Intel To Unveil 8th Gen Core Processors August 21 On Facebook Live During US Solar Eclipse

Intel is teaming up with Facebook to unveil its 8th generation Core processor family, otherwise known as Coffee Lake. The unveiling will take place in about two weeks on Monday, August 21, 2017 through Facebook Live, a decision that underscores the power of social media and in particular that of Facebook. Not by accident, Intel chose that date because it coincides with a solar eclipse in the US.

"Watch as two exciting moments align: the Great American Solar Eclipse and the unveiling of Intel’s most powerful family of processors for the next era of computing. Hear from those who are at the center of creating this technology and from creators who are using the power of 8th Gen Intel Core technology in new and exciting ways," Intel stated in a press release.


Barring any surprises, this will be the last new processor architecture launch before Cannon Lake. It will also be the fourth generation of processors built on a 14-nanometer manufacturing process, the others being Kaby Lake, Skylake, and Broadwell.

So, what can we expect from Coffee Lake? Gregory Bryan, senior vice president of the Client Computing Group at Intel, will be on hand (along with others) to detail what the company's 8th generation Core processors are all about and what they will be capable of. In its press release, Intel also brought up VR, so expect that to be a point of focus.


While Coffee Lake is another 14nm processor architecture, Intel's new generation CPUs may not be compatible with today's 200 series motherboards. According to a Twitter post by ASRock, that will indeed be the case, though nothing has yet been confirmed by Intel.

A handful of Coffee Lake processor SKUs and clockspeeds was also recently leaked. Bearing in mind that these are not official either, here is a look at what Intel might have in store:

• Core i7-8700K: 6C/12T, 3.5GHz to 4.3GHx (4.7GHz single-core Turbo), 95W TDP
• Core i7-8700: 6C/12T, 3.2GHz to 4.3GHz (4.6GHz single-core Turbo), 65W TDP
• Core i5-8600K: 6C/6T, 3.6GHz to 4.1GHz (4.3GHz single-core Turbo), 95W TDP
• Core i5-8400: 6C/6T, 2.8GHz to 3.8GHz (4GHz single-core Turbo), 65W TDP
• Core i3-8300: 4C/8T, 4GHz (no Turbo clocks), TDP unknown

In addition to unveiling Coffee Lake, Intel is planning to give a sneak peek at some of the systems its hardware partners have designed around its new processors.

The live unveiling on Facebook will kick off at 8 AM Pacific (11 AM Eastern). You can catch it by tuning into Intel's Facebook page or by heading to Intel's newsroom.