Lenovo has recently released the specifications for their 2017 Thinkpad series line-up, with several models (T470p, L470, L570, T470, T570, X270 and Yoga 370) featuring the usual, evolutionary hardware improvements, such as being equipped with Intel's latest generation Kaby Lake processors and increased screen resolutions. However, one of the hardware announcements for the new Thinkpad series goes a little further than your usual, run-of-the-mill updates: these solutions will feature what is expected to be the first consumer-level adaptations of Intel's Optane technology.

It may have practically no IPC gains over its predecessor, but Intel's 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" unlocked processors are shaping up to be an overclocker's delight. A Core i7-7700K sample tested by professional overclocker Allen "Splave" Golibersuch was able to breach the 7 GHz barrier. To achieve this feat however, HyperThreading was disabled, and two of the four CPU cores were also disabled.

Paired with an ASRock Z170 OC Formula motherboard, the i7-7700K was bench-stable at 7022.96 MHz, at the chip's maximum base clock multiplier of 69x, and a base-clock of 101.78 MHz. The Vcore voltage was set at a scorching 2.00V. The chip crunched PiFast in 9.02 seconds, SuperPi 32M in 4 minutes 20.25 seconds, wPrime 32M in 2.953 seconds, and wPrime 1024M in 1 minute 33.171 seconds. Paired with an ASUS GeForce GTX 1080 STRIX OC graphics card, it scored 643,316 points in Aquamark, and 86,798 points in 3DMark 05.

A massive leak of marketing material gives us a peak into MSI's upcoming socket LGA1151 motherboard lineup based on Intel Z270 Express chipset, which will be launched alongside the 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processor family. The lineup begins with the Z270 PC Mate. This is likely the cheapest motherboard in the lineup, and gets you started on a cost-effective build. The board covers all the essentials, even if it's not designed for multi-GPU builds. Notice the 2x DVI connectors. This board could be priced closest to the $100 mark.

Next up, is the Z270 SLI Plus. This board could likely be priced in the neighborhood of $120-150, and is the cheapest board from the lineup that has NVIDIA SLI support. You get most of the features of the Z270 PC Mate, plus a stronger CPU VRM reinforced slots, a rear I/O shroud, 8-channel audio, and additional USB 3.1 ports. The Z270 Krait Gaming is a variant of this exact board, with a white+black color scheme, which could be sold at a $10-15 premium over the Z270 SLI Plus.

Intel's 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors are slated for a January 2017 launch, beginning with the flagship Core i7-7700K processor. Ahead of their launch, here are pictures of the retail boxes of Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 "Kaby Lake" processors. As you can see, they're nearly identical to those of the 6th generation Core "Skylake" boxes, except for the "7th Generation" marking on the box, Intel HD Graphics 630 markings, and an interesting-looking "For a Great VR Experience" marking on the box. The processor model number sticker will be pasted right where you'd expect it. Intel Core "Kaby Lake" processors will run on motherboards with Intel 200-series chipset out of the box, and on 100-series chipset motherboards with BIOS updates.

Here are some of the first pictures of ASRock Z270 Extreme4, the company's mid-range socket LGA1151 motherboard based on Intel's upcoming Z270 Express chipset, with out of the box support for 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors, and support for Intel Optane 3D X-point solid-state storage. Built in the ATX form-factor, the Z270 Extreme4 draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it for the CPU with a 12-phase VRM.

The CPU socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory; and two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (electrical x8/x8 when both are populated). The third PCIe 3.0 x16 slot is electrical x4 and wired to the PCH. Three open-ended PCIe 3.0 x1 slots make for the rest of the expansion area. Storage connectivity includes eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots. Display connectivity includes one each of D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI. You get a total of eight USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel four by headers), and two USB 3.1 ports (one each of type-A and type-C, both on the rear panel). Eight channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the connectivity.

New reports have surfaced that indicate NVIDIA is all set to launch a new mid range mobile graphics solution, the GTX 1050 M at CES 2017 in Las Vegas. While NVIDIA has already released mobile variants of the GTX 1080, GTX 1070 and GTX 1060, people not willing to spend big on higher tier products from the green camp are limited to "Maxwell" based GTX 960 M or GTX 950 M offerings. Reports also indicate there has been somewhat of a surge in demand for GTX 1060 M equipped laptops, where the new GTX 1050 M could be nicely positioned to further augment consumer appetite.

As we reported in November, we can expect that in line with the existing "Pascal" based mobile solutions, the new GTX 1050 M to sport the same (or better) core-configuration as its desktop counterpart, but with significantly higher clock speeds. This should make the GTX 1050 M an attractive option as it would endow the laptop with graphical horsepower exceeding the very capable GTX 970 M. All in all with new Intel "Kaby Lake" processors set to take the stage at CES 2017 too, we could see quite an array of new or reconfigured laptops scattered throughout the show.

Remember ASRock's Beebox? The original Mini PC was originally reviewed here on TechPowerUp to a glowing score and wholehearted recommendation, and now, the company has announced an upgrade to its innards that is sure to give a new lease of life to the device's appeal. The upgraded systems are powered by either Intel's Core i5-7100U (2C/4T, 2.5 GHz base and 3.1 GHz Boost clocks) or i3-7200U (2C/4T, 2.4 GHz base clock) CPUs, featuring the Kaby Lake micro-architecture, but are, apart from that, identical to their predecessors. The system can also be equipped with up to 32 GB of DDR4-2133 memory (two SO-DIMM slots), an M.2-2280 NVMe SSD and a 2.5" SSD/HDD depending on your particular demands. Meanwhile, Intel's 802.11ac Wi-Fi + BT 4.0 wireless module is pre-installed.

The team over at Tom's Hardware have gotten their hands on Intel's new 'Kaby Lake' CPU - The Core i7-7700K. While the chip is not marked as an engineering sample, they cannot confirm with confidence that it is a retail part. They then did what we all hoped and expected, they put the new i7 through a series of benchmarks both at its stock speeds and overclocked. Without a retail Z270 series motherboard to test with, Kaby Lake compatible firmware was loaded onto their Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Ultra Gaming board.

In line with what has been reported so far, the stock clock speeds of their sample was 4.20GHz base and 4.50GHz max turbo boost with a TDP of 95W, up marginally from the i7-6700K's 91W. As tested the 7700K drew slightly more power under load than the 6700K whilst achieving benchmark results that are more-or-less in line with the percentage clock speed increase. Using the same core voltage for overclocking, the 7700K was able to manage a 4.8GHz overclock at 1.3v where the 6700K achieved 4.6GHz. As Intel did not change the core micro architecture between Skylake and Kaby Lake, it appears that save for HEVC and VP9 8/10-bit encode/decode and other possible features we may not yet know of, slightly faster clock speeds is the principal improvement. Given this is a pre-release test conducted on a motherboard that may not be able to unleash the full potential of the i7-7700K, the results should be taken with their appropriate pinch of salt. For the article and detailed findings, please follow the source link.

With the ever-closer release of Intel's Kaby Lake family of CPUs, details and leaks are becoming more and more difficult to stem. As such, the ASUS ROG Maximus IX Formula, ASUS's high-end offering for the Z270 chipset and LGA 1151 socket, has been detailed.

The board features the ATX form factor, with the solid red and black colors that are ROG's identity, with red LEDs spread throughout the board - part of the new Aura RGB lightning which offers 3+2 independent on-board LED areas that can be customized by users. The board comes with a 8+2+2 Phase Digital power design that features 10K black metallic capacitors, MicroFine Alloy Chokes, NexFET PW (Power) block MOSFET and DIGI+ Power Control Utility for real-time adjustments. All of these components are part of the new ASUS Extreme Engine Digi+ technology that improves CPU stability and overclocking, with power being fed through a single 8-Pin connector.

Intel's third overclocker-friendly SKU from its 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processor family, the Core i3-7350K, is shaping up to be an interesting option for gaming PC builds. It may be a dual-core chip, which at $177 is within striking-range of the current $189 Core i5-6400 quad-core chip, but the lack of two cores appears to be more than made up for by its significantly higher clock speeds, even in multi-threaded benchmarks. The i3-7350K is clocked at 4.00 GHz, out of the box. It's also the only Core i3 desktop SKU to feature Turbo Boost, with a frequency of 4.20 GHz. It chip comes with an unlocked base-clock multiplier, letting you overclock it with ease.

A PC enthusiast with access to a Core i3-7350K sample put it through Geekbench, where it scored 5,137 points in the single-threaded tests, and 10,048 in multi-threaded tests. Here's where it gets interesting - the Core i5-6400 quad-core chip scores 3,686 points (single-threaded), and 9,982 points (multi-threaded. The i5-6400 is clocked at a mere 2.70 GHz, with 3.30 GHz Turbo Boost. Even the higher clocked i5-4670K "Haswell" quad-core chip (3.40 GHz core, 3.80 GHz Turbo Boost) doesn't manage to beat the i3-7350K, with 4,361 points (single-threaded), and 10,036 points (multi-threaded).

So everyone wants to crash at your place to watch the latest shows on your 4K Ultra HD TV, you can even "chill" with that special someone, if you can take your eyes off 4K content; and it turns out you even spent $500 on buying a new 4K monitor for your PC, because you demand no less than 3840 x 2160 pixels in front of your face; and among the first things you do (besides heading over to Interfacelift for some great wallpapers), is Netflix. Only Netflix has other ideas.

Apparently, you need a 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processor (or possibly AMD's upcoming "ZEN" processor), Windows 10 operating system, and Microsoft Edge web-browser to get 4K to work right on your PC, according to a Tom's Hardware report. Two factors could be pushing these steep-requirements - HEVC CODEC hardware acceleration, and hardware-level DRM features being introduced with "Kaby Lake." HEVC could prove crucial for Netflix as streaming 4K in existing H.264 format could quadruple bandwidth consumption over Full HD. HEVC encoding lets Netflix minimize the bitrate greatly. For Netflix's DRM component to access the CPU's hardware DRM features, it needs Windows 10, older versions of Windows won't work. If these requirements aren't met, Netflix will simply play your content in Full HD. No soup for you.

Early 2017, a new wave of socket LGA1151 motherboards based on Intel 200-series chipset will launch, alongside the company's 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors. The lineup will be led by the Z270 Express, targeting performance desktops, and H270 Express, targeting premium commercial desktops. The question on your mind probably is what sets these chipsets apart from the current 100-series Z170 and H170 chipsets. Here are some pointers.

To begin with, motherboards based on Z270 and H270 chipsets are assured to support Core "Kaby Lake" processors, out of the box. The 100-series chipset motherboards inventory with retailers may require BIOS updates, although some of the newer production batches could ship with the latest BIOS that support "Kaby Lake." Secondly, the Z270 and H270 support Intel Optane technology, a new breed of bleeding-edge performance SSDs based on the company's 3D X-point non-volatile memory, which is the very latest in sold-state storage, and purported to be the fastest. The chipets also support Rapid Storage Technology v15.

ASRock updated its Beebox-S line of mini-PC desktops with 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors. These 110 mm x 46 mm x 118.5 mm (WxHxL) desktops come with two new processor options, Core i5-7200U, and Core i3-7100U. Both are dual-core chips, with the i5-7200U offering 2.50-3.10 GHz clock speeds (core/Turbo Boost), 3 MB L3 cache, and Intel HD 620 graphics; while the i3-7100U offers 2.40 GHz clocks (no Turbo Boost), 3 MB L3 cache, and HD 620 graphics.

Other internal features of the Beebox-S include two DDR4 SO-DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2133 memory; one 32 Gb/s M.2-2280 slot with NVMe boot support, and one 9 mm-thick 2.5-inch drive bay with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. Network connectivity includes 802.11ac WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, Infrared, and gigabit Ethernet. Display outputs include one each of HDMI 2.0 (supports 4K @ 60 Hz), HDMI 1.4, and DisplayPort 1.2a. Other features include two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 3.1 ports (of which one is type-C), and an infrared media remote. ASRock didn't reveal pricing.

Intel's upcoming "Coffee Lake" micro-architecture, or the 9th generation Core processor family by Intel, is scheduled for launch in the second half of 2018. It succeeds the 8th generation "Cannon Lake" family of notebook processors (which likely doesn't see a desktop launch), and the 7th Gen Core "Kaby Lake" socket LGA1151 processors slated for January 2017. While it's not known if mainstream desktop "Coffee Lake" chips will continue to be based on the LGA1151 socket, the possibility is diminishing, looking at a platform layout diagram leaked to the web by Benchlife.info, supported by new connectivity interfaces coming out of the CPU package. The biggest selling-point of "Coffee Lake," is its core-count.

The 9th generation Core "Coffee Lake" family could introduce Intel's first 6-core processor to the mainstream desktop platform. The company's first 6-core client part was launched in its LGA1366 HEDT (high-end desktop) platform with the Core i7 "Gulftown" processor, way back in 2010. An increase in core-count from 4 has eluded the mainstream-desktop lineup. The 6-core "Coffee Lake" silicon will be built on a highly-refined 14 nm node by Intel, with a die-size of 149 mm². Quad-core parts won't be carved out of this silicon by disabling two cores, but rather be built on a smaller 126 mm² die. For reference, the quad-core "Kaby Lake" die is expected to be 123 mm², and the current quad-core "Skylake-D" die measures 122.6 mm².

As we inch ever closer to AMD's Zen launch, more and more information seems to be slipping through the cracks. This time, MAXSUN, an AMD China partner (poised to provide customers with AM4 platform motherboards) is the source of the proverbial leak, with information that, if true, is sure to stir the pot of bubbling Zen excitement even more.

According to MAXSUN, Zen's initial release date is pegged for January 17th, which, if true, would probably mean a product announcement around CES 2017 (scheduled from the 5th of January through the 8th) - at the same time as Intel is expected to fully unveil their Kaby Lake parts. The company also reports a second release window at March 2017, which lends further credence to AMD's expected staggered launch of Zen-based processors, first for the High-Performance-Desktop (HEDT) market, and trickling down from there. MAXSUN also confirms the pricing scheme we reported yesterday, with regards to the companies' SR7 processors (the top-of-the-line parts in the Zen line-up, and whose naming scheme I think isn't the final one) - the company states these are expected to be priced at around 1500-2000 Yuan SKU ($250-$300).

Here are some of the first pictures of a production version of an ASRock Z270 Fatal1ty-branded motherboard. While there's no picture of the board in full, Expreview scored pictures of its key sections, including its CPU VRM area, showing us prominent "Z270" badging on a VRM heatsink, a Fatal1ty logo on the PCH heatsink and its print on the PCB; and an Intel Gigabit Ethernet on the rear I/O hood, and Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 3 logo on the audio area hood; all pointing to this being a production version.

The rear I/O picture reveals two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, provision for a WLAN card, four USB 3.1 ports (of which one is type-C), two USB 3.0 ports, 8-channel HD audio with a TOSLINK connector; and display outputs including DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Storage appears to include eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and at least one M.2 slot (with Intel Optane support out of the box). Not much else is revealed by these pictures. Intel 200-series chipset motherboards are expected to launch alongside 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors, in January 2017.

With early tests showing minimal CPU core performance gains (IPC) over the current-gen Core "Skylake" processors, Intel is taking a different approach to selling its 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors to DIY PC enthusiasts. The lineup will have a third overclockable "K" processor SKU, besides the top-dog Core i7-7700K and the performance-segment Core i5-7600K. Intel is planning to spice things up for the sub-$200 market with an overclockable dual-core part, the Core i3-7350K.

The Core i3-7350K will be the company's first overclockable Core i3 part. The company had celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Pentium brand with an overclockable Pentium dual-core G3258 processor. The i3-7350K will feature an unlocked base-clock multiplier, letting you easily overclock it. The dual-core chip will feature HyperThreading, enabling 4 logical CPUs for the OS to address. Out of the box, it will come with clocks of 4.00 GHz, and 4.20 GHz Turbo Boost. It will also feature 4 MB of L3 cache. Interestingly, its TDP will be rated at 91W, the same as overclockable quad-core parts. The chip could likely come in a special PIB package that lacks a stock cooling solution. The chip is rumored to be priced at US $177.

Intel's next high-end desktop (HEDT) platform to succeed the current "Broadwell-E" LGA2011v3 will be the X-series "Basin Falls" platform. This consists of the "Skylake-X" and "Kaby Lake-X" processors, and a chipset derived from Intel's upcoming 200-series. Just as Intel changed sockets for its previous three HEDT platforms (LGA1366 for "Nehalem" and "Westmere/Gulftown," LGA2011 for "Sandy Bridge-E" and "Ivy Bridge-E," and LGA2011v3 for "Haswell-E" and "Broadwell-E,") the company will launch a new socket, the LGA2066.

As with its HEDT predecessors, "Skylake-X" and "Kaby Lake-X" will be multi-core processors devoid of integrated graphics, with double the memory bus width and up to triple the PCIe lane budgets as the desktop ("Skylake-D," eg: Core i7-6700) processors. In an interesting move, Intel will launch both "Skylake-X" and "Kaby Lake-X" in quick succession, with a catch - "Skylake-X" will come in 6-core, 8-core, and 10-core variants; while the "Kaby Lake-X" will initially only be offered in quad-core. The "Kaby Lake-X" chip will further only feature a dual-channel memory bus, and the LGA2066 motherboard will have half its DDR4 DIMM slots disabled, besides a few PCIe lanes.

The 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processor, and its companion 200-series chipset are almost upon us, with the company planning to launch them this 2017 International CES (early January). It looks like the 200-series chipset is turning out to be what the 9-series chipset was to the 8-series; with a handful new features, but nothing extraordinary. Current 100-series chipset motherboards are already receiving BIOS updates from manufacturers to make them support the new processors. It looks like the succeeding 300-series chipset, which Intel plans towards the end of 2017, could stand out.

Intel is reportedly equipping the 300-series chipset with wireless networking becoming part of the feature-set. This means at least some variants of the chipset could feature native WLAN controllers (likely with external PHY for signal clarity). The company is also planning to implement native 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 (gen 2.0) controllers into the chipset. This decision could impact third-party WLAN and USB 3.1 controller manufacturers, observes DigiTimes.

GIGABYTE is planning to expand its subsidiary AORUS into motherboards and graphics cards. The company currently sells gaming notebooks and gaming peripherals, including keyboards and mice, under the AORUS brand. This could be GIGABYTE's third attempt at establishing a premium motherboard/VGA brand that rivals ASUS Republic of Gamers and MSI Gaming Series; besides its G1.Gaming and Xtreme Gaming extensions under its main brand. AORUS is a brand unto itself, with products lacking any prominent GIGABYTE markings.

The first AORUS branded motherboards will be socket LGA1151, based on Intel's upcoming 200-series chipset, with out of the box support for 7th generation Core "Kaby Lake" processors. The motherboards will hit the shelves in January 2017. The first AORUS-branded graphics cards will launch when AMD and NVIDIA launch their next high-end GPUs (think NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and AMD "Vega"). Last we heard, the GTX 1080 Ti is headed for a January 2017 launch.

Ahead of its launch, a Core i5-7600K processor (not ES) made its way to Chinese tech publication PCOnline, who wasted no time in putting it through their test-bench, taking advantage of the next-gen CPU support BIOS updates put out by several socket LGA1151 motherboard manufacturers. Based on the 14 nm "Kaby Lake" silicon, the i5-7600K succeeds the current i5-6600K, and could be positioned around the $250 price-point in Intel's product-stack. The quad-core chip features clock speeds of 3.80 GHz, with 4.20 GHz max Turbo Boost frequency, and 6 MB of L3 cache. Like all its predecessors, it lacks HyperThreading.

In its review of the Core i5-7600K, PCOnline found that the chip is about 9-10% faster than the i5-6600K, but that's mostly only due to its higher clock speeds out of the box (3.80/4.20 GHz vs. 3.50/3.90 GHz of the i5-6600K). Clock-for-clock, the i5-7600K is just about 1% faster, indicating that the "Kaby Lake" architecture offers only negligible IPC (instructions per clock) performance gains over the "Skylake" architecture. The power-draw of the CPU appears to be about the same as the i5-6600K, so there appear to be certain fab process-level improvements, given the higher clock speeds the chip is having to sustain, without a proportionate increase in power-draw. Most of the innovation appears to be centered on the integrated graphics, which is slightly faster, and has certain new features. Find more performance figures in the review link to PCOnline below.

News and specifications about Intel's upcoming Kaby Lake-based desktop CPUs are thin, but a recent leak has made it possible to discern at least some details, due to an Intel product change notification (PCN) document.

A PCN is a document issued by a manufacturer to inform customers about a change to a mass-produced product or its manufacturing process. In this PCN, Intel details a new factory in Vietnam which will work in order to "ensure a continuous supply of the Select Intel Xeon Processor E3-1205, Intel Core i5-7400 Processor, Intel Core i5-7400T Processor, Intel Core i5-7500 Processor, Intel Core i5-7500T Processor, Intel Core i5-7600 Processor, Intel Core i5-7600K Processor, Intel Core i5-7600T Processor, Intel Core i7-7700 Processor, Intel Core i7-7700T Processor and Intel Core i7-7700K Processor products".

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is proud to announce support for Intel's next-generation LGA 1151 socket processors. Compatibility for the entire line-up of Z170, H170, B150 and H110 series motherboards are available with a simple BIOS update.

With multiple ways to update a GIGABYTE Motherboard users can rest at ease knowing that this update can be completed with little to no effort. One popular method for users to flash the BIOS would be to leverage the world renowned Q-Flash, this feature directly in the BIOS allows users to flash the firmware from a USB drive after they've downloaded the most updated BIOS into the flash drive.

As previously reported by TPU, in preparation for Intel's Kaby Lake architecture release, MSI published BIOS updates for its MSI 100 series chipset motherboards that (supposedly) guaranteed compatibility with Intel's upcoming platform. However, the new BIOS update seemingly disappeared from MSI's support webpages without any information as to why. According to ComputerBase, MSI representatives mentioned that an error was found in the code, and that a fix was currently being worked on. According to MSI, the fixed BIOSes should be made available shortly.

In any case, this scenario is better than the alternative of it having been users discovering the BIOS support to be defective. MSI did a good job in finding this ahead of Kaby Lake's launch and potential accompanying headaches from a not fully compatible CPU and motherboard combo.

ASUS today announced that all 100-series motherboards will now support next-generation Intel Core processors. A quick and easy UEFI BIOS update unleashes the full potential of the next-generation high-performance CPUs for socket LGA 1151, reaffirming ASUS as the BEST leading motherboard brand - Best Selling, Easy to Use, Stable and Trusted. Owners of ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG), Pro Gaming, Signature and TUF Z170, H170, B150 and H110 motherboards are able to take advantage of the easy upgrade to the award-winning ASUS UEFI BIOS, which is available today via the relevant ASUS Support web page.

All ASUS 100-series motherboards that include the ASUS USB BIOS Flashback feature allow users to apply UEFI BIOS updates with ease. For other ASUS 100-series motherboards the necessary UEFI BIOS update takes just one click in an easy-to-use Windows-based BIOS updater application, ASUS EZ Update, which is available to download from the ASUS website.