Intel Unveils 8th-Generation U-Series Processors, Kaby Lake Refresh Debuts

[Guest]

These are not the Coffee Lake processors you are looking for, but Intel's leading 8th generation processors bring double the cores and threads to the i5 and i7 lineups, which Intel claims offers up to 40% more performance.

Intel Unveils 8th-Generation U-Series Processors, Kaby Lake Refresh Debuts : Read more

 

[ibjeepr]

"These are not the Coffee Lake processors you're looking for"
Are we going to get an announcement on those later today?

 

[Zaporro]

omggggg who cares for laptops, i7-8700K please

 

[linuxgeex]

Paul did a really good job of spinning this deception by Intel in a positive light. These are simply not 8-th gen processors, at all. The performance gains are real but what this is about is AMD's recent releases of better-featured and better performance per dollar competition, and Intel choosing to relax its habitual stranglehold on features as a vehicle to drive up profits. That's good value for consumers, but the fact that Intel has made-believe to the public that this is a new generation with new architectural improvements is pretty saddening, regardless of whether they are providing good value with these new SKUs. Deception is never a good thing in marketing, and this is going to damage Intel's reputation among technologists.

 

[cryoburner]

Intel: "Hey guys, here's our new generation of CPUs, right on time in Q3! We call it Kaby Lake!"

 

[InvalidError]

So the 8000 series is going to be a mix of Kaby-R and Coffee Lake. Hello unnecessary confusion.

 

[Brian_R170]

I certainly welcome a mainstream quad-core laptop with a 15W TDP.

 

[mavikt]

Intel lost their cool badly upon the Ryzen arrival.
And I've completely lost the grip of their generational codenames; when's there and architectural change and what does it consist of, what's the difference between the process nodes (14nm, 14nm+, 14nm++; less current leak? higher frequencies?).
The tick-tock strategy was very clear to me, the new tick-tock-tack-tack-tack...; not so much.
I'm glad I got my new rig last year, because making an informed buying decision other than 'the newer, the better' is getting real hard.
I guess 'discombobulated' is the word, sounds like mumbo jumbo to me; Can't wait to see what it means!

 

[AnimeMania]

The tick-tock strategy has become the trick-talk strategy.

 

[MichaelElfial]

I have to agree with linuxgeex (no matter that I am not linux fan ), still what we see is probably indication of something more - Intel did not take AMD seriously way too long, they probably even waited months after the Ryzen release to get really scared. They are simply unable to make a big jump, which will give them enough security for the near future and they are doing what they can - playing with words included. Well, I am not convinced, on the contrary I am a bit worried for Intel in the long run and I (like most of you) appreciate the competition and the long term gifts it gives.

 

[InvalidError]

I am a bit worried for Intel in the long run

I wouldn't worry about Intel: it still has the better per-core performance in most software with plenty of cash reserves to tide itself over through the one or two chip generations it may need to re-adjust to Ryzen/TR/EPYC. If Intel really felt threatened, dropping CPU prices to halt AMD's market share gains would also be an option. The simple fact that Intel hasn't announced official price drops for its CPUs should be sufficient evidence that Intel doesn't feel immediately threatened yet beyond the rushed X299 launches to fill market gaps between its previous chips and AMD's new products and those aren't priced to compete on a dollar-for-dollar basis either.

I'll worry about Intel if it still hasn't sorted itself out by mid-2019 where it'll have to compete against Ryzen 2 or possibly even 3.

 

[bit_user]

Wow. 4/8 cores/threads in 15 W. Turbo speeds also look quite respectable, but it'll be interesting to see how long they can be sustained.

If Steve Jobs were still alive, I wonder if seeing this would upset him enough to switch to AMD out of spite, like he was rumored to have done when he found out XBox had a 3-core PPC @ 3.2 GHz (no matter that it was in-order).

 

[bit_user]

should help in many of the common lightly threaded applications mobile users leverage on a daily basis.

I don't "leverage" applications. I use applications. So, how about this?

should help in many of the common lightly threaded applications people frequently use on laptops.

 

[okieiam]

So which to choose 7700HQ or 8550U?

 

[zippyzion]

LAUNCH ALL THE CHIPS!... is what this feels like. We've taken a complex and confusing product stack and tossed it all into coffee (Is this what they mean by Coffee Lake?).

First, thank you Intel for quad core 15 watt chips. Maybe I'll get one in my next Surface.

Secondly, WTF INTEL!? Launching chips on 3 different architectures in a single series? Why don't you just admit they are the same architecture with different options selected? Revised Kaby Lake? What needs revision? It was already the revision of Skylake. I don't even know what Coffee Lake is anymore, and wasn't there another one? I mean they have a 14nm++ chip coming out with more cores, but I can't keep code names straight anymore because Intel seems like it is caught in a tornado of "release all the lakes". Pull it together Intel, you aren't making sense!

 

[bit_user]

First, thank you Intel for quad core 15 watt chips. Maybe I'll get one in my next Surface.

Go back and read the part about configurable TDP. The same chip will perform differently in different products. In something thin and passively cooled, like a Surface, it will perform much worse than in a laptop with a heatsink and fan.

I can't keep code names straight anymore because Intel seems like it is caught in a tornado of "release all the lakes". Pull it together Intel, you aren't making sense!

I had to LOL.

Yeah, it's hard to keep everything straight. Toms should make a Kaby/Kaby-R/Coffee/Cannon Lake Decoder Ring (i.e. chart).

 

[none12345]

Mixing 3 generations of chips together and calling them 8th genn seems like a big fat deceptive mess. Mixing coffee and cannon lake together isn't a big deal, since they are both new chips. Its the 2nd rebranding of skylake being mixed in that is the problem.

Skylake was rebranded kabylake, and now its rebranded again for 8th gen? All in the space of 1 year....serously wtf are they doing?