Intel introduced a brand new household of “Core X” desktop processors at Computex right now, providing much more highly effective variations of its present Core i5 and Core i7 fashions, together with a brand new, top-of-the-line Core i9 line for individuals who need much more firepower.
The Core X platform is being focused squarely at fanatic clients like avid gamers and content material creators — individuals who need to have the ability to run the newest video games at the absolute best decision whereas streaming footage and operating a chat with viewers or have 4 completely different artistic instruments open without delay to place collectively a brand new vlog.
To that finish, the Core X collection scales from fashions with Four-cores topping out with the $1,999 Core i9 Excessive, which Intel proudly factors out is the primary shopper desktop processor to supply 18-cores and 36-threads.
The Core X household begins with the Core i5-7640X at $242, which affords Four-cores and Four-threads. The Core i7 X-Sequence vary from a $339, Four-core / Eight-thread mannequin to a $599 Eight-core / 16-thread chip.
As for the Core i9? Intel might be providing 4 fashions (not counting the i9 Excessive talked about earlier) starting from $999 for a 10-core / 20-thread processor to a $1,699, 16-core / 32-thread chip.
All the brand new desktop Core X processors are designed to work with Intel’s new X299 motherboard chipset, which the corporate notes ought to be rolling out on associate merchandise within the coming weeks, together with the brand new processors. By way of chip architectures, nearly all the Core X household is constructed on an up to date model of Intel’s sixth-generation Skylake platform, which the corporate refers to as Skylake X. The 2 Four-core fashions on the backside of the vary — the i5-7640X and the i7-7740X — are constructed on Kaby Lake X.
Intel can be upgrading its Turbo Increase expertise on a number of the higher-end fashions of the Core X line, with what it calls Turbo Increase Max three.zero. The corporate factors out that whereas the extra cores on the Core X fashions will enhance multitasking efficiency, the addition of applied sciences like Turbo Increase Max three.zero ensures that every core can be capable of obtain improved efficiency. (Intel claims that the Core X collection reaches 10 % sooner multithread efficiency over the earlier era, and 15 % sooner single thread.)
The brand new, multi-core fashions additionally present that Intel is severe about maintaining with AMD, whose lately launched Ryzen processors are seen by many as the primary viable competitor to Intel’s juggernaut Core collection in years. AMD is planning to launch its personal high-end fanatic Ryzen line — dubbed the “Threadripper” — later this 12 months with as much as 16-cores and 32-threads, one thing that the newly introduced 18-core i9 Excessive will compete head-to-head towards.
Along with the brand new high-end Core X household, Intel additionally had a short replace on the nonetheless forthcoming eighth-generation line of mainstream Intel chips, rumored to be codenamed Espresso Lake. Whereas early stories from the corporate promised a 15 % enchancment over the present seventh-generation Kaby Lake line, right now Intel introduced that it’s seeing even larger efficiency, with enhancements as much as 30 % over Kaby Lake. That mentioned, there’s nonetheless no replace on after we’ll begin seeing the so-called Espresso Lake chips in precise computer systems.
Correction: The Core i7 X-Sequence tops out at a Eight-core / 16 thread chip for $599, not a 10-core chip at that value level. The Core i9 X-Sequence begins at 10-core / 16-thread chip for $999, as an alternative of the beforehand listed 12-core chip at that value.