The Intel Core i7-8700 was a desktop processor with 6 cores, launched in October 2017, at an MSRP of $303. It is part of the Core i7 lineup, using the Coffee Lake architecture with Socket 1151. Thanks to Intel Hyper-Threading the core-count is effectively doubled, to 12 threads. Core i7-8700 has 12 MB of L3 cache and operates at 3.2 GHz by default, but can boost up to 4.6 GHz, depending on the workload. Intel is building the Core i7-8700 on a 14 nm production process, the transistor count is unknown. The multiplier is locked on Core i7-8700, which limits its overclocking capabilities.
With a TDP of 65 W, the Core i7-8700 consumes typical power levels for a modern PC. Intel's processor supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel interface. The highest officially supported memory speed is 2666 MT/s, but with overclocking (and the right memory modules) you can go even higher. For communication with other components in the machine, Core i7-8700 uses a PCI-Express Gen 3 connection. This processor features the UHD Graphics 630 integrated graphics solution. Inside the box you will not only find the processor, but also a E97379-001 cooler.
Hardware virtualization is available on the Core i7-8700, which greatly improves virtual machine performance. Additionally, IOMMU virtualization (PCI passthrough) is supported, so that guest virtual machines may directly use host hardware. Programs using Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX) will run on this processor, boosting performance for calculation-heavy applications. Besides AVX, Intel is including the newer AVX2 standard, too, but not AVX-512.