Intel RoadmapSkylake-XKaby Lake-X and Skylake-W Processors in Q2 2017

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Shivansps

Diamond Member
Sep 11, 2013
3,835
1,514
136
Yes, but Intel is shuffling deck chairs so that they can charge even more "Premium" for those chips. After all, now they'll be "X" class, and not just "K" class.

X is just the codename, a 6600K is called "Skylake-S"... i have no idea from where they get that KBL-X is "7700K", it shouldt be.
 

selni

Senior member
Oct 24, 2013
249
0
41
It looks a lot like intel abandoned making any effort the desktop market years ago and focused entirely on mobile. Doesn't seem like that's changing anytime soon and that they keep changing sockets every major release doesn't exactly make moving to newer CPUs more appealing either.
 

beginner99

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2009
5,208
1,580
136
This sucks. Wanted to upgrade to kaby lake (or zen) end of this year. Not it's either wait or upgrade now. I think I will wait. Really want' to see Zen but more importantly 3D Xpoint. The later could eb a break through bigger than SSDs were and make this CPU/platform thing less boring.

We still should know end of year what kaby lake offers. Kaby-X will just have higher clocks so no surprises their unless we actually get one with eDram.
 
Mar 10, 2006
11,715
2,012
126
It looks a lot like intel abandoned making any effort the desktop market years ago and focused entirely on mobile. Doesn't seem like that's changing anytime soon and that they keep changing sockets every major release doesn't exactly make moving to newer CPUs more appealing either.

I don't think they abandoned desktops. They have put out some really good products (6700K is a monster, the HSW-E/BDW-E chips are good, etc.), but it's just harder for them to wring out real performance increases.

The socket changes in my mind are actually good. I want new platform features, and this typically requires a new chipset and a new pin configuration. Stagnant old platforms are bad.
 

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,208
4,940
136
The socket changes in my mind are actually good. I want new platform features, and this typically requires a new chipset and a new pin configuration. Stagnant old platforms are bad.

As someone using an antique AM2 motherboard, I can attest to this. It's cool that I could just drop in a Phenom II and get a great speedup, but in the long run I regret being stuck with slow DDR2 and SATA2.
 

CFP

Senior member
Apr 26, 2006
544
6
81
So Kaby Lake "X" not being out until 2h 2017 killed my plans to wait until q3/4 this year. Guess I'm going Skylake.

But is there any incentive to upgrade an Ivy Bridge to a Skylake as well? Or at this point is the gain marginal enough that waiting for Kaby Lake is the better option?
 
Mar 10, 2006
11,715
2,012
126
So Kaby Lake "X" not being out until 2h 2017 killed my plans to wait until q3/4 this year. Guess I'm going Skylake.

But is there any incentive to upgrade an Ivy Bridge to a Skylake as well? Or at this point is the gain marginal enough that waiting for Kaby Lake is the better option?

You'll get a much better platform and about a 25% boost in perf/clock. Not marginal in my book but it's up to you.
 

Eddward

Member
Apr 10, 2012
56
19
81
Do you think that MB manufactures will release this November highend boards only for locked i3, i5, i7 Kaby Lake CPUs ? On Computex they were already teasing Z270. If Kaby Lake - X is LGA1151 4/8 CPU then full potential of this board will be unveiled one year later. I can't imagine how they will advertise premium boards with only locked chips available.
It doesn't make any sense. I don't know what exactly is Kaby Lake-X but it is highly unlikely that this is mainstream unlocked Kaby Lake.
 
Mar 10, 2006
11,715
2,012
126
Do you think that MB manufactures will release this November highend boards only for locked i3, i5, i7 Kaby Lake CPUs ? On Computex they were already teasing Z270. If Kaby Lake - X is LGA1151 4/8 CPU then full potential of this board will be unveiled one year later. I can't imagine how they will advertise premium boards with only locked chips available.
It doesn't make any sense. I don't know what exactly is Kaby Lake-X but it is highly unlikely that this is mainstream unlocked Kaby Lake.

They can still sell Z270 boards to 6600K/6700K buyers :)
 
Mar 10, 2006
11,715
2,012
126
Will those Z270 boards be compatible with 3D XPoint / Optane DIMMs? If not, I don't see much point over Z170. Unless, they cross over X99 features, like 10 SATA ports.

Intel-Kaby-Lake-Desktop-Platform-Overview.jpg
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,229
9,990
126
Sheesh. Would it kill Intel to add another PCI-E x4 off of the CPU for a lower-latency M.2 SSD arrangement? 20 lanes off of the CPU instead of 16?

Edit: Maybe when they transition to the next mainstream socket?
 

CakeMonster

Golden Member
Nov 22, 2012
1,384
482
136
Well Intel have several relatively cheap tricks they could pull on mainstream, they just choose not to because of margins. More cache, faster DDR4 support along with tweaks on memory controller, chipset improvements WRT to lanes, full USB3.1, further integration, better NIC, etc. And of course more cores. They could have started with one of those things in 2016 to tempt us, but they chose not to. Clearly not bothering is the better financial choice for Intel. I'm just interested in the reasoning and the math.
 

Insert_Nickname

Diamond Member
May 6, 2012
4,971
1,691
136
Sheesh. Would it kill Intel to add another PCI-E x4 off of the CPU for a lower-latency M.2 SSD arrangement? 20 lanes off of the CPU instead of 16?

Agree completely. But you don't loose much performance by splitting the 16x to 8x/8x (or 8x/4x/4x). But it's annoying, certainly. But I guess it's what one could expect from the "MoD" platform they're currently using.

Edit: Maybe when they transition to the next mainstream socket?

Not likely.
 

StrangerGuy

Diamond Member
May 9, 2004
8,443
124
106
Well Intel have several relatively cheap tricks they could pull on mainstream, they just choose not to because of margins. More cache, faster DDR4 support along with tweaks on memory controller, chipset improvements WRT to lanes, full USB3.1, further integration, better NIC, etc. And of course more cores. They could have started with one of those things in 2016 to tempt us, but they chose not to. Clearly not bothering is the better financial choice for Intel. I'm just interested in the reasoning and the math.

Let them play their pointless chipset segmentation games, if they are so stingy about giving us new and improved features like Thunderbolt the adoption rate of those will end up be so low that hardly anybody is going to care while everyone will continue to stick with existing baseline features like good old USB3.
 

Eddward

Member
Apr 10, 2012
56
19
81
Look at this
kaby.png


Whatever Kaby Lake-X is, Kaby Lake-S lineup includes K-SKU according to this.
 
Mar 10, 2006
11,715
2,012
126
Look at this
kaby.png


Whatever Kaby Lake-X is, Kaby Lake-S lineup includes K-SKU according to this.

I think they are just taking Kaby Lake-S "K" model and re-segmenting it as Kaby Lake-X. They will probably raise the price by $25-50 over the current "K" models, crank the frequency up even more (i.e. Devil's Canyon style), and position it as a crazy fast gaming CPU. Which it will be.
 

coercitiv

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2014
6,151
11,686
136
I think they are just taking Kaby Lake-S "K" model and re-segmenting it as Kaby Lake-X.
As I said, Funder's Edition: I smell a comeback of the soldered quad core. It's a feature!

They better deliver on the clocks, since from what I understand KL-X will have to beat KL-K and not Skylake. It's going to be sad watching people getting KL-X recommendations because "you can upgrade to more cores later".

By the time KL-X hits the shelves I expect hexa cores to beat quad cores in most AAA gaming titles. Will be an excellent CPU for last year's DX11 games though. Oh, the glory times...
 

superstition

Platinum Member
Feb 2, 2008
2,219
221
101
As someone using an antique AM2 motherboard, I can attest to this. It's cool that I could just drop in a Phenom II and get a great speedup, but in the long run I regret being stuck with slow DDR2 and SATA2.
May 2006 release for AM2.

It really isn't a good example for that point.

Instead, I would look at AM3+ which now has m.2 4x and USB 3.1. It came out in 2011.

So, there is a difference between constantly changing sockets and expecting something that's really ancient, like AM2, to remain competitive.
 
Last edited:

chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,038
36
86
AM2 really isn't that bad though when you think about it. You can get 8 or 16GB of DDR2-800 (or more if you overclock), start with a lowly AM2 CPU, and get a quad core AM3 CPU that also will work in an AM3+ motherboard if/when the AM2 mobo dies. That's years of possible upgrade time. There really is no reason Intel couldn't do this, they just like people buying an entire new ecosystem each time. Given the falloff of desktop sales, my hope with the 200 series chipset introduced with Kaby Lake, we might get Intel following more in line with AMD on platform longevity.
 

IntelUser2000

Elite Member
Oct 14, 2003
8,686
3,785
136
I knew that socket was BS. It's for knight's landing as stated.

What's likely happening is that as their capability matures, proliferation of more different types of chips are possible. A decade ago, lower end chips were basically those that couldn't hit the high frequencies of the higher end chips.

You know what would be cool and a possibility in the near future?

Offer cut-down Xeon Phi on the HEDT platform. High end products propagating down the latter was always the case.

Xeon Phi 7201
-HEDT socket(4 channel memory)
-32 cores
-Higher frequency(1.5-1.8GHz)
-8GB 3.6GT/s MCDRAM(half of KNL)
-1.5TFlops
-$1299-1799

Update: Taking Core i7 69xx shots and KNL shots, I found out at a space of 350mm2, you can fit in 30 Xeon Phi cores. Assuming uncore stays as same as Core i7 69xx. 1.4+ TFlops.
 
Last edited:

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
Im just hoping at some point they release something that makes me want to upgrade from my i7 930@4,2Ghz. It hasnt happened yet.