Intel Core i7 and Core i9 "Skylake-X," Core i5 and Core i7 "Kaby Lake-X" Sell

[btarunr]

Intel announced retail availability of its new Core X-series HEDT (high-end desktop) processors in the LGA2066 package, designed for motherboards based on the Intel X299 Express chipset. These include the 4-core/4-thread Core i5-7640X and 4-core/8-thread Core i7-7740X based on the "Kaby Lake-X" silicon; and 6-core/12-thread Core i7-7800X, 8-core/16-thread Core i7-7820X, and 10-core/20-thread Core i9-7900X chips based on the "Skylake-X" silicon. Compatible socket LGA2066 motherboards based on the X299 chipset began selling, too.

The Core i5-7640X features 4.00 GHz clocks with 4.20 GHz Turbo Boost, and 6 MB of L3 cache. The i7-7740X tops that with 4.30 GHz core and 4.50 GHz Turbo Boost out of the box, 8 MB of L3 cache, and HyperThreading. Both these chips feature just dual-channel DDR4 memory controller, meaning that you'll be able to use just four out of eight DIMM slots in most LGA2066 motherboards. The i5-7640X is priced at USD $242, while the i7-7740X goes for $339. These are the same prices at which you can buy the LGA1151 Core i5-7600K and i7-7700K, respectively, so an attempt is being made to transition all PC enthusiasts over to the HEDT platform.



The Core i7-7800X 6-core/12-thread chip ships with clock speeds of 3.50 GHz, and 4.00 GHz Turbo Boost; and 8.25 MB of L3 cache. You get a full quad-channel DDR4 memory controller; but like the "Kaby Lake-X" chips, this chip too has a limited PCI-Express budget of 28 lanes, so you can't run two graphics cards at full x16 bandwidth (wasn't that the whole point of the HEDT platform?). The i7-7800X is priced at $389, just $50 more than the i7-7740X, which seems like a bargain for the two extra cores and a whopping 0.25 MB of more L3 cache.

The Core i7-7820X 8-core/16-thread part is clocked at 3.60 GHz with 4.30 GHz Turbo Boost; featuring 11 MB of L3 cache, a quad-channel DDR4 memory controller; yet the same limited 28-lane PCIe root complex. It is priced at $599. Back in my day, a $279 Core i7-920 paired with any X58 motherboard to give you full x16 lanes to two graphics cards, and enabled 3-way and 4-way multi-GPU configurations. If that's what you want, then get ready to pay top-dollar for the Core i9-7900X.

The Core i9-7900X at $999 is your price of admission for the 44-lane PCIe root complex of the "Skylake-X" silicon. This 10-core/20-thread processor is clocked at 3.30 GHz, with 4.30 GHz Turbo Boost, and 13.75 MB of L3 cache. Both the i9-7900X and i7-7820X feature Intel's new Turbo Boost Max 3.0 feature, which adds a further 200 MHz to the max Turbo Boost frequency, if your cooling is satisfactory. All chips being launched today feature unlocked base-clock multipliers, which make overclocking a breeze. All "Skylake-X" chips feature TDP ratings of 140W.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Prima.Vera]

When can we see some comparison reviews, and mostly in games, and not just 1 or 2 please? Thanks!

 

[btarunr]

That $599 i7-7820X is the ultimate "lick deez nuts" from Intel. There will be a Threadripper part at exactly that price-point, which will give you 12-cores/24-threads, 32 MB L3 cache (>3x), 64-lane PCIe (run three full x16 graphics cards), and >4.00 GHz clocks.

 

[RejZoR]

Intel totally cocked up the PCIe lanes count.

 

[R0H1T]

Where's the venerable i3, it's as if they're ashamed to put it in the same bracket as an i5!

 

[Camm]

Intel totally cocked up the PCIe lanes count.

It also looks like 8 core and under are only getting a single 256 bit AVX unit as well .

 

[_JP_]

The Core i5-7640X features 4.00 GHz clocks with 4.20 GHz Turbo Boost, and 6 MB of L3 cache. The i7-7740X tops that with 4.30 GHz core and 4.50 GHz Turbo Boost out of the box, 8 MB of L3 cache, and HyperThreading. Both these chips feature just dual-channel DDR4 memory controller, meaning that you'll be able to use just four out of eight DIMM slots in most LGA2066 motherboards.

A board for which the least I would have to pay is ~250€ and up to 500€+ (AGAIN, like the X99) and it isn't fully-featured.
The i5/i7 bears no difference to a 1151 part...
This is "HEDT"?
HECK NO!

 

[TheLostSwede]

So much is wrong with this platform from CPU's and PCIe lanes to pricing.
Intel is normally quite ok at getting their SKUs and product positioning right, but this time they've really bodged it up.
Oh well, better luck next time Intel. Must be tough having some competition again.

 

[KainXS]

Intel still trying to be Intel even when they cannot price like Intel.

 

[ps000000]

Seem like unify socket but there will be 1151V.2 soon.

 

[R00kie]

Back in my day, a $279 Core i7-920

That made me feel old...

 

[Ferrum Master]

That made me feel old...

We are old... Let them buy this... we will pick up it later cheaper, just as always.

 

[the54thvoid]

I've read some pretty scathing reviews and they were trying to be neutral. Anandtech was quite good. Effectively, it feels like a total rush job *cough* Ryzen...
Good chips but very erratic performance. Read another review on the 7740 and it comes out looking worse than 7700.
Saving grace? Really good overclocking, unlike Ryzen.

 

[dozenfury]

So pay a $100-$200 premium for a HEDT mb...but unless you go with the $999 7900X, it's basically the same as non-HEDT performance after the memory and pci lane limits. HEDT price for non-HEDT performance is what it seems like.

 

[ERazer]

the i5-7640X and i7-7740X doesn't make sense it shoulda stayed in mainstream

it better have huge gain over 7700k when it comes to gaming.

 

[the54thvoid]

the i5-7640X and i7-7740X doesn't make sense it shoulda stayed in mainstream

it better have huge gain over 7700k when it comes to gaming.

That was one of the scathing issues - wtf is a 4 core chip doing on a x299 mobo? The great features of the x299 are nullified by the 7740 chip, so the combo is crippled from the get go. This is Intel at it's most stubborn, "here, have a faster 4 core on a new platform but because it's cheaper than our other chip on the platform, we're disabling lot's of features it should have to make it a bastard son." In other words if you want the x299 platform to shine you need to actually buy our 10 core chip (which is fair enough - it;s their market).

Anyway, currently happy enough with Ryzen but if I hadn't bought Ryzen, I would now probably spend the extra on a i7 7820 (once the Intel platform has matured and isnt so buggy )

http://www.anandtech.com/show/11550...core-i9-7900x-i7-7820x-and-i7-7800x-tested/17

I'm going to hold off on making a final recommendation for gaming for the moment, as right now there are clear platform problems. I have no doubt Intel and the motherboard vendors can fix them – this isn't the first time that we've seen a new platform struggle at launch (nor will it be the last).

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...590-intel-kaby-lake-x-i7-7740x-review-19.html

However, this doesn’t make the i7-7740X a great processor, nor is this a smooth launch worthy of Intel’s name. With the i7-7740X Intel is forcing you to make a decision: either buy a Kaby Lake-X and lose all of the features which make X299 an enthusiast-level platform or buy a processor that costs a thousand bucks. There is no middle ground anymore since every one of the i7-7800 processors is seriously nerfed in some way.

What could have been a compelling product ended up being a complete re-launch of the i7-7700K at the exact same price. But in this case it comes with lower performance and not one additional feature to distinguish the whole X299 + Kaby Lake-X combo from Z270. Drop an i7-7740X processor into an X299 motherboard and everything that makes the platform unique is thrown out the airlock. If you want additional PCI-E lanes, quad channel memory, compatibility with VROC or Turbo 3.0, look elsewhere. As a matter of fact, the “new” chipset’s capabilities are no different from Z270 either so nothing is gained there either. This whole situation is simply mind boggling.

 

[ERazer]

That was one of the scathing issues - wtf is a 4 core chip doing on a x299 mobo? The great features of the x299 are nullified by the 7740 chip, so the combo is crippled from the get go. This is Intel at it's most stubborn, "here, have a faster 4 core on a new platform but because it's cheaper than our other chip on the platform, we're disabling lot's of features it should have to make it a bastard son." In other words if you want the x299 platform to shine you need to actually buy our 10 core chip (which is fair enough - it;s their market).

Anyway, currently happy enough with Ryzen but if I hadn't bought Ryzen, I would now probably spend the extra on a i7 7820 (once the Intel platform has matured and isnt so buggy )

so you buy the i5/i7 7740x in the hopes upgrading the CPU in the future, remind me again how often intel changes it socket or new features added by the time you save up $1k another better CPU comes out.

 

[ironcerealbox]

Intel is relying on consumers that are loyal to them even at these price points. Seems to still work as per The Egg:

 

[Chaitanya]

Found this video(seems like there is one for every single mess up of IT industry):

 

[trparky]

Intel better not fuck up the mainstream line by cutting PCIe lanes after this royal fuck up.

 

[EarthDog]

so you buy the i5/i7 7740x in the hopes upgrading the CPU in the future, remind me again how often intel changes it socket or new features added by the time you save up $1k another better CPU comes out.

people are still buying 'upgrades' on x58....some people hang on to systems for several years.

 

[rtwjunkie]

That was one of the scathing issues - wtf is a 4 core chip doing on a x299 mobo?

Well they did it on the X79 with the 3820. However, it didn't sacrifice any lanes availability, was an affordable route into X79 and possible upgrade later of the CPU. Here, we don't see any of that. They COULD have played things like the i7-3820 and it would have been acceptable.

As to other people complaining about all lanes not being available on all CPU's, what am I missing? This has been part of the HEDT CPU practice for awhile now. Higher level CPU's get full lane access, lower-level get reduced access. So maybe I'm not understanding the current complaints.

 

[cyneater]

Needs more cores

cheaper

and cheaper mobos

whats the point of getting the
Intel Core i7 7740X
it uses a shite load more power dosn't have anything new over 1151

 

[Liviu Cojocaru]

Needs more cores

cheaper

and cheaper mobos

whats the point of getting the
Intel Core i7 7740X
it uses a shite load more power dosn't have anything new over 1151

It also has less L3 cache memory 6MB

 

[Prima.Vera]

So pay a $100-$200 premium for a HEDT mb...but unless you go with the $999 7900X, it's basically the same as non-HEDT performance after the memory and pci lane limits. HEDT price for non-HEDT performance is what it seems like.

Bingo.