more than the maximum of the others by several hundred MHz (here 200), which makes it possible to work out sharp, explosive loads more smoothly. However, again, whether a CPU will be capable of TVB depends both on the quality of a particular processor instance, and on the cooling efficiency in a given device model. In advance, without tests, it is problematic to say.
Next news: the Xeon E-series processors are finally released, the junior "mobile server" models announced at the launch of the Xeon Scalable. So far there are only 2 of them, Xeon E-2186M and Xeon E-2176M.
Xeon E differs from the productive mobile processors Core i5 / i7 of the new generation with an increased cache, higher maximum frequencies and support for ECC memory. But their power consumption is no different - both there and there TDP 45 W, which, of course, is more honorable for Xeon.
As for processors for ultra- and other beeches, the most honorable place among them is now occupied by models with Radeon Vega graphics, however, their cost and TDP under 100 W may seem excessive to someone, and here models with a built-in iris graphics Plus last Generations Intel Core i3-8109U, i5-8259U, i5-8269U, i7-8559U .
GT3e graphics use up to 128MB eDRAM, has maximum frequency 1.2 GHz and 48 execution units (the previous generation graphics had a maximum of 24 execution units and did not use eDRAM). At the same time, the heat dissipation of these processors is only 28 watts. It is these models that will become the basis for most models of mid-range laptops.
Desktop processors: energy efficiency and diversity
The desktop line of Coffee Lake processors has almost three dozen models and stretches the entire length from Core i7 to Celeron. The table shows the most interesting models of the top of the line.
Each index is represented by two or three models: basic, with an unlocked multiplier and reduced power consumption. The latter will undoubtedly attract attention: the Core i7 with a TDP of 35 W sounds attractive. You just need to keep in mind that the heat pack is calculated for the base frequency, and for processors with the T index it is very different from the maximum.
The younger models of the family, Intel Pentium Gold/Celeron, occupy a budget niche with all the ensuing circumstances. In many cases, their performance is quite enough.
Most of the models shown here will be available for purchase very soon.
The beginning of April was marked by the mass release of new Intel products: eighth generation processors (Coffee Lake) and chipsets for them. New season trends: 6-core mobile processors, new Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) functionality, lower power consumption for high-performance processors, and a plus sign for Optane-compatible models. We won’t talk about the latter (we’ll get by with a picture), but we’ll go through the rest in more detail.
New desktop and mobile chipsets
In addition to the previously lone Z370 chipset, Intel has released a complete set of models for all applications: workstations, home PCs and budget options. The line building logic is the same as before: Z370 - advanced home, H370 - home / office, Q370 - corporate. The latter differs from all support vPro.
The main feature of the 2018 chipsets was the support for the 802.11ac (2Tx2R) standard, which provides data transfer rates up to 1.7 Gbps. Wi-Fi is implemented using CNVi technology, the meaning of which is to transfer all complex and expensive interface components (logic, memory) to the chipset, leaving only the M.2 radio module “outside”. However, it is worth noting that the available functionality does not mean at all that motherboard manufacturers will use it, since the implementation costs money (in this case, about $15). Keep this in mind, especially when choosing a budget option.
The second interesting feature is the introduction of USB 3.1 Gen 2 support into the chipset (speed up to 10 Gb / s). The table shows the maximum possible number of ports, in reality there will be as many as the configuration of the HSIO lines will allow (say, unspecified 10G Ethernet on-board ports also use this resource, and not only them).
The line of mobile chipsets also looks familiar: HM370 (home), QM370 (work), QMS380 (budget work). Functionality with minor nuances repeats desktop counterparts, the latter lacks USB 3.1 G2, vPro is present in corporate models.
Mobile processors: the six-core flagship and the long-awaited Xeon E
From now on, top wearable devices can have up to 6 cores and 12 threads - because now we have the Core i9-8950HK, the first i9 in the mobile segment and so far the only one. The plate compares the new flagship with the previous one.
Draws attention to several points. First, the flagship is still open to overclocking. Secondly, the maximum frequency is really maximum, even compared to desktop models. Thirdly, here we see support for Thermal Velocity Boost (TVB) technology.
TVB is a further development of Turbo Boost technology. If the processor temperature remains below a certain level (in this case 53°C), one of its cores can increase its frequency more than the maximum of the others by several hundred MHz (here 200), which makes it possible to work out sharp, explosive loads more smoothly. However, again, whether a CPU will be capable of TVB depends both on the quality of a particular processor instance, and on the cooling efficiency in a given device model. In advance, without tests, it is problematic to say.
Next news: the Xeon E-series processors are finally released, the junior "mobile server" models announced at the launch of the Xeon Scalable. So far there are only 2 of them, Xeon E-2186M and Xeon E-2176M.
Xeon E differs from the productive mobile processors Core i5 / i7 of the new generation with an increased cache, higher maximum frequencies and support for ECC memory. But their power consumption is no different - both there and there TDP 45 W, which, of course, is more honorable for Xeon.
As for processors for ultra- and other beeches, the most honorable place among them is now occupied by models with Radeon Vega graphics, however, their cost and TDP under 100 W may seem excessive to someone, and here models with a built-in Iris Plus graphics of the latest generation Intel Core i3-8109U, i5-8259U, i5-8269U, i7-8559U.
GT3e graphics use up to 128MB eDRAM, have a maximum frequency of 1.2GHz and 48 execution units (previous generation graphics had a maximum of 24 execution units and did not use eDRAM). At the same time, the heat dissipation of these processors is only 28 watts. It is these models that will become the basis for most models of mid-range laptops.
Desktop processors: energy efficiency and diversity
The desktop line of Coffee Lake processors has almost three dozen models and stretches the entire length from Core i7 to Celeron. The table shows the most interesting models of the top of the line.
Each index is represented by two or three models: basic, with an unlocked multiplier and reduced power consumption. The latter will undoubtedly attract attention: the Core i7 with a TDP of 35 W sounds attractive. You just need to keep in mind that the heat pack is calculated for the base frequency, and for processors with the T index it is very different from the maximum.
The younger models of the family, Intel Pentium Gold/Celeron, occupy a budget niche with all the ensuing circumstances. In many cases, their performance is quite enough.
Most of the models shown here will be available for purchase very soon.
Numerous inhabitants of technology forums all over the Internet are not easy to surprise. When Intel released its 8th generation 6-core Core processors not so long ago, many weren't impressed. In their opinion, Intel offers slightly revised old products in a new cover.
Perhaps the new processors have become derivatives of the previous ones, but this does not detract from their merits. There are enough differences, as a result of which many reviewers call them worthy of the transition from the chips of the past generation. AT last years this kind of thing happens infrequently. In support of this point of view, test results will be presented below.
What is the 8th Generation Intel Core?
As usual, understanding Intel products is not easy at all. First came the 8th Gen Core i7 Coffee Lake S for desktops. Then came the 8th generation Core i7 Kaby Lake R for ultraportable laptops. Why they weren't called Coffee Lake U is unknown.
Now we are talking about the 8th generation Core i7 Coffee Lake H for larger and gaming laptops. They can be considered an improved version of the 6th generation Skylake processors, which appeared in laptops back in 2015.
Since then, engineers have made many improvements. For example, the video processing engine in Kaby Lake has been greatly improved. Clock speeds have also increased compared to Skylake. The 14 nm process technology was finally brought to mind, earning the title of 14 ++.
MSI GS65 Stealth Thin RE
How the testing was done
AT desktop computers You can control cooling, power consumption, memory size and disk space. There is no such freedom in laptops, which significantly affects performance. Some laptops may be targeted at top speed work, others to maximum silence. The cooling system plays a role, and the size of the case depends on it.
In this case, it compares MSI laptop GS65 Stealth Thin 6-core CPU with 17" Lenovo Legion Y920. The latter is powered by a 4-core Core i7-7820HK and is an unlocked overclockable chip.
The past generation is Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501. This is a 17" laptop, very thin and running on 4 core processor Core i7-7700HQ.
6-core Core i7-8750H in MSI GS65 Stealth Thin
Performance
In all three laptops different GPUs. Lenovo Legion Y920 has this GeForce GTX 1070, Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501 has GeForce GTX 1080 Max-Q, MSI GS65 Stealth Thin uses GeForce GTX 1060.
Due to this disparity, little attention is paid to graphics performance. In this case, the emphasis is on the central processors.
This benchmark is based on the Maxon Cinema4D engine and prefers more cores. As a result, the transition from 4 cores to 6 provides a fairly large performance boost. Similar results can be expected in all applications using 6 cores or 12 threads of the Core i7-8750H.
Overclocked Core i7-7820HK lags behind Core i7-8750H
True, not all applications support multithreading. Of these, few are effective enough to show the results shown in the graph above. Without 3D graphics, video editing and other demanding tasks, it is better to look at the single-threaded performance of laptop processors.
This is exactly what was done, the reviewers tested Cinebench R15 using a single command stream. The results are even, but new processor still leading. Even against an overclocked Core i7-7820HK, it has a 7% advantage. Compared to the Core i7-7700HQ, the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501 has a 13% difference.
Leadership due to higher frequency
Benchmark based on the Corona Photorealistic renderer for Autodesk 3ds Max. Like Cinebench and most rendering applications, it likes a lot of cores. As a result, 6 cores are again better than 4.
The final rendering benchmark measures the rendering time for a single frame. Here the difference is not so significant. Perhaps it's the duration of the tests. Cinebench and Corona last a couple of minutes, Blender about 10 minutes.
When the processor in a laptop heats up, the clock speed starts to drop. Core i7-8750H has an advantage in the number of cores and clock speed. With continued use, this advantage begins to diminish. For the same reason, the nominal frequencies on the Core i7-7820HK are not impressive, while in overclocking the processor is much closer to the Core i7-8750H.
Encoding speed
used MKV file 30 GB 1080p, HandBrake 9.9 and Android Tablet profile. Here the process took about 45 minutes on a 4-core laptop, because of this, the frequency difference is minimized. At continuous load you can understand the value additional cores A: The new processor finished encoding in about 33 minutes versus 46 minutes on the Core i7-7700HQ.
Compression speed
The internal WinRAR benchmark is used. Early results are single-threaded, so the higher clock speed of the Core i7-8750H gave it an edge. True, the advantage is small.
Single Threaded Performance
The Core i7-7700HQ in the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501 performed poorly despite several tries. Since its performance in the rest of the tests was at the expected level, memory may be to blame. Asus uses 16 GB in one slot and 8 GB in the other, so dual-channel mode may not always be enabled. In WinRAR throughput memory plays an important role.
Multithreaded performance
The multi-threaded mode showed the expected results. The advantage of the new processor immediately became overwhelming, and the Core i7-7700HQ showed normal results.
Performance analysis
So the Core i7-8750H has more cores and a higher clock speed. Retested Cinebench R15 with 1 to 12 threads on Core i7-8750H and 1 to 8 on Core i7-7700HQ.
The results don't really match the actual performance difference. The chart below shows this difference more clearly. As you can see, the more threads, the higher the difference, which eventually reaches 50%.
Coffee Lake H has the same architecture as Kaby Lake H, so the only difference is higher clock speeds. For more detailed analysis Cinebench R15 was relaunched and the number of threads increased. The clock frequency has been analyzed for some time.
The Core i7-8750H runs at higher frequencies under light workloads compared to the Core i7-7700HQ. The further to the right, the more processors heat up, the difference is minimized.
Conclusion
In recent years, there has been no reason to change processors and laptops. For example, with a 5th generation Core i7, there was no point in switching to the 6th generation. The performance difference was only 6%-7%. Now it's not.
When moving from a laptop to a 7th Gen Core i7 to an 8th Gen for video editing, graphics processing, and other heavy tasks, the performance jump is more solid. This can be seen even at low load, but is especially noticeable at high.
Of course, for many users, what they have is enough. You don't need much for Word and the browser, so you need to understand whether you need increased performance or not.
For mobile solutions Core i9. This time it is worth paying attention to solutions for desktop systems. At the event in Beijing, in addition to mobile processor options for laptops, Intel introduced the 8th generation of Pentium and Celeron processors. Why are these models interesting?
First of all, they are intended for those players who want to build a system powerful enough to run modern games, but buying an i3 / i5 is not possible for them due to financial circumstances. Pentium and Celeron processors are cheaper, but their capabilities are not much inferior to expensive solutions.
The first technical characteristics of the new Pentium and Celeron
The new eighth generation Pentium Gold processors have been released to replace Kaby Lake models such as the Pentium G4560, G4600 and G4620. Hyper-threading debuted for the first time in the new series of processors, due to which many budget gamers began to buy G4560 models.
The new Penitum Gold Coffee Lake is planned to be sold at an affordable price. However, this is not the most pleasant news. The updated processor will be able to support higher operating frequencies, DDR4-2400 memory, will be equipped with ninth-generation graphics, and will also take advantage of the new 300th chipset. The list of new 8th generation Pentium and Celeron models is as follows:
- Pentium G5600. 3.9 GHz base frequency, 2 cores / 4 threads, 54W TDP, 4MB cache and $86.
- Pentium G5500. 3.8GHz base clock, 2 cores/4 threads, 54W TDP, 4MB cache and $75.
- Pentium G5400. 3.7 GHz base frequency, 2 cores / 4 threads, 54W TDP, 4MB cache and $64.
- Pentium G5500T. 3.2 GHz base frequency, 2 cores / 4 threads, 35W TDP, 4MB cache and $75.
- Pentium G5400T. 3.1 GHz base frequency, 2 cores / 4 threads, 35W TDP, 4MB cache and $64.
- Celeron 4920. 3.2 GHz base frequency, 2 cores / 2 threads, 54 W TDP, 2 MB cache and $52.
- Celeron 4900. 3.1 GHz base frequency, 2 cores / 2 threads, 54 W TDP, 2 MB cache and $42.
It is important to note that Celerons do not support TurboBoost and do not have hyperthreading.
All processors are built on the 14 nm ++ process technology, which also offers a number of advantages compared to Kaby Lake models. In addition to the increased operating frequency and improved technical process, all processors will receive 1 MB more cache in the third level.
However, given the low cost of these processors, it is impossible to say that they will become leaders in sales. For example, AMD processor Ryzen 3 2200G costs $14 more than new products. However, it has four physical cores, an unlocked multiplier, and Vega graphics, which is naturally better when running modern games. Therefore, it is unlikely that the top Pentium G5600 will become its competitor. Although it remains to be expected the release of new processors and their tests. Only then will it be possible to really assess the position of new products on the graphics accelerator market.