Intel 8-Core Coffee Lake CPU And Z390 Motherboards Launching In October According To Roadmap Leak
If past leaks are any indication, Intel is getting ready to launch a handful of 9th generation Core processors, essentially a refresh of Coffee Lake, including one or two 8-core CPUs. To go along with the new chips, Intel is also prepping a Z390 Express chipset. When will it all come out? A newly leaked roadmap points to October as the target.
The time frame is outlined in what is purportedly an official Intel slide, posted to a Chinese-language website (HKEPC). We can not say for sure if it is real. Supposing it is legitimate, Intel's 6-core and 8-Core Coffee Lake-S Refresh CPUs and Z390 chipset will launch alongside each other at the start of the fourth quarter, but that is not all.
In addition to more mainstream parts, the roadmap reveals an addition to Intel's high-end desktop (HEDT) category. Specifically, it outlines an addition to its Core-X series, Basin Falls Refresh, launching in October as well. Unfortunately, there is no mention of a 28-core CPU, such as the one that Intel demonstrated at Computex in June.
As for the mainstream lineup, according to the roadmap, Intel will launch three consumer SKUs including the Core i9-9900K, Core i7-9700K, and Core i5-9600K. All three have been the subject of numerous leaks, with the following specs:
- Core i9-9900K: 8 cores / 16 threads, 3.6GHz to 5GHz, 16MB L3 cache, 95W TDP
- Core i7-9700K: 8 cores / 8 threads, 3,6GHz to 4.9GHz, 12MB L3 cache, 95W TDP
- Core i5-9600K: 6 cores / 6 threads, 3.7GHz to 4.6Ghz, 9MB L3 cache, 95W TDP
The two 8-core chips are the most interesting of the bunch, and not only because they will be Intel's first mainstream 8-core processors. According to previous rumors, the Core i7 part will lack Hyper Threading. That would be highly unusual, if true. And as for the Core i9 SKU, the claim is that it can hit a single-core boost clock of 5GHz, at 95W.
The Core i9-9900K recently made an appearance in Futuremark's 3DMark database with an impressive CPU score, beating out an overclocked AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and an overclocked Core i7-8700K. It has also been rumored that Intel is switching from low quality TIM (thermal interface material) to solder on its 9th gen chips, including the Core i9-9900K.
Between NVIDIA rumored to be launching a new generation of GeForce this month and Intel rolling out 8-core processors not long after, it is shaping up to be an interesting end to 2018.
