First Look at Intel Z370 Motherboards; Core i7-8700K to Launch on 5th October
Intel’s 8th Gen Coffee Lake processors, in desktop form, will require a new 300 series motherboard to run. Today, the first full photos of Z370 motherboards surfaced on the web.
ASRock Z370 Motherboards for Intel’s Coffee Lake desktop CPUs
The PC hardware site VideoCardz has published photos of no less than six Z370 models from ASRock. The motherboards boast the new ‘1151’ socket in its full glory.
The lineup from ASRock includes Taichi, Extreme4 and Killer SLI/ac. The more budget-oriented Pro4 will be available in ATX and MicroATX form factor. There will also be a Mini-ITX Z370 motherboard.
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Intel Coffee Lake-S series processors will feature up to 6 cores and 12 threads. The chips will be based on the same basic CPU and graphics architecture as Kaby Lake, but will use the the updated 14nm++ process node.
The Coffee Lake-S platform will include integrated USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps) technology. It will also offer support for Intel’s next-gen Optane memory, Thunderbolt 3 with DisplayPort 1.4, and dual channel DDR4 memory clocked at native speeds of 2666 MHz.
The CFL-S chips will be rated at 95W for Enthusiast, 65W for Corporate and Mainstream and 35W for Low Power series. In terms of I/O, a single processor should be capable of handling up to 24 PCI-E 3.0 lanes, up to 10 USB 3.1 ports, and up to six SATA 3 ports. Other key features include:
- Intel Hyper-Threading for 12-Way Multitasking
- Enhanced IA and memory overclocking
- Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology
- Intel Smart Cache Technology
- Intel UHD Graphics 630
- Intel Rapid Storage Technology
- PCI-E 3.0 x4 Storage Support
Intel Core i7-8700K could Launch on 5th October
Moving to Coffee Lake launch, we’ve already heard rumors about the next-gen CPUs arriving in October. A new leak from VCZ not only confirms these rumors but it also reveals the exact launch date.
The distribution of Intel’s 8th Gen Core i7-8700K will reportedly start on October 5th. It is believed that this could actually be the date for retail availability, but even if not, you can still expect Intel’s new desktop series to launch early October.
The Core i7-8700K is the flagship processor of the Coffee Lake lineup. The chip is clocked at 3.8GHz base, 4.7GHz max Turbo and 4.3GHz all-core boost. It also features an unlocked multiplier to make overclocking easier.
Recent CPU-Z screenshot shows the Coffee Lake flagship scoring 4467.4 points which is around 5% more than AMD’s 8-core Ryzen 7 1700X. The chip is also expected to overclock as high as 5.0GHz on all 6 cores. You can read more about Core i7-8700K overclocking and benchmarks over here.
Furthermore, the 8700K will pack 12 MB of L3 cache along with a GT2 tier iGPU. The TDP is rated at 95W. The chip could be priced between $349 and $379.