Core i7-8086K 40th Anniversary CPU Review: Intel X86 Hits 5GHz

We used the same platform to test the Core i7-8086K Anniversary Edition that was referenced here. The system features a Gigabyte Z370-based motherboard, a GeForce GTX 1080, 16GB of G-SKILL RAM, an SSD, and Windows 10 Pro x64, fully patched and updated.

Due to the similarities between the Core i7-8086K and 8700K, we’re going to present a somewhat condensed benchmark suite. As you’ll see, even if we ran the full suite, the conclusions would still be the same.

Starting with PCMark 10, which features an array of tests that are both single and multi-threaded, that are also affected by storage, memory, and GPU performance, we see the Core i7-8086K just barely nudge past the Core i7-8700K. The Anniversary Edition’s higher single-thread performance account for its slight advantage here.

Geekbench more clearly illustrates the Core i7-8086K’s single-core advantage over the Core i7-8700K, though somewhat surprisingly, the multi-core test shows a marked improvement as well. This is due to the tests in Geekbench not thoroughly taxing every core, throughout every test, which likely allowed the 8086K to boost higher for some short bursts.

The JetStream browser benchmark is heavily influenced by single-thread performance, as such, the Intel Core i7-8086K jumps into the pole position.

Cinebench perhaps give the best indication of what to expect from the Core i7-8086K versus its Coffee Lake-based siblings. Here, the 8086K puts up a 5.8% higher single-threaded score, but essentially ties the Core i7-8700K in the multi-threaded test.

Our custom LAME benchmark shows the Core i7-8700K and Core i7-8086K finishing in a dead heat. This benchmark reports speeds rounded to full seconds, however, so any fractional differences in performance aren’t shown. Though the 8086K should technically have been faster in the single-thread test, the delta was just less than a full second.