Monday, August 7th 2017
Intel "Coffee Lake" Platform Detailed - 24 PCIe Lanes from the Chipset
Intel seems to be addressing key platform limitations with its 8th generation Core "Coffee Lake" mainstream desktop platform. The first Core i7 and Core i5 "Coffee Lake" processors will launch later this year, alongside motherboards based on the Intel Z370 Express chipset. Leaked company slides detailing this chipset make an interesting revelation, that the chipset itself puts out 24 PCI-Express gen 3.0 lanes, that's not counting the 16 lanes the processor puts out for up to two PEG (PCI-Express Graphics) slots.
The PCI-Express lane budget of "Coffee Lake" platform is a huge step-up from the 8-12 general purpose lanes put out by previous-generation Intel chipsets, and will enable motherboard designers to cram their products with multiple M.2 and U.2 storage options, besides bandwidth-heavy onboard devices such as additional USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt controllers. The chipset itself integrates a multitude of bandwidth-hungry connectivity options. It integrates a 10-port USB 3.1 controller, from which six ports run at 10 Gbps, and four at 5 Gbps.
Other onboard controllers includes a SATA AHCI/RAID controller with six SATA 6 Gbps ports. The platform also introduces PCIe storage options (either an M.2 slot or a U.2 port), which is wired directly to the processor. This is drawing inspiration from AMD AM4 platform, in which an M.2/U.2 option is wired directly to the SoC, besides two SATA 6 Gbps ports. The chipset also integrates a WLAN interface with 802.11ac and Bluetooth 5.0, though we think only the controller logic is integrated, and not the PHY itself (which needs to be isolated for signal integrity).
Intel is also making the biggest change to onboard audio standards since the 15-year old Azalia (HD Audio) specification. The new Intel SmartSound Technology sees the integration of a "quad-core" DSP directly into the chipset, with a reduced-function CODEC sitting elsewhere on the motherboard, probably wired using I2S instead of PCIe (as in the case of Azalia). This could still very much be a software-accelerated technology, where the CPU does the heavy lifting with DA/AD conversion.
According to leaked roadmap slides, Intel will launch its first 8th generation Core "Coffee Lake" processors along with motherboards based on the Z370 chipset within Q3-2017. Mainstream and value variants of this chipset will launch only in 2018.
Sources:
VideoCardz, PCEVA Forums
The PCI-Express lane budget of "Coffee Lake" platform is a huge step-up from the 8-12 general purpose lanes put out by previous-generation Intel chipsets, and will enable motherboard designers to cram their products with multiple M.2 and U.2 storage options, besides bandwidth-heavy onboard devices such as additional USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt controllers. The chipset itself integrates a multitude of bandwidth-hungry connectivity options. It integrates a 10-port USB 3.1 controller, from which six ports run at 10 Gbps, and four at 5 Gbps.
Intel is also making the biggest change to onboard audio standards since the 15-year old Azalia (HD Audio) specification. The new Intel SmartSound Technology sees the integration of a "quad-core" DSP directly into the chipset, with a reduced-function CODEC sitting elsewhere on the motherboard, probably wired using I2S instead of PCIe (as in the case of Azalia). This could still very much be a software-accelerated technology, where the CPU does the heavy lifting with DA/AD conversion.
According to leaked roadmap slides, Intel will launch its first 8th generation Core "Coffee Lake" processors along with motherboards based on the Z370 chipset within Q3-2017. Mainstream and value variants of this chipset will launch only in 2018.
119 Comments on Intel "Coffee Lake" Platform Detailed - 24 PCIe Lanes from the Chipset
My main point (and not pushing AMD specifically) was that in your use case, you might like the 10GBe built in on the Asrock X470 board or the extra lanes on a TR4 (you can get an 8 core CPU for it to keep costs down) and you can just swap out the chip later (for a couple of gens at least) versus needing to buy a new motherboard if the next gens prove worth it.
I also have to wonder about all that storage if you are not manipulating video/images. ;)
I'm definitely waiting to see how the 2xxx series TR looks before making a decision on a new machine.
File transfer from the internet can also be quite CPU intensive if using e.g. bittorrent.
I encode video in the background with my 8700K and play games, so I doubt file transfers and network activity would be a big issue.
I'm not against having a 10g nic on board as long as the motherboard comes with 2 nics - doesn't matter to me if they are 1 or 10 as I'll use the quad 10g nic for connections to my other PCs.
I don't manipulate video images really as far as edit them but I do rip them which due to the speed of my BD player it can't keep up with the processor power. I store every single movie and TV series I own on my computer. I can never go back to getting up and finding a disc again - far more costly to do it this way but I have zero regrets.
Do we even know how much 9700k will be and when it will be out? IMO, waiting until it and TR2xxx are both launched and then make a decision seems prudent.
I've asked about 3 times now; please let me know the model of NIC you have and if you got it at a good price, a link to buy would be great. Thanks!
If it's CFL or WHL then I expect them to debut before the end of this year.
In case someone is curious - this is the raid card - www.provantage.com/lsi-05-50011-00~7LSIG0VY.htm 9460-16iI think the 9700k may still be the 14nm process. I don't know much about the cascade lake x 10nm although they probably won't be out until January and will have a new socket although they are hopeful they'll have them out sooner - their manufacturing results so far point otherwise..
Anyway, back to our usual CPU shenanigans. ;)
With the Z270-WS it had 4 PCI-E x16 slots, all connected to the CPU through a PCI-E switch. I would assume the Z370-WS would be set up the same way. This allowed more flexibility, so you can do x16/x0/x16/x0 or you could do x16/x0/x8/x8(this is what you would want) or you could do x8/x8/x8/x8. Of course the ASUS WS boards aren't cheap, because the extra components to make this work aren't cheap.