They arent exciting from one year to the next, but what Intel is getting from a 15w CPU is impressive. 5 years ago, a standard "run of the mill" laptop had a dual core i5 @2.5ghz pulling 35 watts. Today's Skylake is still a dual core i5 @2.5ghz, is 15-25% faster depending on the test, but it only pulls 15 watts. Kaby Lake pushes that even further.
The same is true for standard desktop CPU's... The top speed isnt getting too much better, but where a Core i5/i7 k CPU was 5 years ago vs now is alot cooler and more power efficient. A Skylake Core i7 6700k hardly needs any special cooling at all, even when overclocking. You can get any old cheap air cooler and overclock the hell out of it, where that type of thing used to require an expensive/elaborate setup. The improvements are there in every category, its just not focused on top speed.
It's yet another in a long string of mediocre releases following Sandy Bridge. It might get a bit more interesting in January when more of the Kaby Lake product stack is released, but without something remarkable like more Iris Pro-equipped SKUs, I think we're in for more of the same performance increases. It's not a bad thing, but it is fairly routine.
Did Intel say why they aren't supporting DDR4 on any of the 4.5W processors? I thought less power than DDR3 was supposed to be one of its selling points.
It might be related to the memory controller (more power draw?) or an uptick in yield (+2%?) if you discount the 'DDR4' part. Mind you, it is essentially the same silicon, sharing parts with DDR3L, so it could just be a product differentiation play.
I was hoping for December 2016 release for Kaby Lake, now they stated it for January 2017. probably it's gonna hit the shelves at late-January/early-February. I'm gonna pull the trigger, I won't holding out for Kaby Lake, even though I badly needed that 10-bit hevc support.
CPUs aren't launched in December, that's prime time for discounts and deals. If you're launching a profitable part, it gets pushed until after the holiday. It's been that way for a long time. You only launch in December if it's a really cheap part sold really cheaply and you're only after market share rather than profit.
The "Core m" (rebranded i5/i7) looks really impressive. The 2017 MacBook should be a nice upgrade. Hopefully we see more Windows OEMs using the 4.5W chips. They are really good.
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retrospooty - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
They arent exciting from one year to the next, but what Intel is getting from a 15w CPU is impressive. 5 years ago, a standard "run of the mill" laptop had a dual core i5 @2.5ghz pulling 35 watts. Today's Skylake is still a dual core i5 @2.5ghz, is 15-25% faster depending on the test, but it only pulls 15 watts. Kaby Lake pushes that even further.karma77police - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
Honestly, don't care about laptops either as i find them quite useless. But that is me, personal preference. I understand your point.retrospooty - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
The same is true for standard desktop CPU's... The top speed isnt getting too much better, but where a Core i5/i7 k CPU was 5 years ago vs now is alot cooler and more power efficient. A Skylake Core i7 6700k hardly needs any special cooling at all, even when overclocking. You can get any old cheap air cooler and overclock the hell out of it, where that type of thing used to require an expensive/elaborate setup. The improvements are there in every category, its just not focused on top speed.BrokenCrayons - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
It's yet another in a long string of mediocre releases following Sandy Bridge. It might get a bit more interesting in January when more of the Kaby Lake product stack is released, but without something remarkable like more Iris Pro-equipped SKUs, I think we're in for more of the same performance increases. It's not a bad thing, but it is fairly routine.DanNeely - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
Did Intel say why they aren't supporting DDR4 on any of the 4.5W processors? I thought less power than DDR3 was supposed to be one of its selling points.Ian Cutress - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
It might be related to the memory controller (more power draw?) or an uptick in yield (+2%?) if you discount the 'DDR4' part. Mind you, it is essentially the same silicon, sharing parts with DDR3L, so it could just be a product differentiation play.iranterres - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
Latency related issues perhaps? Just my guess...TachyonParticle - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
I was hoping for December 2016 release for Kaby Lake, now they stated it for January 2017. probably it's gonna hit the shelves at late-January/early-February. I'm gonna pull the trigger, I won't holding out for Kaby Lake, even though I badly needed that 10-bit hevc support.Ian Cutress - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
CPUs aren't launched in December, that's prime time for discounts and deals. If you're launching a profitable part, it gets pushed until after the holiday. It's been that way for a long time. You only launch in December if it's a really cheap part sold really cheaply and you're only after market share rather than profit.KPOM - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
The "Core m" (rebranded i5/i7) looks really impressive. The 2017 MacBook should be a nice upgrade. Hopefully we see more Windows OEMs using the 4.5W chips. They are really good.