Intel Core i7-8700K Coffee Lake Flagship Delidded, Larger Die Exposed

There are some interesting things to be discovered when removing the integrated heatspreader (IHS) from a processor, a delicate and dangerous (to the CPU) process known as delidding. For example, you might uncover so called 'dummy dies' as famed overclocker der8auer did when delidding a Threadripper 1950X processor. More recently, someone delidded an Intel Core i7-8700K processor and found a slightly elongated die.

HKEPC posted pics of the delidded chip on the site's Facebook page. In doing so, we can see that the die area is the same width as a Kaby Lake processor, such as the Core i7-7700K (a fan favorite), but noticeably longer. Here is a look at the delidded Core i7-8700K next to a naked Core i7-7700K:


Intel's 8th generation Core Coffee Lake architecture is built on the same 14-nanometer manufacturing process as its 7th generation Core Kaby Lake architecture, but in this case the Core i7-8700K has two additional cores—it is a 6-core processor with 12 threads. The die size is approximately 151mm², giving it around 29mm² more die area to fit additional cores.

While most of use are eagerly waiting for Cannon Lake, which represents Intel's foray into 10nm territory, Coffee Lake is shaping up to be an interesting release. Leaked benchmarks show the Core i7-8700K performing well against the Core i7-7700K, both in single-threaded and multi-threaded tasks. Obviously it has an advantage in benchmarks that can tap all available cores and threads, but its IPC seems to be higher as well.

The Core i7-8700K has a base clockspeed of 3.7GHz and a Turbo clock set at 4.7GHz. Word on the web is that getting to 5GHz via overclocking is not that difficult with adequate cooling, such as an all-in-one liquid cooler. With the additional cores in play—Coffee Lake will be the first time Intel has targeted mainstream consumers 6-core products—we expect the Core i7-8700K to be a popular chip.

Thumbnail and Top Image Source: HKEPC