Last Sept. 24, Intel officially announced its 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors. Ranging from Core i3 to Core i7, these new Intel processors will become available for purchase this Oct. 5. According to Intel’s press release, the new processors are “built for gamers, content creators, and overclockers who require premium performance.”
However, many were surprised after Intel also announced the arrival of the new Intel Z370 chipset-based motherboards, which is the only compatible motherboard for the Coffee Lake processors.
Accordingly, these new processors are not supported by the older motherboards of Skylake and Kaby Lake processors.
Pin configuration change
According to Anand Srivatsa, general manager of the Desktop Platform Group at Intel, the new processors based on the Coffee Lake architecture will provide the ultimate desktop experience. “Our 8th Gen desktop processors deliver tremendous improvements across the board and – for gamers, in particular– offer an unbeatable experience,” Srivatsa added.
As posted by Intel, the new Intel Z370 chipset will provide an improved power delivery for maximum performance, overclocking and memory routing support.
This is in relation to introducing the first-ever 6-core Core i5 desktop processor and first-ever 4-core Core i3 desktop processor.
Engineer and industry analyst David Schor, who works in the field of semiconductor and computer architecture, revealed the main reason why there’s a need for a new motherboard: pin configuration change. Comparing the new Coffee Lake vs. Kaby Lake processors, VSS (Ground) pins increased by 14 from 377 to 391 while VCC pins increased by 18, from 128 to 146; RSVD decreased from 46 to 25.
Intel announced that there will be more than 50 new motherboard and system designs that will be made available from partner motherboard manufacturers. Leading partner manufacturers like ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte have already released promotional details about their version of Z370 motherboard.
The power of Intel Coffee Lake
According to Intel, the 8th Gen desktop processors led by Core i7-8700K targets hardcore gamers who are not satisfied with just playing with basic system configurations. For instance, it gives up to 25 percent more frames per second (FPS) on popular and powerful games.
Overclocking Coffee Lake’s “K” processors bring to a whole new level of experience than previous CPU generations. Users now have options to overclock per core and control real-time memory latency control and reach max memory ratio of up to 8,400 MT/s among other features.
These enhancements also contribute to the advancements on content creation, providing speed, accuracy, and power. According to Intel, the 8th Gen desktop processors based on Coffee Lake architecture offer up to 32 percent faster in creating and rendering high-quality graphics.