Intel Core i7-8720HQ Mobile Six-core Processor Spotted in the Wild

[btarunr]

An engineering sample of Intel's next flagship notebook processor, the Core i7-8720HQ, surfaced on Chinese tech-forums. Built in the same 1440-pin BGA package as 7th generation Core mobile processors, this chip is unique, in that it is truly "8th gen" featuring the six-core "Coffee Lake" silicon. The chip features 6 cores, 12 threads enabled by HyperThreading, and yet interestingly, only 9 MB enabled of the 12 MB L3 cache physically present on the chip. The chip is clocked at 2.40 GHz, with 3.60 GHz Turbo Boost frequency. It rivals the desktop Core i5-8600K in multi-threaded tests, making up for the lower clock speeds with HyperThreading. The chip could power the next generation of high-end gaming notebooks, when it launches some time in Q1-2018.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Assimilator]

It's an Engineering Sample, makes perfect sense that it's not a fully functional/final product.

 

[gmn17]

Simply awesome

 

[Manu_PT]

Not too excited about this. So they dropped 200mhz on the max turbo from the 7700hq wich had 3,8ghz single core turbo. Wich is bad for high refresh gaming (eg: connecting the laptop to external monitor as I usual do at home) and not as good on single threaded applications. Well, it is an upgrade because it has 4 more threads but if someone like me doesn´t use anything that benefits from that, I guess I will wait for price drops on the 7700hq models and I´m good to go.

With a 3,6ghz max turbo 1 core I guess this CPU will peak at 3,0ghz or 3,1ghz across all cores and that´s nothing spetacular imo. It will be as good as an older 6700hq in most games and worse than the 7700hq. That´s not an upgrade, is like a sidegrade with better performance on specific tasks only.

If these are not the final clocks then ignore everything I said

EDIT, details and clocks leaked:

2,9ghz turbo across all cores. Defo a downgrade on most applications. Not excited about this. Time to get a 7700hq laptop on sale right now before christmas

 

[repman244]

Finally 6 core for laptops at 45W TDP, if the price is reasonable I might replace my laptop.

Also regarding single core performance, yes it may be slower than 4 core parts (it was expected) but it's the same exact thing on desktops.
If your usage does not benefit from increased cores (like gaming) then use a quad core, there are many programs that will benefit from 6 cores.

 

[Manu_PT]

Finally 6 core for laptops at 45W TDP, if the price is reasonable I might replace my laptop.

Also regarding single core performance, yes it may be slower than 4 core parts (it was expected) but it's the same exact thing on desktops.
If your usage does not benefit from increased cores (like gaming) then use a quad core, there are many programs that will benefit from 6 cores.

I agree with you, but I still think 500mhz drop is really aggressive. Wasn´t expecting that much. Would prefer the TDP to be at 60w and using adequate pasting would be plenty.

 

[repman244]

I agree with you, but I still think 500mhz drop is really aggressive. Wasn´t expecting that much. Would prefer the TDP to be at 60w and using adequate pasting would be plenty.

60W? No thank you, plus that would limit it to 17'' laptops only since 15'' usually end at 45W leaving out 55W chips out. You still have quite good turbo frequency and even when all cores will be used it will work higher than 2.4GHz if good cooling is provided.