Core i7-8700K Review: Coffee Lake Brews A Great Gaming CPU

[Guest]

Intel's Core i7-8700K sports the same high frequencies as previous-gen mainstream flagships, but incorporates two more cores to challenge AMD's Ryzen CPUs.

Core i7-8700K Review: Coffee Lake Brews A Great Gaming CPU : Read more

 

[cknobman]

Looks like it might be time for AMD to lower prices.

AMD really has shaken Intel up, never would I have dreamed (before this year) I'd see Intels best gaming cpu (especially a K model) release at $360.

 

[AgentLozen]

AMD's price per core is still very strong. It struggles in gaming at 1080p but Tomshardware didn't provide data in 1440p or 4K.

I'm not yet convinced that AMD is in trouble.

 

[saunupe1911]

Hmmm is it worth a skylake 6700K that's stable at 4.6 Overclock to upgrade? Probably not. I wouldn't mind 6 cores though. I wonder how many will hit 5.0!

 

[jroc188]

8700k is $480ca got the R5 1600 for $255ca and mobo for $120ca. $375 all together and more then happy with the gaming results. But the 8700k dose look sweet on the benchmarks. AMD with a price drop will still sell well

 

[shrapnel_indie]

Of course, while Intel's accelerated Coffee Lake-S launch makes it look today's unveiling is a direct response to heated competition, in reality, the long incubation period for new processors means it’s more likely the result of 10nm manufacturing delays.

Ummm... Yeah, the design may have been kicking around, and ready to go before Ryzen, but when it is released months earlier than scheduled.... Saying that it wasn't a response to Ryzen seems more like misinformation more than pure fact. Yeah, I don't doubt 10nm manufacturing delays played a part in the previous release date, but Ryzen forced its release a little earlier than planned.

 

[bloodroses]

To AMD fanbois who claimed that Intel was toast and couldn't respond to Ryzen's release, here's Intel's Mic drop. *thud*

For the rest of us consumers, this is great news for continued strong competition at reduced prices from both companies.

 

[massacre.h4te]

Nearly 90 degrees Celsius when overclocked gaming on an AiO. Prettttttty toasty!

 

[saunupe1911]

To AMD fanbois who claimed that Intel was toast and couldn't respond to Ryzen's release, here's Intel's Mic drop. *thud*

For the rest of us consumers, this is great news for continued strong competition at reduced prices from both companies.

Z370 motherboards are expensive though...sheesh. And you gotta reach out to liquid cooling companies for attachments for mounting to this socket. Canon Lake may be out before you can get everything situated for a nice 8700k upgrade lmao.

 

[FormatC]

Nearly 90 degrees Celsius when overclocked gaming on an AiO. Prettttttty toasty!

The reason is simple:
The built-in frying fat between IHS and die

 

[LilDog1291]

To AMD fanbois who claimed that Intel was toast and couldn't respond to Ryzen's release, here's Intel's Mic drop. *thud*

For the rest of us consumers, this is great news for continued strong competition at reduced prices from both companies.

I don't know if I would call 90C+ on a chiller cooler (granted its a high overclock but the 7700k had the same problem) a mic drop but it is definitely a step in the right direction. If they can get their temperatures under control in the next generation they will win my vote back.

 

[FormatC]

@LilDog1291:
A delidded i7-8700K is around 15-20 degrees cooler. The problem isn't the architecture, but the TIM instead of solder.

 

[garba78]

Disappointed

 

[madmatt30]

@Billy Gatez - Its $360 , amd have no reason whatsoever to drop their prices at the moment.

The ryzen 1600 is less than $200, Intel don't have an answer to that pricepoint .

The only chips that should (& will) worry amd is the cheapest locked quad i3 , & the cheapest locked 6 core i5

Nothing else is relevant to them price wise.

 

[JCFca1992]

I have a 6600K which I can't overclock past 4.2ghz without lots of heat (lost the Silicon Lottery).

I play lots of 64 player BF1 and regularly see 100% CPU usage.

Is this worth the upgrade long term?

 

[Aspiring techie]

I'm waiting to see what happens when AMD releases Ryzen on a better process. Maybe Intel's clock speed advantage will be shrunk.

 

[saunupe1911]

@LilDog1291:
A delidded i7-8700K is around 15-20 degrees cooler. The problem isn't the architecture, but the TIM instead of solder.

90% of consumers aren't purchasing delidded processors. Only extreme enthusiasts.

 

[Aspiring techie]

I find it interesting that an 8-core, overclocked Ryzen 7 1800X is using less power than a stock i7 8700K.

Also, it would be interesting to compare a Kaby Lake i7 vs a Coffee Lake i5 at the same clock rates. Does a 4 core 8 thread CPU beat a 6 core 6 thread CPU?

 

[dstarr3]

Well, AMD didn't wear that crown for very long. But thanks to them for shaking up the market!

 

[LilDog1291]

@LilDog1291:
A delidded i7-8700K is around 15-20 degrees cooler. The problem isn't the architecture, but the TIM instead of solder.

Yeah I have thought about delidding my 7700k but if I wanted to do it myself, and safely, I'm looking at an additional $50-$70 right out of the gate to buy the tool and liquid metal. If Intel would only take a page from AMD and solder their IHS like they did in the Sandy Bridge days I would be ordering their CPU on day 1.

 

[ingtar33]

this article is filled with subtle comments about all the extra stuff they needed to do to keep this thing from melting through the floor.

If you had to take all these extra steps on an AMD cpu you'd have written an expose on how hot the chip is. But you just brush it off like its nothing in this article.

BTW: if you can't run prime95 for half a day stable on an overclock, it's not a real overclock. It's just a silly benching number. Check my sig. Thats a silly benching number. Could I get a fx8320 to run at 5.3ghz? sure, windows booted and i validated it. But could I DO anything with that clock speed? nope. I've seen a number of review sites today post 5.0-5.1 ghz overclock numbers for coffee lake, yet not a single one of them could run a serious prime run on those numbers. Heck, can you even run prime at stock on this chip? I'd like to know that before I consider this chip for purchase to replace my i5.

 

[kinggremlin]

I don't understand why the conclusion keeps bringing up you needing to buy a motherboard if you want to use your new cpu. Especially when comparing it to AMD. Is AMD giving away free motherboards with the purchase of a Ryzen CPU? You're going to have to buy a new motherboard regardless of which cpu you decide to go with.

 

[FormatC]

90% of consumers aren't purchasing delidded processors. Only extreme enthusiasts.

This is the reason why I hate their TIM and wrote my reply to the other post. I can compare both solutions very often and it makes no sense for me to use this cheap grease. It's Intels built-in brake to stop the end-users and to lower the RMA, nothing else

 

[Wisecracker]

Chipzilla !
[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T65rW_SIzg0"][/video]
:lol:

Unless you're living off a big trust fund or have incredibly low self esteem in need of epeen, 'general computing and gaming' works just dandy on a Kaby i5 or Ryzen 5 --- either with great combos between $300-$400.

And stay away from overhead power lines ...

 

[karma77police]

Best CPU for $350+ price range. Kudos to Intel.