Intel Launches 7th Generation Kaby Lake: 15W/28W with Iris, 35-91W Desktop and Mobile Xeon
by Ian Cutress on January 3, 2017 12:01 PM ESTIntel vPro Parts with Intel Authenticate
With the vPro variants of Kaby Lake, Intel is announcing the launch of Intel Authenticate. This is a hardware driven protection system designed to offer more security for user authentication, such as hardware based biosensors (iris, fingerprint) or location based (Bluetooth) security. Similar to how other hardware authentication based systems work, the vPro CPUs will have Intel’s Security and Software Guard Extensions (SGX) enabled to be able to isolate various instruction workflows and also detect when potential intrusion occurs. Intel did not go into any significant detail here, probably based on the initial audience for the Kaby Lake launch being more consumer oriented, but we were told that Intel is working with popular password managers to offer a more secure environment.
The vPro capable processors available from today are the i7-5Y75, i7-5Y57, i7-7600U, i7-7300U, i7-6660U, i5-7350U, E3-1535M v6, E3-1505M v6, i7-7920HQ, i7-7820HQ, i5-7440HQ, i7-7700, i5-7600, i5-7500, i7-7700T, i5-7600T and i5-7500T. These processors need to use the Q270 chipset in order to have vPro capabilities.
OPI 2.0 to OPI 3.0
From the Kaby Lake-Y/U Launch
For anyone following our NUC testing, you may remember that during testing of a Skylake-Y NUC, we found that the PCIe 3.0 x4 slot for M.2 drives was actually limited to PCIe 2.0 x4, effectively reducing the peak bandwidth. At the time we probed Intel and our data sheets to find out that it was actually a limitation imposed by Intel on the CPU which wasn’t obvious from the original launch materials. The interconnect between the CPU cores/system agent and the integrated chipset, what we normally call DMI on a desktop platform but is called OPI on an SoC, was fixed at PCIe 2.0 speeds.
We asked about why this was the case, and we were told that the system actually can support PCIe 3.0 x4 speeds, and the system even tests this on startup, but for stability PCIe 2.0 is chosen. This made the marketing of the NUC a little confusing, especially as PCIe 3.0 x4 for storage was listed as a feature. Working with Intel, they pushed through a new BIOS for the NUC that kept the OPI at PCIe 3.0 x4 speeds, and we were able to get peak bandwidth from our storage devices. However, that BIOS update was limited to one mini-PC from one vendor, leaving all the other vendors to do their own thing.
This time around, Intel is doing the change by default (on every KBL processor, except the Core i3-7100U). The interconnect to the chipset now runs at PCIe 3.0 x4 speeds, allowing the integrated chipset to offer full PCIe 3.0 lanes for extra controllers, storage and other features. For the Y series, this means 10 PCIe 3.0 lanes and the U series get 12 lanes. We could end up seeing some Core i5/i7 devices offer dual M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 RAID as a result, depending on compatibility. Intel also lists NVMe support for the five processors on OPI 3.0.
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Lolimaster - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
It's the same damn skylake with a more "mature" process. Before you could call that "release new models" like FX8350 and later the 8370.Calling it a new generation is laughable. Haswell refresh got the 4790K after the initial 4770K,
marc1000 - Friday, January 6, 2017 - link
even as some specific benchmarks show 20% to 30% improvements over 2600k, when I look at gaming I loose all interest to upgrade. my computer is either idle (browsing or light use) or is gaming. to 90% of users with a "generic" profile, there is hardly any reason to leave a Sandy-bridge computer.of course, ultra-thin notebooks and other low-power equipments can put the newer cpus to good use. but wherever a 2600k can already fit, there is no reason to change it. I am keeping my 2500k for yet another cycle here... (maybe this is the result of a lack of competition for some years???)
@Ian, if possible please include a comparison of a 2500k or 2600k Sandy at 4Ghz vs the newer 7600 or 7700 processors. if this is possible of course.
limitedaccess - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
So $305 is the official MSRP? This makes it cheapest mainstream i7 k series release yet?According to Anandtech's review even the first 2600k had a higher $317 MSRP, 3770k was the previous lowest at $313.
Ken_g6 - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
Ars Technica says it's $350, not $305. Typo?http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/01/intel-core-...
limitedaccess - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
Looking at some other reviews, Tom's, Techreport and PCPer say $339.cfenton - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
On the final page it says, "At the end of the day, the Core i7-7700K... has a tray price of $305. This means it will probably reach shelves around $330-$350, and we haven’t heard about a new stock cooler so it will probably come without one."So $305 is the tray price and retail will be $330-$350.
Casper42 - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
> I highly suspect that the Xeon CPUs will be announced later in Q1, given that the target market for these is a little different to standard desktop processors.Late March
chucky2 - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
I hope in the chipset review piece you're doing later, you address what future CPU's will be supported under series 200 socket 1151 motherboards. For example, is Intel committing to Coffee Lake support on these boards? Cannonlake? I.e. How much longevity are we going to get with these boards? Same same on the Xeon boards front for it's chipset.TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - link
I'm thinking the longevity will be very short. Z270 is to Z170 ... just as ... Z97 was to Z87. Intel's 10 nm processors will probably introduce a new socket.chucky2 - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
If Z270 really is like Z97, that will be a complete joke.I'm starting to wonder if the physical limits have basically been reached, and we're slowly (whether by Corp design or physics, or, some of both), just hitting the wall and this is essentially it.