Shortly after the turn of the year it is time for a new generation of desktop processors. First is the Intel Core i7-7700K and i5-7600K, which will come with the same price as their predecessors.
More than a year ago, Intel launched the architecture Skylake, where the stationary top models of the Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K with socket LGA 1151 was the first to hit the market. These are still considered for home builders, but if you just wait a few months, you can get even more powerful parts – for the same price.
It has previously been said that architecture Kaby Lake desktop pops up in the early days of 2017. This date will now be strengthened in a new report from Hermitage Akihabara (Japanese) claiming that the launch date will be January 5, that is, the day of the annual CES show in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Wccftech reports that the deputies to the Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K, which logically enough called the i7-7700K and i5-7600K, now are listed by most retailers. Prices for the duo will be the same as for its predecessor, that is, around 350 USD for the i7 and 250 USD for the i5 modell.
The biggest news for the duo, mainly for the Core i7-7700K, are higher frequencies. This should have a base frequency of 4.2 GHz – the same as the turbo mode for i7-6700K – and turbo the entire 4.5 GHz. This is expected to lead to a performance increase of around 7-8 percent compared to its predecessor.
Check out our Review on best laptops with i7 processors.
Nevertheless, this is a slight increase in the TDP, something that is likely explained by a refined manufacturing techniques. When Kaby Lake was released for laptops, it was further polishing of Intel’s 14-nanometer technology that enabled them to deliver better performance (clock frequency) within the same TDP budget, which might also be translated into better overclocking margins.
Kaby Lake will keep using socket LGA 1151 and manufacturers such as Asus, Asrock, Gigabyte and MSI has already released BIOS that supports today’s motherboards. This family of processors may also be joined by the 200-series chipsets that support the new memory technology Optane. This means that a new wave of more feature-rich motherboards are expected in the same time as the new processors are launched.
