Intel Announces 8th-gen Core Desktop CPUs, Set To Become Available On Oct 5

Following-up on the launch of its 8th-gen Core processors for notebooks last month, Intel today reveals its desktop complement. I admit; it doesn’t even feel that long ago that the i7-2600K came out, and the i7-4770K? It still strikes me as a modern CPU. But here we are, looking at an 8th-gen i7-8700K. Time flies.

If it doesn’t appear as such on the surface, this is the most significant mainstream Core chip launch Intel’s had in a long time. The 2600K, 3770K, 4770K, 5775C, 6700K, and 7700K were all quad-core processors, whereas the 8700K breaks the mold to become the first 6-core mainstream chip Intel has sold. So the big question of course, is: would this six-core 8700K exist if not for the sudden pressure from AMD?

Perhaps an even bigger question: can Intel’s $359 6-core i7-8700K best AMD’s Ryzen 1700 8-core, which costs dozens of dollars less? When reviews go live next week, that question will be answered.

This lineup is mild for a brand-new Core series launch, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see more SKUs added over time. Recent rumor hints at the fact that Intel’s 10nm Cannonlake chips, a la 9th-gen Core, will not make an appearance until later 2018, as opposed to early 2018, as was expected at the start of the summer. If that rumor is true, it means that if you buy 8th-gen today, you can probably relax in knowing that the platform won’t be replaced as quickly as the last one was.

Tying into that, to use the new 8th-gen processors, you’ll need to purchase a 300-series motherboard. That means that the 200-series motherboards that came out in January are no good for this series. I am not sure if this move was justified, but more information is guaranteed to come out, perhaps in time for the launch next week. While it’s really unfortunate to require the latest chipset, the upside for consumers is that anyone buying an 8th-gen chip is almost certainly going to be building a new rig from scratch.

Who does stand to be a big miffed are those vendors who produced a lot of 200-series motherboards, and now have to figure out how to offload them. Generally, these companies can expect to hold still for at least a year, but we’ve barely broken 9 months here.

Nonetheless, that’s detracting a bit from what’s actually a very notable launch. Between one generation and the next, Intel has doubled the number of cores people get – even the $182 chip has 6 cores (but no HT). AMD’s competition at that price-point ($189) is the Ryzen 5 1500X, a quad-core with eight-threads. In this match-up, I’d wager that Intel will win, but the company will have a serious fight at the $300-$350 segment – although, Intel’s peak frequency bests AMD, so overall, the battle should look interesting.

I’m still working on overdue CPU reviews, but we will have one for these 8th-gen chips available after launch next week. In the meantime, I am working to get some “many core” chips reviewed; stay tuned.