Intel Core i7-7740K Kaby Lake-X Architecture Exposed

Are you looking forward to the next-generation of Intel processors? Or at least the next version of the current generation, it’s becoming hard to keep track of how Intel are branding their chips these days. The new generation of HEDT processors are set to launch in August, and slowly we’re starting to hear more and more details about what the hardware has to offer.

The new i7-7740K is not an upgrade to the 7700k as some expected. It uses a new X299 chipset, which does also mean it’s new motherboard time too, as it requires a new socket. The processor still uses the same underlying technology as the Kaby Lake chips, but it has been given a 100MHz base frequency boost, there’s no built-in iGPU, and the TDP has gone from 91W up to 112W; I wonder if there are more new tweaks yet to be discovered?

Kaby Lake-X offers up four core processors, while the Skylake-X will handle the more extreme 6, 8, and 10-core variants. Of course, a boost to the MHz isn’t the only improvement to the new X chips, as while Kaby Lake-X will offer up the usual 16 lanes of PCI-e, Skylake-X will take the count up to 44 / 28 lanes. Of course, you’ll also find quad channel memory support with speeds up to DDR4-2666.

What else the new X models has to offer remains to be seen, but I’m betting a lot more fun stuff will be found in the specs of the X299 chipset as more details emerge.