Kaby Lake has is officially here! We have been talking about Kaby Lake for the past few months and today Intel makes it official with the release of the S-Series desktop processors. Typically when Intel releases desktop processors they would go by the “tick-tock” method wherein a “tick” would represent a new node and a “tock” would represent a new architecture. Intel officially killed off “tick-tock” earlier this year and has moved to a three year cadence in which we’ll see process -> architecture -> optimization. For 14nm we’ve seen “Broadwell”, then “Skylake” with the new architecture, and now finally we are on the optimization phase which is “Kaby Lake”. The optimization phase according to Intel is a direct result of transistor-level enhancements. We can think of “Kaby Lake” much like “Devil’s Canyon” chip was to the i7-4770K. While still on the same 14nm process, architecture, and TDP Intel is able to more performance out of the “Kaby Lake” chips. The flagship processor, the Core i7-7700K (4-core, 8-thread) which we are taking a look at today has a base clock of 4.2 GHz and boosts all the way up to 4.5 GHz. That is compared to the 4.0 GHz base and 4.2 GHz boost of the Skylake Core i7-6700K. Read along as we see what Intel’s latest desktop processor is all about!
Special thanks to Intel for providing us with the Core i7-7700K “Kaby Lake” Processor to review.
Specifications:
Processor Number: i7-7700K
Cores / Threads: 4 / 8
Base Frequency (GHz): 4.2
Turbo Boost Frequnecy (GHz): 4.5 GHz
TDP: 91W
Unlocked: Yes
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 630
Dynamic Frequency (MHz): 1150
Memory Speed Support(MHz): 2400/1600
Intel Smart Cache: 8M
Integrated Memory Controller: 2 ch
MSRP: $339.00
Packaging
Intel sent us the Core i7-7700K in a retail box, although we are not sure this is the final version of the packaging. Another version Intel showed us had a “For a Great VR Experience” emblem on it as well. Ours just says Core i7 Unlocked and lets us know we have a 7th Generation desktop processor. On the left side of the box are some of the specifications and features listed out.
Flipping around to the back there is not much. There is a window that will show our processor.
Opening the box up inside you’ll find your processor, installation instructions, warrant,y and an Intel Core i7 7th Gen sticker. “K” unlocked CPUs from Kaby Lake will not ship with a stock CPU cooler.
Taking a quick look at the processor before we put it in our machine our’s in a little different from the retail chip as it says Intel Confidential on it. Retail versions of the chip will say “Intel Core i7 i7-7700K 4.20GHZ” on it. Flipping over to the back we have the same layout as previous chips.
