Intel has announced it’s latest round of desktop and laptop processors, codenamed ‘Kaby Lake’, ahead of CES 2017. The announcement follows the launch of lower power 7th-gen variants in the second half of the last year, which are already shipping in Ultrabooks and 2-in-1s.
The launch comprises of three Core i7 models, eight Core i5 models, and five Core i3 models, along with five low-end chips using the legacy Pentium brand name. At the top end is the core i7-7700K with a 4.2GHz base speed, followed by the Core i5-7600K with a speed of 3.8GHz – both have TDPs of 91w. For the first time, there’s an unlocked Core i3 CPU, the i3-7350K which has two cores, a base speed of 4.2GHz, no Turbo Boots, and a TDP of 60W.
Kaby Lake launched in August with dual-core versions for laptops that offered reasonable performance upticks. The highlight is its video engine, which can handle 10-bit content without breaking a sweat. Play a 10-bit color depth file on Skylake laptop with integrated graphics, and you drop frames and destroy battery life. The same video on Kaby Lake hums along with far less impact.
Intel says that by using a refined “14nm+” manufacturing process, performance gains can be squeezed out of each processor regardless of architectural changes. The main difference between Skylake and Kaby Lake processors is their integrated GPUs. Intel has introduced new acceleration blocks for HD and 4K video in the H.265, VP9 and HEVC formats, which greatly improve speed and reduce power consumption.