Wednesday, April 19th 2017
Intel to Accelerate Basin Falls Unveil, Coffee Lake Launch
According to DigiTimes, sources among Taiwan-based PC vendors have indicated that Intel's upcoming Basin Falls platform, which includes Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors on a new X299 chipset, will be unveiled at Computex 2017 (May 30th, June 3rd), in Taipei - two months earlier than expected. This move comes accompanied by an accelerated launch of the Coffee Lake microarchitecture, which still uses the 14 nm process, to August 2017 from an initial January 2018 launch. If true, this is big in a number of ways - that Intel would bring forward a product launch 4 months has some interesting implications - or at least, confirmations.
Remember that Coffee Lake is supposed to carry an increased number of cores in its mainstream designs. And we all know how Intel's line-up has almost been torn apart by Ryzen's aggressive core and thread-count, with AMD offering more cores and threads than Intel at virtually all price-points. And even if an argument is made regarding Intel's better gaming performance, that's one scenario out of many. Future proofing, professional work, multimedia, all of these assert AMD's dominance in a pure price-performance ratio. I, for one, would gladly give up some FPS in some games and accept an increased number of cores than go the other way around (especially with AMD's platform support and the number of patches that have increased game performance on Ryzen CPUs.)
So what we see here, if these reports are correct, is Intel scrambling to respond to a launch that caught the blue giant squarely with its figurative pants down - Ryzen's 52% performance increase (and incredible energy efficiency) over the now defunct and best-forgotten Bulldozer debacle was something Intel wasn't quite counting on. Intel had three choices: keep its stalwart posture with no price decreases on its line-up and see Ryzen CPUs flying off the shelves, as they mostly have; do an about-face and lower pricing, which would indelibly mark its standing and image as an untouchable tech giant; or accelerate the launch of its upcoming platform, with a line-up that is actually better equipped to handle Ryzen's core and thread dominance. If the last one is true, then this is no small feat for Intel itself, and just goes to show how the company could have increased core-count on its processors any time it wanted. Instead, they took the sound business decision in face of lacking competition - but those are all decisions that now show us how ridiculous it is that Intel is selling two-core, four thread i3 processors for the premium it has.
Back to the news piece, these Basin Falls-based products are expected to be revealed near the E3 gaming show in June, with the official release at the end of the month. It is currently expected that the Skylake-X series features three 140W processors with 6, 8 and 10-core designs, while the Kaby Lake-X series carries a 112 W, quad-core processor. In August, Intel will release a top-end 12-core Skylake-X processor. These will probably enter a collision course with AMD's expected X399 platform, which again boast of higher core-counts - and probably better performance-per-watt - than Intel's offerings, with 12 and 16-core processors (with double the threads) being available.
As for the 14nm-based Coffee Lake-based processors, which are supposed to bring Intel back in the mainstream processor game, the company is expected to initially release several K-series Core i7/i5/i3 processors and accompanying Z370 chipsets in August, with more CPUs and the H370, B360 and H310 chipsets at the end of 2017 or early 2018. Digitimes also reports that Intel has ordered five extra EUV machine sets from ASML in an effort to increase its manufacturing capabilities. If all of this pans out the way it's looking, I think "scrambling" is a more than fair description on the current Intel landscape.
Source:
DigiTimes
Remember that Coffee Lake is supposed to carry an increased number of cores in its mainstream designs. And we all know how Intel's line-up has almost been torn apart by Ryzen's aggressive core and thread-count, with AMD offering more cores and threads than Intel at virtually all price-points. And even if an argument is made regarding Intel's better gaming performance, that's one scenario out of many. Future proofing, professional work, multimedia, all of these assert AMD's dominance in a pure price-performance ratio. I, for one, would gladly give up some FPS in some games and accept an increased number of cores than go the other way around (especially with AMD's platform support and the number of patches that have increased game performance on Ryzen CPUs.)
Back to the news piece, these Basin Falls-based products are expected to be revealed near the E3 gaming show in June, with the official release at the end of the month. It is currently expected that the Skylake-X series features three 140W processors with 6, 8 and 10-core designs, while the Kaby Lake-X series carries a 112 W, quad-core processor. In August, Intel will release a top-end 12-core Skylake-X processor. These will probably enter a collision course with AMD's expected X399 platform, which again boast of higher core-counts - and probably better performance-per-watt - than Intel's offerings, with 12 and 16-core processors (with double the threads) being available.
As for the 14nm-based Coffee Lake-based processors, which are supposed to bring Intel back in the mainstream processor game, the company is expected to initially release several K-series Core i7/i5/i3 processors and accompanying Z370 chipsets in August, with more CPUs and the H370, B360 and H310 chipsets at the end of 2017 or early 2018. Digitimes also reports that Intel has ordered five extra EUV machine sets from ASML in an effort to increase its manufacturing capabilities. If all of this pans out the way it's looking, I think "scrambling" is a more than fair description on the current Intel landscape.
66 Comments on Intel to Accelerate Basin Falls Unveil, Coffee Lake Launch
ok.
That gap will widen as gpu's get stronger .
Next years mid range Volta mid range gpu will = a 1080ti and a Ryzen system will become cpu limited.
Take away the gpu limiting settings today with a overclocked Pascal XP @ 1080p and Ryzen is much slower.
That's a little preview for whats to come @ 1440p with a 2080ti next year.
I've said it since Ryzen came out: for a while, the choice will come down to one's usage pattern. So I wouldn't read too much into anyone saying he prefers Intel over AMD or the other way around.
J/k yes I see your point.
www.pcworld.com/article/2992443/displays/acers-curved-predator-x34-g-sync-monitor-is-finally-ready-for-your-eyeballs.html
I have to say I'm feckin loving the irony of sitting with a 5ghz capable 8core here that when I bought it the Intel fanbol Muppets laughed because i needed loads a power and hertz to equal Sandy's fat and wide integer single core performance yet now Intel is in that exact same seat to beat RyZen it's Amd that's sub par because it can't do 5ghz.
Times change.not.
I agree. That's called a gpu bottleneck.
I don't buy $2,000 systems for just today .
I've had my motherboard for about a year and a half, its on its second gpu, soon to be third.
NEXT YEAR I will have a 7700k or 8800k (six core) cpu @ full overclock and a spanking brand new 2080ti .
The 2080ti (Volta) will be/ should be about 60% faster than a gtx1080ti.
4k games will be playing at over 60fps with a fast cpu.
Following me?
In short , todays 1440p with a gtx1080ti, is next years 4k with a faster gpu's 2080ti.
Ryzen cpu's will look even slower next year as the 4k gpu bottleneck is relieved.
So unless you plan on upgrading you Ryzen cpu again in 18 months to Ryzen 2...................
see what I'm saying?
A 7700/8800k @ 4.6+ and a new Volta 2080 gpu (releasing this year near the holidays, did you here?)
will push that monitor fine. Even a gtx1080ti overclocked will be ok for that monitor, not ideal but "ok"
Plus I game at max settings @4k now not in the future so both i enjoy and i know , your 2080ti is not going to do 4k@144hz and that CPU bottleneck at 4k will be sorted by RyZen+ or 3 by the time it even occoureth, some time in four years just as pciex 4 turns up on mobos.
And i last swapped motherboard five years ago.
You will swap twice more at least before i here you call me out with your unicorn spec Intel rig I'll swap once and still be within a few FPS of you , i doubt your rig is either cheaper or faster then mine now though too.
Unicorn = what you wanted= 6core12thread intel@5ghz.
Indeed ok ,but not anywhere near 144hz@4k
My $150 Z170 2 year old Z170 board will have a 6 core 4.6+ghz cpu with a Vega/1080ti.
Your trolling. good luck.
Honestly, what do you people do that you need "MOAR CORES!"? 'Cause last I checked the performance gain from "MOAR CORES!" really isn't all that great. Especially when you compare AMD and Intel on a core vs core basis.