Intel Coffee Lake-S 8 Core 16 Thread Processor Comes in 95W and 80W SKUs – More Details Regarding Z390 Chipset Revealed

New details regarding Intel's upcoming 8 core 16 thread processor and the accompanying Z390 chipset platform have been revealed. The information comes straight from Intel's own webpage where details on the processors and platform are posted, but it takes a good eye to know where to find them and Videocardz made sure to bring us the latest news.

Intel Coffee Lake-S 8 Core 16 Thread Processor To Have 95W Unlocked and 80W Locked Models

Starting with the Intel Coffee Lake 8 core 16 thread processor which has been in the news since last year, more details regarding the models have surfaced. While we did post preliminary info about the processor last week, we were missing details regarding the TDP. I did mention in my post that the TDP can be set at 95W and that seems to be the case.

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My guess was well, just a guess, and it looks like Intel has decided that their top 8 core, 16 thread part will feature a TDP of 95W. That's the same as current 6 core parts and older 4 core parts. Intel has historically used a 95W TDP on their top mainstream chips (some had 91W TDP ratings). The 95W TDP will play a crucial role in terms of determining the performance efficiency of the new Intel processor as AMD's top Ryzen 7 2700X processor has a TDP of 105W. This was bumped by 10W over the last generation flagship, the Ryzen 7 1800X. In terms of power efficiency, the Ryzen 2 part clearly wins against its predecessor.

The 95W 8 core chip will be an unlocked SKU which means that it will be overclocking friendly and there is also mention of an 80W 8 core part which will be a locked part. It will be interesting to see just how much headroom Intel leaves for overclockers as 8 cores, 16 threads in a 95W package may just as well be a limit. Intel's 6 core parts at the moment have no problem clocking up to 5.00 GHz and higher with good samples. The 8 core part will be an impressive chip if they can run up to the same frequency or close to the 5 GHz barrier. AMD's Ryzen 7 2700X in comparison has a headroom limit which reaches around 4.3-4.4 GHz.

Also while we talk about the 8 core part, a new SiSoft entry for the chip has made its way to the web, this time showing the chip clocking up to 3.10 GHz base clock. The previous sample was running at 2.60 GHz base clock. Once again, these are just preliminary samples and we can expect the frequency to go up as more qualification samples start showing up at the end of next month.

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The Z390 Platform Extensively Detailed - A Juiced Up Z370 Platform For High-End Users

As for the Z390 chipset, the new platform seems to be better in all ways possible. It's what Z370 was meant to be but those who have waited out on the 300-series launch cycle, the upcoming Z390 motherboards and 8 core processors can be a worthwhile upgrade over your existing PCs.

The details are extensive and basically, show that overall PCIe and USB 3.1 Gen 2 compatibility has improved which offers users a vast range of I/O functionalities. You can see the major changes below between the two PCHs. We can expect more details on the upcoming parts and even a few previews of Z390 based motherboards at Computex 2018 so watch out for over coverage starting early June.

Intel Desktop Platform Chipset Comparison