Introduction

It has been a year since Intel released their latest and greatest platform for mainstream desktop PCs. The 100-series platform was part of the 6th generation processor launch. Skylake brought with it a range of new features support and performance updates. The 100-series products were the first to utilize features such as DDR4, M.2, PCIe 3.0 SSDs and more.

Today, Intel officially launches the 200-series platform. Designed to support 7th generation processors that are codenamed Kaby Lake, the 200-series offers new features and updates in the form of Intel Optane support. I think the most important thing is that the boards themselves would be far more attractive than the processor series as they are more feature-heavy and offer plenty of reasons for consumers to upgrade.

Supermicro sent us their new C7Z270-CG Gaming motherboard which was designed by their gaming division, SUPERO. The new motherboard utilizes components that are designed for server motherboards so it should be stable and durable at the same time in many gaming workloads.

Intel Z270 Express Chipset - The Top 200-Series PCH

The two chipsets that will be offered with the new Kaby Lake processors are Z270 and H270. Intel will be offering support for the Kaby Lake and Skylake processors on both 100-series and 200-series motherboards. This means that consumers can use their Skylake chips on a 200-series board or a Kaby Lake chip on a 100-series board.

The two new chips are marketed towards specific markets. The Z270 series is aimed at the consumer market while the H270 series is aimed at the consumer and corporate market. We will get on to the features of these chipsets which is an update from the previous 100-series generation of products.

Intel Z270 and H270 PCH Features

Intel Z270 and Z170 offer the same CPU PCIe configuration support. They allow for 1 x 16, 2 x 8 or 1 x 8 + 2 x 4 config whereas the H270 and H170 chipset offers just 1 x 16 config. The total number of independent DisplayPorts offered by the PCH are three and power up to four memory DIMMs in dual channel mode. The Z Series offers overclocking support while the H Series is restricted from such support. All chipsets offer Intel SmartSound tech but Intel AIB partners will be offering their own custom audio codecs to power audio.

Moving on, the new 200-series has official support for Optane technology which is not available on 100-series products. Intel Rapid Storage technology is also pushed to 15 (was 14 on 100-series). Some other features in the new chipsets include RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 support, PCIe Storage Drive support, Smart Response Technology and I/O port flexibility.

Intel has increased the number of high-speed I/O lanes to 30 on both 200-series chipsets. The Z170 had 26 while the H170 had 22 lanes. Total USB ports have remained the same at 14 (10 USB 3.0) for the Z Series and 14 (8 USB 3.0) for the H Series. All boards would have 6 SATA III 6 GB/s ports. Expansion slots would be powered by 24 PCIe lanes on Z270 and 20 PCIe lanes on H270. This is a slight increase over 20 PCIe lanes on Z170 and 16 on H170.

The KBL-PCH will be able to support Mansion Beach (Optane SSD PCIe/NVMe gen3 x4), Brighton Beach (Optane SSD PCIe/NVMe gen3 x4) and Stony Beach (Optane Memory PCIe/NVMe gen 3 x2 (M.2)) solutions. We covered this topic in more detail over here.

Intel 200-Series PCH Specifications:

Chipset	Intel Z270	Intel H270	Intel Z170	Intel H170
SKU Focus Segment	Consumer	Consumer / Corporate	Consumer	Consumer / Corporate
CPU Support	Kaby Lake-S / Skylake-S	Kaby Lake-S / Skylake-S	Kaby Lake-S / Skylake-S	Kaby Lake-S / Skylake-S
CPI PCI-e Configuration	1 x 16 or 2 x 8 or 1 x 8 + 2 x 4	1 x 16	1 x 16 or 2 x 8 or 1 x 8 + 2 x 4	1 x 16
Independent DisplayPort	3	3	3	3
Memory DIMMs	4	4	4	4
Overclocking	Yes	No	Yes	No
Intel SmartSound Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Optane Technology	Yes	Yes	No	No
Intel Rapid Storage Technology	15	15	14	14
Intel Rapid Storage Technology From PCIe Storage Drive Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
RAID 0,1,5,10	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intel Smart Response Technology	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
I/O Port Flexibility	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Maximum High Speed I/O Lanes	30	30	26	22
Total USB Ports (Max USB 3.0)	14 (10)	14 (8)	14 (10)	14 (8)
Max SATA 6 Gbps Ports	6	6	6	6
Max PCI-E 3.0 Lanes	24	20	20	16
Max Intel RST for PCIe Storage Ports (x2 M.2 or x4 M.2)	3	2	3	2

Intel LGA 1151 Socket - 6th Gen and 7th Gen CPU Support

The 200-series boards feature the LGA 1151 socket. The socket is built to support both 6th gen and 7th gen processors. This allows 200-series boards to support both Skylake and Kaby Lake processors, making it easier for previous gen owners to upgrade.

The LGA 1151 socket is also featured on the 100-Series chipset motherboards and will extend support to the new Kaby Lake processors. Motherboard vendors like Gigabyte have released firmware for 100 series motherboards to support Kaby Lake processors. The LGA 1151 has a total of 1151 contact pins for interfacing with Skylake and Kaby Lake processors. Following are all of the Kaby Lake processors that will be available at launch for the 200-series platform:

Intel 7th Generation 'Kaby Lake' Desktop Lineup

SKU Name	Cores/Threads	Core Clock	Boost Clock	L3 Cache	TDP	Socket	Price
Core i7-7700K	4/8	4.2 GHz	4.5 GHz	8 MB	91W	LGA1151	$339 US
Core i7-7700	4/8	3.6 GHz	4.2 GHz	8 MB	65W	LGA1151	$303 US
Core i7-7700T	4/8	2.9 GHz	3.8 GHz	8 MB	35W	LGA1151	$303 US
Core i5-7600K	4/4	3.8 GHz	4.2 GHz	6 MB	91W	LGA1151	$242 US
Core i5-7600	4/4	3.5 GHz	4.1 GHz	6 MB	65W	LGA1151	$213 US
Core i5-7600T	4/4	2.8 GHz	3.7 GHz	6 MB	35W	LGA1151	$213 US
Core i5-7500	4/4	3.4 GHz	3.8 GHz	6 MB	65W	LGA1151	$192 US
Core i5-7500T	4/4	2.7 GHz	3.3 GHz	6 MB	35W	LGA1151	$192 US
Core i5-7400	4/4	3.0 GHz	3.5 GHz	6 MB	65W	LGA1151	$182 US
Core i5-7400T	4/4	2.4 GHz	3.0 GHz	6 MB	35W	LGA1151	$182 US
Core i3-7350K	2/4	4.2 GHz	N/A	4 MB	60W	LGA 1151	$168 US
Core i3-7320	2/4	4.1 GHz	N/A	4 MB	TBD	LGA 1151	$149 US
Core i3-7300	2/4	4.0 GHz	N/A	4 MB	51W	LGA1151	$138 US
Core i3-7300T	2/4	3.5 GHz	N/A	4 MB	35W	LGA1151	$138 US
Core i3-7100	2/4	3.9 GHz	N/A	4 MB	51W	LGA 1151	$117 US
Core i3-7100T	2/4	3.4 GHz	N/A	4 MB	35W	LGA 1151	$117 US
Pentium G4620	2/4	3.7 GHz	N/A	3 MB	51W	LGA1151	$86 US
Pentium G4600	2/4	3.6 GHz	N/A	3 MB	51W	LGA 1151	$75 US
Pentium G4560	2/4	3.5 GHz	N/A	3MB	54W	LGA 1151	$64 US
Pentium G3950	2/2	3.0 GHz	N/A	2 MB	35W	LGA1151	$52 US
Pentium G3930	2/2	2.9 GHz	N/A	2 MB	35W	LGA1151	$42 US

Intel did one thing right with the new socket and that’s the socket positioning which allows older coolers and mounting brackets to remain compatible with the newer socket. So if you have an old LGA 1150 socket cooler that you wish to use with the new LGA 1151 socket it can be done, but do note that while the socket looks the same as the LGA 1150 socket, the processors are incompatible due to different pin layouts so you don’t want to try putting a Haswell processor into the LGA 1151 socket otherwise it would damage the pins permanently.

Cooler Compatibility With the LGA 1151 Socket

While Haswell processors ship with their own boxed coolers and cooler makers provide retention brackets for LGA 1150 compatibility, it should be noted that Intel has stopped offering boxed coolers since the Skylake processor generation, so users now have to buy a separate cooler in order to use their new processor.

Intel does offer a separate boxed cooler but it will be a much better choice to get an AIB cooling solution since those offer better cooling performance. Older CPU coolers will remain compatible with the new socket and some manufacturers are providing updated retention brackets for the 1151 socket boards.

SERVER QUALITY

Infused with server DNA, SUPERO motherboards offer unmatched reliability and durability paired with premium gaming features. Top shelf components optimize efficiency and improve thermal performance, enabling SUPERO motherboards to survive in treacherous environments where others have perished. As the backbone of your system, SUPERO motherboards offer the latest and greatest hardware implemented through world-class engineering, providing the quality you deserve with the features you desire.

INTEL 7th GENERATION-READY

The boards contain the latest technology and enable gamers to keep up with the latest CPU technology advancements. The Z270 comes equipped to handle the latest 7th generation Intel processors, meaning the fastest CPU performance is something you can achieve right out of the box.

Intel’s Optane technology is also available on our boards, allowing for memory storage that’s up to 1000x faster than current NAND storage, and up to 100,000x faster than standard HDDs. Pair it with your slower storage media and enjoy faster and better gaming performance than ever before.

HIGH PERFORMANCE M.2

Have you been eyeing up the latest technology in SSDs? Our boards come equipped to handle M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x2 - 32GB/s) drives, allowing you to blast through reading and writing files, an essential feature when it comes to loading graphic-rich game titles.

RAID support allows for unparalleled read and write speeds, and in a RAID 1 configuration, your data is backed up to 2 drives, perfect for those critically important files you need to have backed up.

UNLEASH THE POWER OF PCIE

The Z270-CG gives you the freedom to use PCIe devices as you see fit, with 2 PCIe 3.0 X16 slots and a diverse range of other PCIe slots for greater system configuration, giving you the power to enjoy the greatest gaming visuals on PC available. Get the power of a much higher-end board without the hefty price-tag.

ULTRA HD – ROCKING VISUALS

If 1080p is the resolution of the past for you, look no further than the Z270-CG board. If you’re looking to go beyond standard HD, our boards include 1x HDMI 1.4 port, 1x DVI-D port, and 1x Display Port., allowing you to reach resolutions of up to 4k easily and even output to 3 displays at once.

PUSH THE LIMITS OF YOUR MEMORY

Combine the power of 7th generation processors with DDR4 memory, supporting up to 64GB and overclocks of up to 3800Mhz, and enjoy blazing fast responses from your system.

Looking to push your RAM to its limits? The Z270-CG comes with DDR4 overclocking support and a great interface to do so, allowing you to easily squeeze every drop of performance out of your PC.

ULTRA FAST USB 3.1 TYPE C

USB 3.1a and 3.1c support give you speeds of 10Gb/s. USB type C is the future, and SUPERO is leading the way. Offering speeds up to twice as fast as 3.0, our 3.1c connector is the latest standard for USB connections, a must-have for high performance USB connections to your latest peripherals, and the fastest data transfer speeds for your USB storage devices available.

NEXT-GEN Z270 CHIPSET

The boards come with the latest 7th generation chipset support. The Z chipset is the most highly-equipped chipset produced to date, targeting the high-end enthusiast and power gamer markets with features such as an extensive PCIe 3.0 configuration and LED lighting so your set-up rocks that gamer vibe.

SOUND EXPERIENCE FOR YOUR EARS

Get the best sound from your games, movies and music with 7.1 HD audio support. Gaming is predominantly a visual media, but incredible audio enhances great gaming even further, by immersing you in the experience. SUPERO boards come with the highest quality audio components around for unparalleled sound quality. Enjoy more than just great visuals.

The motherboard comes in a rather small package that has a plastic cover displaying the name of the product, C7Z270-CG.

Flip the board to reveal the specifications sheet of the motherboard. Z270 boards like SUPERO's CZ270-CG come with all the features you'd expect from a high-end board.

The plastic cover comes off with ease revealing the product name. SUPERO is a division of Supermicro who are known for their top class server quality designs and the same is to be expected from this product given that it's marketed around the whole server quality build.

The flip side also has another list of specifications listed. All features of the board such as overclocking, NVMe/SATA RAID support, Ultra Speed USB, M.2/U.2 storage, VR support and DirectX 12 support are featured here. The last two however are quite cheesy in the sense that this product is a motherboard.

The motherboard is wrapped inside an anti-static cover that is true for all Z270 boards. The internal packaging is colored in green which matches the colors on the board.

The accessories are contained underneath the motherboard in a separate cardboard section. Accessories include a black colored I/O shield, drivers disk, 4 SATA III cables and an SLI bridge.

The SUPERO C7Z270-CG is a nicely solid board out of box. It has a black and green color scheme which we don't see a lot of nowadays and some may find the color scheme odd. However, the overall design language of the board remains strong with a PCB that is solidly built.

The SUPERO C7Z270 is styled in black and green for the most part. The motherboard comes in the standard ATX form factor. SUPERO doesn't use any flashy marketing for the board but they do mention the server level design on many fronts for this product.

The board uses the LGA 1151 socket to support Intel Core processors. The socket is compatible with both Intel 6th gen (Skylake) and 7th Gen (Kaby Lake) processors. The socket has a protective cover out of the box which can easily be removed when installing the processor.

The CPU is supplied power through a single 8-pin power connector. This will feed the CPU with up to 150W of power. Most Intel CPUs will be shipping with TDPs under 100W but that changes when users overclock, since that changes the power limit based on applied voltages and clock speeds.

The motherboard packs a 10-phase PWM supply which powers the socket. The PCB is outfitted with long lifespan, durable solid state capacitors. This design is capable of handling some good overclocks on both 6th and 7th generation processors.

The VRMs are covered by two sets of heatsinks with an aluminum shroud. The top heatsink has a black and green color which rests on top of the metallic heatsink.

The second is a large angular piece which rests on top of the several VRMs and electrical components that make contact with it.

The two heatsinks are interconnected through a heatpipe that dissipates heat effectively. The aluminum heatpipe regulates heat effectively across the heatsinks.

Next to the socket are four DDR4 DIMM slots which can support up to 64 GB of dual channel memory. These slots are rated to support XMP profiles up to 3800MHz. Each slot is labeled, making it easier to install DIMMs in the proper orientation.

Expansion slots include three PCI Express 3.0 x16, three PCI Express 3.0 x1 and two M.2 slots. The board can support 3-way multi-GPU (CrossFireX / SLI). The M.2 slots are rated to support NVMe PCIe gen3 x4 and Intel Optane series memory.

There are two M.2 slots on the board which can carry M.2 SSD drives (NVMe compliant). Both slots are ideally positioned between the PCIe slots.

Storage options include six SATA III ports rated to operate at 6 GB/s. These can support 6 different storage devices at the same time.

There are also dual U.2 slots which run over the PCIe lanes to deliver speeds of up to 32 GB/s. SUPERO doesn't ship the required cables to use with the U.2 slot so make sure the SSD you are getting already has one.

The SUPERO heatsink that covers the PCH comes with a nice texture and the logo. It also emits LED light but we weren't able to customize the color scheme from the bundled application due to it being a pre-release version.

The I/O on the motherboard includes PS/2, Gigabit Ethernet LAN port, USB 3.1 (Type-A + Type-C), 2 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0 ports, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4 and a 7.1 channel high quality audio jack.

Supermicro SUPERO C7Z270-CG Gaming Photo Gallery:

For testing, we used the latest Intel Core i7-7700K processor which we I had acquired with the help of a board manufacturer. The sample is retail ready and not an "ES" chip like the ones sent out by Intel to reviewers. Intel did not contact us or put us under NDA for testing of their Kaby Lake processors. Our review is based purely on fact and precision. We also updated our test rig for the 200-series platform review which is listed in the table below:

ASUS Z270E STRIX Gaming Test Setup:

Processor	Intel Core i7-5960X Intel Core i7-5930K Intel Core i7-4960X Intel Core i7-3960X Intel Core i7-7700K Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-4790K Intel Core i7-4770K Intel Core i7-3770K Intel Core i7-2600K Intel Core i5-4690K Intel Core i5-3570K
Motherboard:	ASUS Z270E STRIX Gaming w/Core i7-7700K Gigabyte GA-X99-UD7 w/Core i7-5960X Gigabyte GA-X99-UD7 w/Core i7-5930K ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming w/Core i7-6700K ASUS X79 Deluxe w/Core i7-4960X Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC Force w/Core i7-4790K Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SOC Force w/Core i5-4690K Intel DZ87KLT-75K w/ Core i7-4770K Intel DX79SI LGA 2011 w/ Core i7-3960X ASRock Z77 Extreme 6 w/ Core i7-3770K ASRock Z77 Extreme 6 w/ Core i7-3570K ASUS Sabertooth P67 w/ Core i7-2600K
Power Supply:	Corsair RXI 750W Gold Plus
Solid State Drive:	Samsung SSD 960 EVO M.2 (512 GB)
Hard Disk:	Seagate Barracuda 1 TB 7200.12
Memory:	G.SKILL Trident Z Series 16GB (2 X 8GB) CL16 3600 MHz Kingston HyperX 2400 MHz 10th Anniversary Edition Memory Kit (DDR3)
Case:	Corsair Graphite Series 780T Full Tower
Video Cards:	MSI GeForce GTX 1070 ARMOR OC
Cooling Solutions:	Phantek PH-TC14PE Triple Fan
OS:	Windows 10 64-bit Anniversary Edition

I would personally like to thank G.SKILL for arranging a stunning DDR4 memory kit for this review. They shipped us with TridentZ series memory (black and white color combination). The memory kit comprises 2 DIMMs that operate in dual channel mode, ideal for our Z270 board tests. The memory is clocked at 3600 MHz which is supported by the new motherboards since they support XMP profiles. Clock timing is set at 16 and the capacity is 16 GB for this specific kit.

We won't be focusing on Intel's Core i7-7700K architecture in this review since it is entirely the same chip as Skylake along with minor improvements. The Skylake / Kaby Lake architecture analysis can be seen in detail here.

Intel Core i7-7700K 4.7 GHz Overclock on Supermicro SUPERO C7Z270-CG

Our Intel Core i7-7700K isn't a decent overclocker as it requires voltage over 1.35V for a decent clock speed bump. Here, we overclocked the chip to 4.7 GHz (bus speed = 100 MHz x 47.0 Multiplier) using a voltage of 1.350V. The results were stable after testing in Prime95 as a stability run.

X264 HD Encode Benchmark

This benchmark measures the encoding performance of the processor. It offers a standardized benchmark as the clip as well as the encoder used is uniform.

Cinebench R15

CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi, Prometheus and many more.

Cinebench R11.5

Cinebench is based on MAXON’s Cinema 4D. It is used to compare graphics as well as processor performance. We are using the CPU performance numbers for our comparison.

PCMark 8

PCMark 8 is a complete PC benchmarking solution for Windows 10. It includes several tests that combine individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing and gaming. Specifically designed for the full range of PC hardware from netbooks and tablets to notebooks and desktops, PCMark 8 offers complete Windows PC performance testing for home and business use.

POV-Ray

The POV-Ray package includes detailed instructions on using the ray-tracer and creating scenes. Many stunning scenes are included with POV-Ray so you can start creating images immediately when you get the package.

3DMark 11 CPU Performance

DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. It was released on December 7, 2010. 3DMark 11 includes four graphics tests – Deep Sea 1 & 2, High Temple 1 & 2 – for measuring GPU performance, a Physics test measuring CPU performance, and a Combined test targeting CPU and GPU performance.

3DMark Vantage CPU Performance

3DMark Vantage is a DirectX 10 video card benchmark test for Windows that is designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance. While the overall benchmark is great, the utility also provides a good indication of the CPU performance.

WinRAR

WinRAR is a powerful archive manager. It can backup your data and reduce the size of email attachments, decompress RAR, ZIP and other files downloaded from the Internet and create new archives in RAR and ZIP file formats.

SuperPI

Super PI is used by many overclockers to test the performance and stability of their computers. In the overclocking community, the standard program provides a benchmark for enthusiasts to compare “world record” pi calculation times and demonstrate their overclocking abilities. The program can also be used to test the stability of any particular overclock speed.

HandBrake

Intel Core i7-7700K – Battlefield 1

Battlefield 1 is the kind of game that doesn’t need any real introduction. The latest installment of the Battlefield series is as beautiful as anyone would expect and comes right out of the gate with full DX11 and DX12 support. EA and DICE did a fantastic job with their AAA WW1 shooter this time by implementing some key gaming technologies. We tested the game at 1440p using Ultra settings and DirectX 11 API.

Intel Core i7-7700K - GTA V

GTA V is one handsomely optimized title for the PC audience. It's scalable across various PC configurations and delivers an impressive frame rate. Rockstar did an amazing job with the PC build of GTA V and it comes with a large array of settings that can be configured by PC gamers. We tested the title at 1440p with everything set to Ultra and 4x MSAA.

Intel Core i7-7700K - Ashes of The Singularity

Stardock's Ashes of the Singularity RTS title is a new take on the historic genre. The game incorporates several things that many PC gamers have been curious about and anxious to try for themselves such as Explicit Multi-Adapter Support and full Asynchronous Compute under the DirectX 12 API. We tested the game at 1440p with 4x MSAA on Crazy Settings under DirectX 12.

Intel Core i7-7700K - Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs 2 once again takes us on a hacking tour, but this time in the city of San Francisco. Using a very evolved version of the OPUS engine the developers should have a better grasp on things this time around than they did with Watch Dogs. The new engine incorporates several NVIDIA GameWorks technologies and is seen as one of the most graphics intensive titles to launch this year. We tested the game on a mix of Ultra and high settings at 1440p (Temporal Filtering Disabled).

Intel Core i7-7700K - Sid Meir's Civilization VI

Civilization VI is the pinnacle of the series. It features huge, sweeping changes, and nothing was left out. Everything has found a purpose, they all work together in tandem but also have a reason to stand alone. It uses a more fleshed out engine that now supports DirectX 12 capabilities. We tested the game with every setting maxed out (4x MSAA, 4096x4096 shadow textures) at 1440p in DirectX 12.

Intel Core i7-7700K - Rise of the Tomb Raider

The latest Rise of the Tomb Raider title gets lots of graphical enhancements added by Crystal Dynamics and Nixxes, including hardware tessellation, increased anisotropic filtering, additional dynamic foliage, increased LOD, additional PureHair strands, sun soft shadows, and improved bokeh DOF. We tested the game at 1440p under DirectX 12 API.

The Kaby Lake architecture is meant to improve overall system power consumption and increase efficiency. In the case of the Core i7-7700K, we are looking at a refined 14nm+ process which allows Intel to gain improved clock speeds under the same power envelope.

With the frequency bump, the new chips do end up with higher power consumption both in idle and load states. When overclocked, the Core i7-7700K did go past the 400W barrier due to added power and voltage. We used a Phantek’s PH-TC14PE cooler to keep the chip cooled under stock and overclocked load and the result was a significant increase in the temperatures compared to the Skylake generation.

There are two parts of this review, first one is the processor and the second is the motherboard. While the review mainly focused on the motherboard, the processor is something to talk about as they are an essential part of this yearly upgrade cycle that Intel is bringing to consumers.

Intel's Core i7-7700K Is Nothing To Get Excited About

Intel's Kaby Lake series brings us the 7th generation processors to the mainstream market. They feature what Intel calls their most optimized 14nm node, 14nm+. Intel also says that these processors bring performance improvements and support for higher clock speeds. Essentially, Kaby Lake are a better tuned Skylake microarchitecture for the mainstream community.

But Kaby Lake isn't as exciting as it sounds. With Kaby Lake being one of the worst Intel launches when it comes to NDA, the majority of the tech sites have already tested the Core i7-7700K processor. Yes, it is faster compared to the Core i7-6700K, but as a result of achieving faster clocks, it runs hotter and sips more power.

It does what Intel promised, to deliver faster performance and higher clock speeds but it breaks the efficiency rating of Core processors, which although it doesn't matter a whole lot to the mainstream audience, is something that goes against the principles defined by Intel. So yeah, you get that 10% faster performance than the Core i7-6700K and you also get that 7% clock speed bump. In return, you get higher temperatures that are much worse when overclocking (the Core i7-7700K can do 5 GHz with ease provided you have a beast of a cooler) and with that clock bump, you get higher power consumption.

Lastly, there's no IPC increase. Kaby Lake is the same as Skylake with higher clock speeds to simply put it. And the bad thing is that it might be so for the next 2-3 generations. Upcoming Intel Core series such as Coffee Lake (Kaby Lake refresh) and Cannonlake will be bringing no incremental IPC improvements and will add more cores for better performance throughput. So, without more to say, the Intel Core i7-7700K is without a doubt the fastest mainstream chip on the market but it has too many drawbacks in terms of power and temperatures that make Skylake still look the better option for gamers.

Farewell 100-Series, 200-Series Boards Are The Best Option For 6th and 7th Generation Core PC Builders

The SUPERO C7Z270 is a solid motherboard at its given price. The motherboard packs server-build quality which may stir up some interest from the gaming community due to its longevity and stability in operation. The board doesn't carry a nice visual demonstration since it's colored in green. There's also no addition of metal braced PCIe and DIMM slots though that isn't necessarily a must to have on these products.

Supermicro's SUPERO brand has converted a server design into a gaming oriented product. Aside from the looks, the product is nicely designed with a solid BIOS, good support for 6th and 7th generation processors and has a lot of options in terms of storage. The C7Z270 from SUPERO is a solid board that packs a server build geared for gamers under a price that isn't as crazy as other gaming boards.

Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.