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Fresh chips from Intel (yay?) at 14nm (awww)

But don't fret, 10nm Cannonlake's still on track for late-2017 arrival, allegedly

Intel has unveiled a new line of Coffee Lake 8th gen Core processors, this time aiming for the gaming and creative crowds.

Chipzilla said today the new desktop line of i3, i5 and i7 chips would be unlocked to allow hobbyist users to overclock the parts at higher frequencies, as well as introducing the first line of six-core processors.

Intel said the 8th-gen desktop lineup will be hitting the shelves of October 5th. Each runs with the Intel Z370 motherboard. These parts are separate to the 8th-gen Cores touted for laptops and mobile stuff in August.

Model Clock speed (GHz) Cores/Threads Smart Cache Retail Price
Core i7-8700K 3.7 (4.7 w/Turbo Boost) 6/12 12MB $359
Core i7-8700 3.2 (4.6 w/Turbo Boost) 6/12 12MB $303
Core i5-8600K 3.6 (4.3 w/Turbo Boost) 6/6 9MB $257
Core i5-8400 2.8 (4 w/Turbo Boost) 6/6 9MB $182
Core i3-8350K 4 (no Turbo Boost) 4/4 6MB $168
Core i3-8100 3.6 (no Turbo Boost) 4/4 6MB $117

While the specs will appeal to gamers and folks wanting beefier home kit, Chipzilla is also hoping to pitch the chips to media professionals, claiming the chips are up to 34 per cent faster at editing 4K video than the previous lineup.

"We are laser-focused on giving the enthusiast community the ultimate desktop experience, from chart-topping performance to a platform that can flex with their needs," Intel desktop platform group general manager Anand Srivatsa said of the release.

"Our 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors deliver tremendous improvements across the board and – for gamers, in particular– offer an unbeatable experience."

The release marks yet another family of Intel CPUs built on the manufacturing giant's 14nm process, and it could be the last. Intel said last week it remains on track to catch up with Qualcomm and Apple with the debut of its first 10nm processors in late 2017 – though Chipzilla notes that these Cannonlake CPUs won't really ramp up to volume production until early next year.

Apple is using TSMC to fabricate powerful 10nm A11 CPU parts already out in the wild in its iPhone 8. Qualcomm is using Samsung to craft the 10nm Snapdragon 835 chips in various devices, and has a 10nm ARM server chip coming this year. Samsung also has its own 10nm Exynos 9 series processor. Meanwhile, Intel is clinging onto 14nm, although insists its 10nm is better than everyone else's 10nm and therefore it's all just a war of marketing.

The 10nm Cannonlake line was originally slated to land in 2015 but was plagued by delays. Ten-nanometer is proving difficult for Chipzilla to conquer. ®

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