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The Intel Core Processor Number Guide – What They Mean!

The Intel Core processor number system changes with every generation, including the new 10th Gen Ice Lake and 10th Gen Comet Lake processors!

In this guide, we will share with you exactly what those letters and numbers mean!

10 Generations, 10 Number Systems!

Every Intel Core processor generation varies in how they are numbered. We will go through each generation from the latest 10th Gen Core all the way to the first-generation Core processors.

 

10th Gen Intel Core Processor Number Systems

Even though they are both part of the same 10th Gen Intel Core processor family, the Ice Lake and Comet Lake processors have different processor number systems.

10th Gen Intel Ice Lake Processors

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i7 : enthusiast class, with many processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors

Gen Indicator

This is now a 2-digit number 10 for the 10th Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

Instead of three digits, it now uses just two digits, but the concept is the same – the higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general.

For example, the Core i7-1068 is faster than Core i7-1065.

Level of Graphics

Replacing the Product Line Suffix, this gives us a rough indication of the processor graphics’ performance level.

  • G7 : Intel Iris Plus Graphics with 64 Execution Units
  • G4 : Intel Iris Plus Graphics with 48 Execution Units
  • G1 : Intel UHD Graphics with 32 Execution Units

Intel started using this graphics indicator in the 10th Gen Intel Core processor number system, because this will be a major model differentiator.

For example, they announced three Intel Core i5-1035 models, differentiated only by their processor graphics :

  • Intel Core i5-1035G7 : Intel Iris Pro Graphics (64 EUs)
  • Intel Core i5-1035G4 : Intel Iris Pro Graphics (48 EUs)
  • Intel Core i5-1035G1 : Intel UHD Graphics (32 EUs)

Recommended : 10th Gen Intel Ice Lake Mobile CPU Features + Specifications!

10th Gen Intel Comet Lake Processors

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • Core i7 : enthusiast class
  • Core i5 : mainstream processors
  • Core i3 : entry-level processors

Gen Indicator

This is now a 2-digit number 10 for the 10th Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

Instead of two digits that Ice Lake uses, Comet Lake uses three digits, but the concept is the same – the higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general.

For example, the Core i7-10710 is faster than Core i7-10510.

Product Line Suffix

This tells us more about the processor features, for a particular model :

  • U : Ultra-low power (mobile only)
  • Y : Extremely-low power (mobile only)

Recommended : 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake : 1 Step Forward, 1 Step Back!

 

9th Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i9 : prosumer class, with the most processing cores
  • i7 : enthusiast class, with many processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors

Gen Indicator

The first number – 9 – quickly tells us that this is a 9th Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i9-9900 is faster than Core i9-9880
  • Core i7-9850 is faster than Core i7-9750

Product Line Suffix

This tells us more about the processor features, for a particular model :

  • K : Unlocked processor multiplier
  • F : Does not come with processor graphics, requires discrete graphics
  • T : Power-optimised
  • S : Special Edition
  • H : High performance graphics (mobile only)

Recommended : Intel Core i9-9900K Preview – World’s Best Gaming CPU?

 

8th Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i9 : prosumer class, with the most processing cores
  • i7 : enthusiast class, with many processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors

Gen Indicator

The first number – 8 – quickly tells us that this is an 8th Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i7-8750 is faster than Core i7-8700
  • Core i5-8500 is faster than Core i5-8400

Product Line Suffix

This tells us more about the processor features, for a particular model :

  • K : Unlocked processor multiplier (desktop only)
  • G : Includes discrete graphics on package (mobile only)
  • U : Ultra-low power (mobile only)

Next Page > 5th to 7th Gen Intel Core Processors

 

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7th Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i7 : enthusiast class, with the most processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors

Gen Indicator

The first number – 7 – quickly tells us that this is a 7th Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i7-7700 is faster than Core i7-7600
  • Core i5-7Y57 is faster than Core i5-7Y54

Product Line Suffix

This tells us more about the processor features, for a particular model :

  • K : Unlocked processor multiplier
  • H : High performance graphics
  • Q : Quad-core processor
  • U : Ultra-low power
  • Y : Extremely low power

 

6th Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i7 : enthusiast class, with the most processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors

Gen Indicator

The first number – 6 – quickly tells us that this is a 6th Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i7-6700 is faster than Core i7-6600
  • Core i5-6600 is faster than Core i5-6500

Product Line Suffix

This tells us more about the processor features, for a particular model :

  • K : Unlocked processor multiplier (desktop only)
  • T : Power-optimised (desktop only)
  • H : High performance graphics (mobile only)
  • HK : High performance graphics, unlocked multiplier (mobile only)
  • HQ : High performance graphics, quad-core processor (mobile only)
  • U : Ultra-low power (mobile only)

 

5th Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i7 : enthusiast class, with the most processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors
  • M : ultra-low power mobile processors

Gen Indicator

The first number – 5 – quickly tells us that this is a 5th Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i7-5700 is faster than Core i7-5600
  • Core i5-5300 is faster than Core i5-5200

Product Line Suffix

This tells us more about the processor features, for a particular model :

  • C : Unlocked LGA1150 processor with high-performance graphics (desktop only)
  • R : BGA1364 processor with high-performance graphics (desktop only)
  • H : High performance graphics (mobile only)
  • HQ : High performance graphics, quad-core processor (mobile only)
  • U : Ultra-low power (mobile only)
  • Y : Extremely low power (mobile only)

Next Page > 1st to 4th Gen Intel Core Processors

 

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4th Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i7 : enthusiast class, with the most processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors
  • M : ultra-low power mobile processors

Gen Indicator

The first number – 4 – quickly tells us that this is a 4th Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i7-4900 is faster than Core i7-4800
  • Core i5-4400 is faster than Core i5-4300

Product Line Suffix

This tells us more about the processor features, for a particular model :

  • K : Unlocked processor multiplier (desktop only)
  • R : BGA1364 processor with high-performance graphics (desktop only)
  • S : Performance-optimised model (desktop only)
  • T : Power-optimised (desktop only)
  • M : Mobile processor
  • MQ : Quad-core mobile processor
  • MX : Extreme Edition mobile processor
  • U : Ultra-low power (mobile only)
  • Y : Extremely low power (mobile only)

 

3rd Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i7 : enthusiast class, with the most processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors
  • M : ultra-low power mobile processors

Gen Indicator

The first number – 3 – quickly tells us that this is a 3rd Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i7-3770 is faster than Core i7-3720
  • Core i5-3470 is faster than Core i5-3450

Letter Suffix

This primarily tells us whether it is an Extreme Edition processor or not :

  • X : Extreme Edition processor

Product Line Suffix

This tells us more about the processor features, for a particular model :

  • K : Unlocked processor multiplier (desktop only)
  • S : Performance-optimised model (desktop only)
  • T : Power-optimised (desktop only)
  • M : Mobile processor
  • QM : Quad-core mobile processor
  • U : Ultra-low power (mobile only)
  • Y : Extremely low power (mobile only)

 

2nd Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i7 : enthusiast class, with the most processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors

Gen Indicator

The first number – 2 – quickly tells us that this is a 2nd Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i7-2860 is faster than Core i7-2820
  • Core i5-2700 is faster than Core i5-2600

 

1st Gen Intel Core Processor Number System

Brand Modifier

This is what most people think of as the performance category.

  • i7 : enthusiast class, with the most processing cores
  • i5 : mainstream processors
  • i3 : entry-level processors

Gen Indicator

The lack of a Gen Indicator of 1 tells us that this is a 1st Generation Intel Core processor.

SKU Numeric Digits

This is what we consumers use as a rough indicator of the processor’s overall performance.

The higher the number, the better the processor’s performance in general. For example :

  • Core i7-990 is faster than Core i7-980
  • Core i5-660 is faster than Core i5-650

 

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The Dell G7 15 (7588) Gaming Laptop In-Depth Review!

Earlier this year, Dell revamped their gaming line-up, rebranding it it as the new Dell G-series. But is that all they really did?

Let’s find out in our in-depth review of the Dell G7 15  – their top-of-the-line G-series gaming laptop!

Updated @ 2018-12-27 : Updated the review with additional points and information. Corrected several minor mistakes.

Originally posted @ 2018-10-25

The Dell G Series Gaming Laptops

The Dell G Series is a new family of laptops designed for affordable high-performance gaming. Dell offers three options – the entry-level G3, the mainstream G5 and the top-of-the-line G7.

All three options are built around the 8th Generation Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce 10 series GPUs.

Dell G7 15 (7588) Specifications

SpecificationsDell G7 15 Base ModelUpgrade Options
Display15.6-inch IPS LED display (1920 x 1080 pixels) with anti-glare coating
Operating SystemWindows 10 Home Single Language (64-bit)
ProcessorIntel Core i5-8300H
- 4 cores, 8 threads
- 2.3 GHz base clock
- 4.0 GHz boost clock
Intel Core i7-8750H
- 6 cores, 12 threads
- 2.2 GHz base clock
- 4.1 GHz boost clock
Memory8 GB DDR4-2666 memory16 GB DDR4-2666 memory
Discrete GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
(4 GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
(4 GB GDDR5)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q
(6 GB GDDR5)
Storage1 TB 5400 RPM HDD128 GB SSD
256 GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
WirelessDual-band 802.11ac (2x2) + Bluetooth 5.0
Ports1 x HDMI 2.0
3 x SuperSpeed USB 3.1 Gen Type-A including 1 with PowerShare
1 x Thunderbolt 3 Port (USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C with support for 40 Gbps Thunderbolt and DisplayPort)
1 x Noble lock slot
1 x 2-in-1 SD (UHS50) / MMC, RJ-45
1 x Headphone / microphone
WebcamWidescreen 720p Webcam with Dual Array Digital Microphone
Audio2 x tuned speakers; audio processing by Waves MaxxAudio Pro
KeyboardFull-size, spill-resistant keyboard with numeric keypad
Battery56 Whr, 4-Cell Battery
Power Adaptor130 Watt Power Adaptor180 Watt Power Adaptor
(NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q only)
Dimensions389 mm wide
274.7 mm deep
24.95 mm thick
Weight2.86 kg
Colour OptionsLicorice Black / Alpine White
Warranty2Yr Premium Support : Onsite Service with Accidental Damage

Dell G7 15 (7588) Price List

The 2018 Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop is available in four (as of October 2018) configurations, although you can customise it too :

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  • i5-8300H, 8GB DDR4, GTX 1050, 1TB HDD : RM 4,038.99 / ~US$ 1,010 (Malaysia}
  • i7-8750H, 8GB DDR4, GTX 1050 Ti, 1TB HDD : RM 4,838.99 / ~US$ 1,010 (Malaysia | US}
  • i7-8750H, 8GB DDR4, GTX 1050 Ti, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD : RM 5,008.99 / ~US$ 1,010 (Malaysia | US)
  • i7-8750H, 16GB DDR4, GTX 1060, 256GB NVMe SSD + 1TB HDD : RM 6,908.99 / ~US$ 1,010 (Malaysia | US)

All Dell G7 15 gaming laptops come with a free Dell Gaming Backpack 15, and free shipping.

Unboxing The Dell G7 15 (7588)

The 2018 Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop comes in a nondescript brown Dell cardboard box. The two labels on the side are the only clues of what lies inside. Let’s unbox it and see what we find inside!

When you unbox the Dell G7 15 gaming laptop, you will find the following items :

  • One Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop
  • One 180 watt AC/DC power adaptor
  • One power cable with a localised power plug
  • One set of Dell G7 15 Quick User Guide, and Safety and Regulatory Information leaflet

Next Page > The Dell G7 15 Up Close + Key Features!

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The Dell G7 15 Up Close!

The 2018 Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop features a completely new sleek design, with a two-tone colour scheme. It runs on an 8th Generation Intel Core processor, with an NVIDIA GeForce 10 series GPU powering its 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display.

Despite its gaming chops and beefed-up cooling system, Dell engineers managed to keep it under an inch thick, and under 3 kg in weight. That’s with a larger 4-cell 56 WHrs battery.

Dell G7 15 Key Features

Now, let’s take a closer look at the key features of the 2018 Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop.

Performance

Dell sent us their top-of-the-line model for our review. It was powered by the 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8750H – a 6-core, 12-thread processor; and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with Max-Q Design.

All that is kept cool by a new dual-fan cooling system, that draws cool air from underneath and expels the hot air out large vents at the back.

For those with less budget, Dell offers the quad-core Intel Core i5-8300H processor, and the GeForce GTX 1050 or GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics as options.

Full HD IPS Display

Unlike many gaming laptops, the Dell uses an IPS panel with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. That means better colour and a wider viewing angle, at the expense of a longer response time and higher cost.

It has an anti-glare coating, but lacks a higher refresh rate or anti-tear technologies like NVIDIA G-SYNC or AMD FreeSync. What this means is – your games will look great, but you will have to live with a longer response time, and some tearing in FPS games.

At the top of the display is a wide-angle 720p webcam with a dual-array digital microphone.

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Dual-Tone Colour Scheme

The 2018 Dell D7 15 (7588) comes in two colour options – Alpine White or Licorice Black. The Alpine White colour option is the more interesting of the two, because it is a dual-tone colour scheme. It has a white top and sides, with a black underside.

Licorice Black is a more professional-looking colour option. It’s plain black, like most business laptops, allowing you to game while pretending to work hard at the office… 😉

Next Page > More Dell G7 15 Key Features!

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More Dell G7 15 Key Features

Keyboard + Touch Pad

The Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop comes with a full-sized keyboard with a numeric keypad. The keys are all back-lit in blue, with the WASD keys specially-highlighted.

It also comes with a rather large touch pad, which is oddly offset to the left. The offset touch pad makes it a bit harder to use, but let’s be frank – no sane gamer would be using the touch pad.

Fingerprint Sensor

The Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop has a touch fingerprint sensor built into the power button.

Like current smartphone fingerprint sensors, it is fast and supports all-aspect fingerprint detection, making it really easy to log into Windows, and start gaming!

Connectivity Options

The Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop comes with a plethora of connectivity options. On the left side, you will find a Noble lock slot, the power port, an RJ-45 LAN port, a USB 3.1 Gen 1 port and an SD card reader.

On the right side, you will find a 3.5 mm audio port, two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports, a single USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C / Thunderbolt 3 port, and a HDMI 2.0 port.

On the wireless side, it supports dual-band 802.11ac WiFi with Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.

Dual Drive Storage

Our Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop came with dual storage drives – a fast 256 GB Toshiba KSG60ZMV256G NVMe SSD and a 1 TB Seagate ST1000LM035 hard disk drive with a 5,400 RPM spindle speed.

Right out of the box, the SSD drive has 188 GB of available storage, while the hard disk drive has 931 GB of available storage.

Dell offers a smaller 128 GB SSD option, but we highly recommend sticking with the 256 GB SSD because you will run out of space pretty quickly on the 128 GB, and the SSD loads games much faster than the 5400 RPM hard disk drive.

Next Page > Dell G7 15 Battery + Gaming Performance, Our Verdict + Award

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Dell G7 16 Battery Life

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The Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop comes with a 4-cell, 56 WHr lithium-ion battery. It supports quick-charging, allowing you to recharge 25% of its capacity in just 15 minutes.

Our review model came with a larger and more powerful 180 watt charger. The lower-end models that use the GeForce GTX 1050 or GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics come with a 130 watt charger instead.

What’s truly impressive is how long it lasted. When we tested its predecessor, the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming, we only managed to game for 45 minutes. The mobile gaming time has more than double with the 2018 Dell G7 15 – we played for just over 2 hours!

Dell G7 15 Gaming Performance

On Battery

We tested the Dell G7 15 running on battery, and it delivered 2,822 on the 3DMark FireStrike test.

This is not a very good score, but it is the secret of how the Dell G7 15 managed to last 2 hours of gaming.

On Main Power

If you really want the Dell G7 15 to roar, plug it into the main power, and it more than triples its gaming performance. Specifically, it scores 9,916 on the 3DMark FireStrike test – 3.5X higher than on battery power!

Our Verdict

The Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop is a refreshing new approach by Dell. Instead of tacking onto the Inspiron line, they rebranded it under the new Dell G line, with a new design.

It now sports a new sleeker design, with beefed-up gaming and cooling performance. Its hexa-core Core i7-8750H processor and GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q graphics is more than fast enough to deliver high frame rates on its full HD display.

Dell also went with an IPS panel, when many gaming laptops opt for TN panels with a high refresh rate and a low response time. This means you will enjoy better colours and a wide viewing angle, which is great if you do more than just game.

The Dell G7 15 checks off many of the standard gaming features – a backlit keyboard, a solid state drive for fast boot-ups and game loads, a pair of decent speakers, and fast wired and wireless connectivity. To top it off – it has a longer-lasting battery – good enough for about 2 hours of gameplay.

Of course, there are tons of other gaming laptops with the same specifications. What’s really impressive though is its affordability. Even this top-of-the-line model costs less than RM 7,000 / ~US$ 1,750. This is a great deal for those who want to enjoy gaming on-the-go, but could not afford a decent gaming laptop.

The Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop is designed to offer an affordable combination of gaming performance, and they didn’t appear to cut too many corners to do it. That’s why we think it deserves our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Congratulations, Dell!

Where To Buy The Dell G7 15 (7588)

The 2018 Dell G7 15 (7588) gaming laptop is available in four (as of October 2018) configurations, although you can customise it too :

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  • i5-8300H, 8GB DDR4, GTX 1050, 1TB HDD : RM 4,038.99 / ~US$ 1,010 (Malaysia}
  • i7-8750H, 8GB DDR4, GTX 1050 Ti, 1TB HDD : RM 4,838.99 / ~US$ 1,010 (Malaysia | US}
  • i7-8750H, 8GB DDR4, GTX 1050 Ti, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD : RM 5,008.99 / ~US$ 1,010 (Malaysia | US)
  • i7-8750H, 16GB DDR4, GTX 1060, 256GB NVMe SSD + 1TB HDD : RM 6,908.99 / ~US$ 1,010 (Malaysia | US)

All Dell G7 15 gaming laptops come with a free Dell Gaming Backpack 15, and free shipping.

Recommended Reading

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The 17″ ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II Gaming Laptop Preview!

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) just launched the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) – the latest 17.3-inch addition to the ROG Strix gaming laptop lineup, and the world’s most compact 17.3-inch gaming laptop!

We were amongst the first in the world to get some hands-on time with this new gaming laptop in the top-secret ROG headquarters in Taipei.

Check out our hands-on video, and the key features of the SCAR II gaming laptop, as well as its price and specifications!

Updated @ 2018-12-17 : Added the official prices and purchase links.

Updated @ 2018-09-05 : Added the exclusive ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II tech briefing video, and a table of its specifications.

Originally posted @ 2018-08-18

 

Introducing The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) Gaming Laptop

The ROG Strix SCAR II (US | UK | MY) squeezes a 17.3-inch display into a 15.7-inch chassis, giving you a more immersive gaming experience while improving mobility. It is no mere 17.3-inch display either – boasting a 144 Hz refresh rate, 3 ms response time and full sRGB coverage.

The SCAR II is powered by up to an Intel Core i7-8750H processor, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. It also comes with ROG RangeBoost technology, and HyperCool Pro cooling system, It features a first-person shooter-inspired camouflage and Kevlar textured design.

 

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) Price + Availability

The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) is available for purchase at authorised ASUS dealers with a recommended retail price of RM 7,599 / ~US$ 1,819 / ~£144.

Here are some direct purchase links (prices accurate as of 17 December 2018) :

 

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) Key Features

Smaller Bezels, Better Display

Thanks to its narrow bezels on three sides, the ROG Strix SCAR II (US | UK | MY) is the first 17.3-inch laptop under 400 mm wide. The 7.05 mm bezels are up to 50% narrower than those found on other 17-inch gaming laptops on the market.

The Strix SCAR II uses AUO’s IPS-type AHVA technology, delivering a 144 Hz refresh rate with 3 ms response time, and 100% sRGB coverage. All these features offer gamers a more immersive gaming experience.

FPS Gaming Design with AURA Sync RGB Lighting

The ROG Strix SCAR II (US | UK | MY) chassis is designed with FPS gaming in mind, with contrasting Kevlar and camouflage textures created with an eight-stage IMR process. A hairline finish brushes across the Gun Metal lid, while the copper cooling fins provide flashes of color through the vents.

Through AURA Sync, RGB lighting can be customized across seven zones: four for the keyboard, two located within the light bar stretching across the front edge, and the last one within the ROG logo on the lid. The lights can then sync to Aura Sync-enabled peripherals such as the Strix Fusion 700 headset and the Gladius II Origin mouse.

Gaming Keyboard with Overstroke Technology

The keyboard on the ROG Strix SCAR II (US | UK | MY) has a desktop-style layout, with a wider space bar and separated blocks of function keys to make shortcuts easier to execute. The keyboard’s switches are rated for 20 million key presses, and Overstroke technology allows them to fire halfway through the 1.8 mm key travel for a faster response than traditional designs that actuate lower in the stroke.

Gaming On-The-Go

Powered by up to the Intel Core i7-8750H processor, the ROG Strix SCAR II (US | UK | MY) offers up to 6 cores and 12 threads of processing capability, coupled with the graphics capability of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060,

To ensure optimal mobile gaming experience, the Strix SCAR II comes with Intel’s latest 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi delivering wireless connectivity at up to 1.73 Gbps. It also comes with four USB Type-A ports, a reversible USB Type-C (USB-C) port, a Mini DisplayPort port, and a full-size HDMI 2.0 port.

Internal storage comes in the form of a fast M.2 NVMe SSD that loads games and applications in the blink of an eye, with an optional secondary 1TB solid-state hybrid drive (SSHD) for additional storage.

HyperCool Pro Cooling Technology

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The ROG Strix SCAR II (US | UK | MY) boasts the HyperCool Pro cooling system, which keeps everything running cool using three heatsinks and two fans.

One heatsink is linked exclusively to the GPU, to ensure it is kept cool even in the most demanding gaming session. The other two heatsinks are shared to ensure efficient cooling performance of both CPU and GPU.

Each heatsink has thin copper fins, that allows more fins to be fitted, increasing the surface area for heat dissipation while reducing resistance to airflow. Patented trapezoid cuts in the lid ensure that the flow of hot air out the exhaust vents at the back is not impeded.

Next Page > ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) Specifications, Price + Availability

 

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ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) Specifications

SpecificationsASUS ROG Strix SCAR II
ModelGL704
Display17.3" anti-glare Full HD (1920x1080) IPS-level panel, 144Hz, 3ms, 72% NTSC
or
17.3" anti-glare Full HD (1920x1080) IPS-level panel, 60Hz, 72% NTSC
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 Home
Option : Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
ProcessorIntel Core i7-8750H
or
Intel Core i5-8300H
Graphics ProcessorNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with 6 GB GDDR5
MemoryDDR4-2666 memory (up to 32 GB)
SSDM.2 NVMe PCIE 3.0 x4 (256 GB / 512 GB / 1 TB SSD)
HDD2.5" 5400 RPM SSDH (1 TB)
2.5" 5400 / 7200 RPM HDD ( 1 TB)
Connectivity802.11ac 2x2 Wave 2 Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 5.0
Audio2 x 3.5 watt speakers with smart amplifier technology
Array microphone
KeyboardBacklit Chiclet Keyboard with marked WASD keys
- 1.8 mm key travel with 0.25 mm keycap curve
- 4-zone RGB lighting with Aura Sync support
I/O Ports1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C
3 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A
2 x USB 2.0 Type-A
1 x mini DP 1.2
1 x HDMI 2.0
1 x RJ-45 LAN port
1 x SD card reader
1 x 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack
1 x Kensington Lock
Power180 W power adaptor
Dimensions399.8 mm wide
273.5 mm deep
24.9 to 26.4 mm thick
Weight2.9 kg

 

ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) Price + Availability

The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II (GL704) is available for purchase at authorised ASUS dealers with a recommended retail price of RM 7,599 / ~US$ 1,819 / ~£144.

Here are some direct purchase links (prices accurate as of 17 December 2018) :

 

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The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon Motherboard Review!

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon is one of the first Intel Z390 motherboards to hit the market in support of the 9th Generation Intel Core i9-9900K processor.

Let’s unbox and take a close look at the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard. We will investigate its key features and find out if this is the Intel Z390 motherboard to pair with your 9th Generation Intel Core processor!

MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon Price + Availability

Our review sample is of the “standard” MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard with an official price of US$ 199 / ~£159 / RM 834.

MSI also offers an AC variant that adds WiFi-AC connectivity, called the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC. It has an official price of US$ 229 / ~£183 / RM 960..

Here are some direct purchase links of the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (prices accurate as of 14 December 2018) :

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And here are some direct purchase links of the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC (prices accurate as of 14 December 2018) :

 

Unboxing The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon

Let’s take a quick look around the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) motherboard’s box before we unbox it, and find out what it contains!

Inside the box, you should find the following items :

  • One MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard
  • One MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon User Guide
  • One MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon Quick Installation Guide
  • One Intel Z390 chipset driver and utility DVD
  • One set of MSI case badge, pamphlet and registration card
  • One set of twelve SATA cable labels
  • Two M.2 NVMe SSD screws
  • One NVIDIA SLI HB bridge
  • One set of Mystic Light, RAINBOW and CORSAIR extension cables for LED lighting
  • Two SATA cables

Next Page > MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon Up Close + Full Specifications

 

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The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon Up Close

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) is a full-sized ATX motherboard, built around the new Intel Z390 chipset.

This is one of MSI’s premium model for the mainstream enthusiast / gamers market. Hence, it boasts premium features like Mystic Light RGB lighting, PCI-E Steel Armor reinforcement, and Audio Boost 4 capabilities.

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MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon Specifications

SpecificationsMSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon
Form FactorATX
- 9.6-inch x 12-inch
- 24.3 cm x 30.4 cm
ChipsetIntel Z390
SocketLGA 1151
Supported Processors8th Gen / 9th Gen Intel Core or Pentium Gold or Celeron processors
Memory Slots4 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
- Dual Channel
- Up to 64 GB
Memory SupportOfficial : DDR4-2133 / DDR4-2400 / DDR4-2666
OC : DDR4-2800 to DDR4-4400
PCI Express Slots3 x PCIe 3.0 x16
3 x PCIe 3.0 X1
Multi-GPU Support2-Way NVIDIA SLI
2-Way AMD CrossFire
M.2 Sockets2 x PCIe 3.0 x 4
SATA Ports6 x SATA 6 Gbps
RAID SupportRAID 0 / 1 / 5 / 10
LAN SupportIntel i219-V Gigabit LAN
Rear I/O Ports1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type C
3 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type A
2 x USB 2.0
1 x DisplayPort 1.2
1 x HDMI 1.4
1 x PS/2 combo port
1 x Gigabit LAN port
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
5 x Audio ports
I/O Port Headers1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type C
4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type A
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Serial Port
1 x TPM header
Audio ProcessorRealtek ALC1220P
- Supports 7.1 channel HD Audio
I/O ControllerNuvoton NCT6797D
Hardware MonitorsCPU / system temperature detection
CPU / system fan speed detection
CPU / system fan speed control
Fan Headers1 x 4-pin CPU fan header
1 x 4-pin water pump header
5 x 4-pin system fan headers
Debug LED4 x EZ Debug LED lights
Onboard Power / Reset ButtonNo / No
WarrantyThree Years

Next Page > CPU Power, DDR4 + PCIe Slots, M.2 Sockets

 

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CPU Power & Overclockability

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) has what appears to be 11+2 phases, which increases overclockability, while reducing electromagnetic interference with minimal power loss.

It has a fully-digital PWM architecture with load-line calibration. Although high quality (and expensive) analog PWM exists, digital PWM allows for more accurate control of the power frequency and modulation.

The MOSFETs and inductors are kept cool by aluminium alloy heatsinks, which help to increase reliability and longevity of the VRM.

To keep extreme gamers and overclockers happy, there are a total of SEVEN fan headers peppered throughout the motherboard. One of these is a dedicated water pump header that supports up to 2 amps, giving you full control of the water pump speed.

If there are any enthusiast-grade features that we regret were not included in this motherboard, it would be the Power and Reset buttons.

 

DDR4 Memory Slots

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) has four DDR4 DIMM slots. The Intel Z390 chipset only supports DDR4 memory up to 2666 MHz, but the Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon allows for overclocked memory clock speeds of up to 3600 MHz, with all four slots populated.

If you can live with just two slots, you can further push their clock speeds up to 4400 MHz! This is made possible by its fully-isolated memory circuitry and improved layout, which reduces interference for a cleaner signal.

The four memory slots are also covered with Steel Armor. In this case, it is not meant to add strength to the slots, but to protect them against electromagnetic interference.

 

PCI Express Slots

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) motherboard has six PCI Express slots – three full-sized PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, and three smaller PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots.

The first two PCI Express x16 slots are sheet metal reinforced – what MSI calls Steel Armor. They increase the rigidity of the PCI Express slots, allowing them to support heavy graphics cards. The third PCI Express x16 slot lacks this Steel Armor reinforcement.

The top-most PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot operates at full x16 speed with a single graphics card.

If you have two graphics cards, you will need to install them in the first and second PCIe x16 slots; and they will both run at x8 speed. The third PCIe x16 slot only runs at x4 speed.

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Dual PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 Sockets

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon  motherboard has two PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 sockets. They support M.2 solid state drives, with lengths of 42 mm, 60 mm, 80 mm or 110 mm. The third PCI Express x16 slot (which runs at x4 speed) can be used to add a third SSD. You can run them in RAID 0, 1, 5 or 10.

Only the second M.2 socket has a heatsink, and it’s a large one. If you intend to install only one M.2 SSD, then you should obviously install it in the lower M.2 socket, so the drive is cooled.

The upper M.2 socket is “naked”, although you can always install a DIMM cooler to help keep both the memory modules and the SSD installed in this socket cool.

Next Page > SATA Ports, Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic 3, I/O Ports, Mystic Light

 

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Limited SATA Ports

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) has six standard SATA 6Gb/s ports. There are no SATA Express ports. But what’s really problematic is the stacked side-facing design. They may prove to be troublesome to access in tight cases. If only MSI included a few vertical ports.

Do note that the first M.2 socket (M2_1) uses the SATA_2 port, if you opt to use it in the SATA mode. In addition, the second M.2 socket (M2_2) uses both the SATA_5 and SATA_6 ports in PCIe mode.

What this basically means is you have limited support for SATA drives with the Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon. It’s not the end of the world, but don’t expect to run two M.2 SSDs with six SATA drives. That’s not happening.

You can have six SATA drives only if you install one SSD in the first M.2 socket in PCIe mode. With two SSDs in PCIe mode, you can only have a maximum of four SATA drives.

 

Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic 3

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) features their Audio Boost 4 audio technology, which promises to deliver “studio-grade” audio capabilities.

Although MSI has been quite reticent about their Audio Boost 4 technology, our investigation revealed that it consists of :

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  • an EMI-shielded Realtek ALC1220P audio processor
  • an isolated audio circuit
  • Japanese-made Chemi-Con capacitors
  • dual op amplifiers
  • Nahimic 3 virtual 7.1 sound software

Their Nahimic 3 software is what creates a virtual 7.1 surround sound effect out of ordinary stereo sound. It will give you better directional audio cues when you game, and a more immersive listening experience when you watch movies, or listen to music.

 

Rear I/O Ports

The MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) has pre-installed shields for the rear I/O ports, for easier installation and better EMI protection.

To the left are two USB 2.0 Type A ports with a PS/2 combo port above, followed by the DisplayPort and HDMI ports. Marked in red are two USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports – one Type A and one Type C.

Next, you have the Intel I219V LAN port, with two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports (red). Finally, we have the five audio ports and the optical S/PDIF out port.

 

MSI Mystic Light

As its name suggests, the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) is designed to appeal to gamers. Hence, it supports the MSI Mystic Light technology, which allows you to control and sync RGB LED lighting on the motherboard and other compatible devices.

Mystic Light gives you full control of the 16.8 million LED colours with 29 light effects. Thanks to the provided extension cables, it is compatible with standard RGB, RAINBOW as well as CORSAIR LED lights.

Next Page > Our Verdict + Award, Price + Availability

 

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Our Verdict & Award

MSI is an old hand at designing and manufacturing quality motherboards, and that experience shows in the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY). After all, this is a motherboard that is designed to appeal to both gamers and overclockers, and it takes some finesse to get the mix just right.

Hardware enthusiasts and overclockers will like its enhanced CPU overclocking features that include an 11+2 phase digital PWM architecture, and easy overclocking via the MSI Dragon Center software. With improved circuitry routing and EMI protection, it also offers improved DDR4 memory overclockability to 4.4 GHz.

Gamers who want an edge over their competitors without the “hassle” of overclocking will love the automatic overclocking features in the MSI Dragon Center – Game Boost, XMP and fan controls. Everything can be controlled with a click (or two) of a button!

Gamers who love to show off their cases will also love the Mystic Light capability built in. Not only does this motherboard support standard RGB lights, it also supports CORSAIR and RAINBOW RGB lights.

Even audiophiles are not left out. Its Audio Boost 4 technology promises to deliver studio-grade high-definition audio through isolated audio circuitry, with an EMI-shielded audio processor, and dual headphone amplifiers.

If that’s not enough, it comes with the Nahimic 3 virtual 7.1 sound software to create an expansive 3D soundscape for a more immersive and realistic gaming and entertainment experience.

Being designed for the mainstream market, there are some feature compromises, to be sure.

It has two M.2 sockets but only one is cooled by a heatsink. It also has limited SATA ports, and no SATA Express ports. There is a set of four EZ Debug LED lights, but there are no onboard Power or Reset buttons, which some enthusiasts favour.

But if you can live with those small compromises, this is a well-made Intel Z390 motherboard that offers a lot of great features at a really affordable price of just $200 in the US.

For these reasons, we think the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (US | UK | MY) deserves our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Great job, MSI!

 

MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon Price + Availability

Our review sample is of the “standard” MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard with an official price of US$ 199 / ~£159 / RM 834.

MSI also offers an AC variant that adds WiFi-AC connectivity, called the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC. It has an official price of US$ 229 / ~£183 / RM 960..

Here are some direct purchase links of the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon (prices accurate as of 14 December 2018) :

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And here are some direct purchase links of the MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC (prices accurate as of 14 December 2018) :

 

Reading Suggestions

Here are other Intel Coffee Lake-related articles you should read!

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The Official Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Tech Briefing!

At the Lenovo ThinkShield tech briefing and Lenovo-IDC report on Intelligent Enterprise, Lenovo took the opportunity to reveal the ThinkPad X1 Extreme laptop.

Let us share with you the official Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme tech briefing, as well as the specifications and price of Lenovo’s new ultralight mobile workstation!

 

The Official Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Tech Briefing!

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme is an ultralight mobile workstation that can be equipped with a 4K HDR touchscreen display with Dolby Vision and optional pen support.

It is powered by the 8th Generation Intel H series 6-core processor, with NVIDIA GeForce graphics and fast NVMe SSD storage. Yet, it weighs less than 2 kg, with a long-lasting 80 Whr battery!

The ThinkPad X1 Extreme is also tough, being tested against 12 military-grade requirements. Needless to say, it is secure as well, with Lenovo ThinkShield technologies protecting it from the factory till the end of its lifespan.

 

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Specifications

Here are the MAXIMUM specifications of the new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme.

SpecificationsLenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme
Operating SystemUp to Windows 10 Professional
Display OptionsA. 15.6-inch 4K HDR display
- 3840 x 2160 pixels, 400 nits brightness
- 100% Adobe RGB colour gfamut
B. 15.6-inch FHD IPS display
- 1920 x 1080 pixels, 300 nits brightness
- 72% Adobe RGB colour gamut
Processor8th Gen Intel Core FL-H vPro processor
Graphics ProcessorIntel UHD Graphics 630
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
MemoryUp to 64 GB DDR4-2666 memory
StorageUp to two M.2 2280 PCIe SSDs (max. 2 TB)
ConnectivityIntel Wireless-AC 9560
- 802.11 AC 2x2
- Bluetooth 5.0
Camera720p HD video camera with ThinkShutter privacy cover
Optional Infra-red (IR) camera for Windows Hello login
SecurityFast Online Identity (FIDO) authentication
dTPM 2.0
Match-on-Chip touch fingerprint reader
Windows Hello facial recognition (with optional IR camera)
ThinkShutter privacy cover
Smart card reader
Kensington lock slot
AudioDolby Audio Premium
Dolby Atmos for headset
Noise-cancelling dual-array far-field microphones
KeyboardSpill-resistant keyboard with white backlighting
Touch PadMulti-touch glass touch pad
Ports2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1
2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Thunderbolt 3)
4-in-1 SD card reader
HDMI 2.0
LAN port
3.5 mm audio / mic combo port
Battery4-Cell Li-Cylinder Battery (80 Whr)
- 135 watt power adaptor
Dimensions361.8 mm wide
245.7 mm deep
18.4 mm thick (FHD) / 18.7 mm thick (4K(
WeightFHD non-touch : 1.7 kg
4K touchscreen : 1.8 kg

 

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Price + Availability

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 is available in Malaysia with immediate effect. It has a starting price of RM 7,749 / ~US$ 1,890, with the following specifications :

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  • Intel Core I5-8300H processor
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
  • 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display (300 nits)
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4 GB)
  • 8 GB DDR4-2666 memory
  • 256 GB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD

 

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The MSI GE75 Raider, P65 Creator, PS42 + WS65 Revealed!

MSI today revealed four different laptops, each catering to different users and market segments. They include the MSI GE75 Raider gaming laptop, the MSI P65 Creator laptop, the MSI PS42 business laptop, and the MSI WS65 mobile workstation. Check them out below!

 

The MSI GE75 Raider Gaming Laptop

The MSI GE75 Raider boasts a 17-inch IPS display with a 144 Hz refresh rate, and 3 ms overclockable response time. Its slim bezel design allows the large display to fit a smaller chassis, making the GE75 Raider a lighter and more portable gaming laptop.

The MSI GE75 Raider is powered by the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 discrete graphics, both kept cool by its Cooler Boost 5 technology. It comes with a SteelSeries gaming keyboard with per-key RGB backlight.

 

The MSI P65 Creator Laptop

The MSI P65 Creator has a thin and light design, with a weight of just 1.88 kg, and a thin bezel display. Thanks to MSI True Colour technology, its display offers close to 100% sRGB colours giving the creative user a more accurate colour representation of their work.

The MSI P65 Creator is powered by up to the 8th Gen Intel Core ii7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 discrete graphics, and kept cool by the exclusive MSI Cooler Boost Trinity cooling system. You can also work up to 9 hours on it, thanks to its large battery.

 

The MSI PS42 Business Laptop

The MSI PS42 is a slim and elegant laptop with a full metal chassis, weighing just 1.19 kg. Thanks to its ultra-slim bezels, it fits a 14-inch Full HD display in a 13-inch chassis, boasting a screen-to-body ratio of 81%.

Powered by an 8th Gen Intel Core i7 or Core i5 processor, the MSI PS42 also comes with NVIDIA GeForce MX150 discrete graphics for better gaming and graphics performance. They are both kept cool by the MSI Cooling Boost 3 technology, which has two fans and three heat pipes.

 

The MSI WS65 Mobile Workstation

The MSI WS65 mobile workstation has a 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display, with thin bezels and 72% NSTC colour gamut. With an Intel 8th Generation Core i9 processor and NVIDIA Quadro P4200 graphics, the WS65 is up to 40% faster than its previous generation model.

Designed for portable computing in mind, the MSI WS65 features an 82Whr battery that gives it up to eight hours of battery life, and it comes with three USB 3.1 Type-A, one USB 3.1 Type-C, one HDMI 2.0, one mDP 1.4, one mic-in and a headphone out.

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The MSI GE75 Raider, P65 Creator, PS42 + WS65 Prices Revealed!

MSI GE75 Raider

MSI P65 Creator

MSI PS42

MSI WS65

 

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Intel Core i9-9900K Preview 2.0 – World’s Best Gaming CPU?

Intel officially announced the Intel Core i9-9900K on 8 October 2018, calling it the world’s best gaming processor. Let’s take a closer look at this flagship member of the 9th Generation Intel Core processor family!

Updated @ 2018-10-23 : Added an Intel Hyper-Threading section, updated the 9th Generation Intel Core processor price list, and corrected some mistakes.

Originally posted @ 2018-10-19

 

The Intel Coffee Lake Processors

The 9th Generation Intel Core processors are based on the same Coffee Lake microarchitecture as the 8th Generation Intel Core processors. When they were first announced last year, the 8th Gen Core processors commanded great interest, because they were the first desktop processors to boast a major boost in performance, thanks to the addition of additional cores.

The 9th Generation Intel Core processors may be based on the same microarchitecture, but Intel repeats the same winning formula – add cores for more performance! All thanks to the Ryzen Effect! So here is basically what the 9th Gen offers over the 8th Gen :

Intel Core i9 : 6 cores, 12 threads >>> 8 cores, 16 threads

Intel Core i7 : 6 cores, 12 threads >>> 8 cores, 8 threads

Intel Core i5 : 4 cores, 4 threads >>> 6 cores, 6 threads

Note : The 8th Gen Core i9 was only available for the mobile platform. The desktop Core i9 was only introduced in the 9th Generation.

 

Intel Hyper-Threading

In the 9th Generation, Intel drops Hyper-Threading in their Core i7 processors for the first time ever. Hyper-Threading is now available only in the Core i9. The Core i7 is now more like the Core i5, with two additional cores.

What Intel has essentially done is split the Core i7 into a higher-end Core i9 line with Hyper-Threading, and a lower-end Core i7 line without Hyper-Threading.

 

9th Generation Intel Core Processor Specifications

There are just three models in the first salvo of 9th Generation Intel Core processors – the Intel Core i9-9900K (US | UK), the Intel Core i7-9700K (US | UK) and the Intel Core i5-9600K (US | UK). Here is a comparison of their specifications :

SpecificationsIntel Core i9-9900KIntel Core i7-9700KIntel Core i5-9600K
CodenameCoffee LakeCoffee LakeCoffee Lake
SocketFCLGA1151FCLGA1151FCLGA1151
Process Technology14 nm tri-gate14 nm tri-gate14 nm tri-gate
Cores / Threads8 / 168 / 86 / 6
Base Frequency3.6 GHz3.6 GHz3.7 GHz
Boost Frequency5.0 GHz4.9 GHz4.6 GHz
L2 Cache256 KB x 8256 KB x 8256 KB x 6
L3 Cache16 MB12 MB9 MB
Bus Speed8 GT/s DMI38 GT/s DMI38 GT/s DMI3
Memory SupportDDR4-2666 (Dual Channel)DDR4-2666 (Dual Channel)DDR4-2666 (Dual Channel)
Max. Memory Bandwidth41.6 GB/s41.6 GB/s41.6 GB/s
Processor GraphicsIntel UHD Graphics 630
- 350 MHz to 1.2 GHz
Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 350 MHz to 1.2 GHz
Intel UHD Graphics 630
- 350 MHz to 1.15 GHz
TDP95 W95 W95 W
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Unboxing The Intel Core i9-9900K

The Intel Core i9-9900K (US | UK) comes in a rather retail box, which is rather surprising since it doesn’t come with a bundled cooler. So what’s inside the box? Let’s find out!

Next Page > The Intel Core i9-9900K Up Close, Performance, Price + Availability

 

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The Intel Core i9-9900K Up Close!

The Intel Core i9-9900K (US | UK) has eight cores that can handle up to 16 simultaneous threads. It has a 4 MB L2 cache and a large 16 MB L3 cache; and supports DDR4-2666 memory.

This new processor has a base clock speed of 3.6 GHz, with a Turbo Boost speed of up to 5.0 GHz.. It is an enthusiast-grade desktop processor, which means it is multiplier-unlocked for easier overclocking.

The Intel Core i9-9900K (US | UK) still uses the LGA 1151 socket, but is only compatible with the Intel 300-series chipsets. The new Intel Z390 chipset was released together with it, offering native USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports, support for SDXC, and integrated 802.11ac connectivity.

 

Intel Core i9-9900K Performance

We did not have any time to test the Intel Core i9-9900K (US | UK) but Intel shared with us some performance numbers, running on the GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS PRO WiFi motherboard, and using the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card :

CPU Benchmarks
POV-Ray Single-Threaded 612 PPS
POV-Ray Multiple-Threaded 5,554 PPS
WebXPRT 3 Score 284
Graphics Benchmarks
3DMark FireStrike – Overall 24,142
3DMark FireStrike – Graphics 28,177
3DMark FireStrike – Physics 24,854
3DMark FireStrike – Combined 11,405

 

9th Generation Intel Core Processor Price + Availability

The 9th Generation Intel Core processors are available with immediate effect at these recommended consumer prices :

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  • Intel Core i9-9900K : US$ 488
  • Intel Core i7-9700K : US$ 374
  • Intel Core i5-9600K : US$ 262

Here are some direct purchase links, with prices accurate as of 23 October 2018.

  • Intel Core i9-9900K : US$ 579.99 (US) | £920.13 (UK)
  • Intel Core i7-9700K : US$ 409.99 (US ) | £510.54 (UK)
  • Intel Core i5-9600K : US$ 279.99 (US) | £527.09 (UK)

 

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Dell Showcases New 2018 Inspiron 5000 + 7000 Laptops!

Today, Dell revealed the 2018 Inspiron 5000 and 2018 Inspiron 7000 laptops in a showcase they themed “A Day with Dell“. They also showcased the new 24-inch and 27-inch Dell gaming monitors, as well as the new Dell Cinema technologies launched at CES 2018. Check them out!

 

The New 2018 Inspiron 5000 + 7000 Laptops From Dell

Dell revealed four new Inspiron laptops – the 2018 Inspiron 5000, the 2018 Inspiron 5000 2-in-1, the 2018 Inspiron 13 7000, and the 2018 Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1. Dell’s Christopher Choong explains their new features :

The 2018 Inspiron 13 7000 (7380) Laptop

The new 2018 Inspiron 13 7000 (7380) laptop runs on the latest 8th Gen Intel Core quad-core processor, with Intel HD Graphics. It boasts narrow display bezels and is available in Platinum Silver and Pink Champagne.

Designed for movie enthusiasts in mind, it comes equipped with CinemaColor, CinemaStream as well as CinemaSound technologies that deliver the best possible viewing experience.

The 2018 Inspiron 13 7000 (7386) 2-in-1 Laptop

The new Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 (7386) laptop combines a brushed aluminium exterior with a smooth and sleek design. It is a 13-inch convertible laptop runs on the latest 8th Generation Intel U-Series processors, with optional 4K UHD display and fingerprint scanner.

It also features improved thermal flow to move hot air out through hidden vents, ensuring high performance with a comfortable experience during extended computing sessions.

The new Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 narrower bezels, thanks to a new 2.7mm miniaturised webcam that offers greater performance in low light with Temporal Noise Reduction – the first PC-integrated USB camera to use this technology. This 2-in-1 laptop is also Alexa-ready so you can easily create lists, set reminders, ask for the weather, play music, manage appointments and more – all with your voice.

The 2018 Inspiron 14 5000 (5480) Laptop

The new 2018 Inspiron 14 5000 (5480) laptop is available in Platinum Silver, with narrow bezels for a more stylish look. It comes with a USB Type C port for power delivery and display support, as well as a regular power port.

The new Inspiron 14 5000 laptop runs on the latest 8th Generation Intel Core processors, with up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory, and storage options including SSDs and dual drives. It can also be equipped with discrete graphics up to the NVIDIA GeForce MX150, an optional backlit keyboard, and an optional fingerprint reader.

The 2018 Inspiron 14 5000 (5482) 2-in-1 Laptop

The 2018 Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 (5482) boasts many of the top-of-the-line enhancements of the 7000 series, including thermal routing and narrow bezels. It runs on the latest 8th Generation Intel U Series processors, and comes with a USB Type-C port for power delivery and display support. It can be equipped with optional NVIDIA GeForce MX130 discrete graphics.

New Dell G-Series 24-inch and 27-inch Gaming Monitors

Dell also enhanced their gaming monitor portfolio with the 24-inch Dell S2419HGF FHD monitor, and the 27-inch Dell S2719DGF QHD monitor. They both feature fast overclocked refresh rates (144 Hz for 24-inch, 155 Hz for 27-inch), and an extremely rapid 1 ms response time for gameplay with minimum input lag. They both support AMD FreeSync as well for tear-free gaming.

 

The 2018 Inspiron + Dell G Monitor Price + Availability

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The new 2018 Inspiron laptops and Dell G monitors are available with immediate effect, with these starting prices :

  • Inspiron 13 7000 (7386) 2-in-1 : RM 4,699
  • Inspiron 13 7000 (7380) : RM 3,759
  • Inspiron 14 5000 (5482) 2-in-1 : RM 2,919
  • Inspiron 14 5000 (5480) : RM 2,869
  • 24″ Dell S2419HGF Gaming Monitor : RM 979
  • 27″ Dell S2719DGF Gaming Monitor : RM 2.009

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The 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24 AIO Desktop Preview!

At IFA 2018, Acer showed off the 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24. Let’s have a closer look at the new Acer All-In-One Desktop PC!

 

The 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24 AIO Desktop

The 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24 is designed to be an all-in-one home PC for families. With an elegant design, it easily blends in with living room décor.

Unlike bulky AIO desktop PCs of yesteryears, the 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24 is extremely thin at just 11  mm (0.4 inches), with a beautifully shaped rear cover and an ultra-narrow bezel for maximum screen real-estate. It is supported by a glossy V-shaped metal stand that gives it a sleek and timeless style.

The 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24 is equipped with a far-field microphone array made up of four digital microphones so you can use your voice service of choice – Amazon Alexa or Cortana, to get weather reports, play music and manage everyday tasks from up to 4 meters away (13.12 ft). It also features Acer TrueHarmony and Dolby Audio Premium technology to deliver clear audio through dual front stereo speakers.

The 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24 is powered by the latest 8th Generation Intel Core i7+ desktop processors, with support for up to 32 GB of Intel Optane memory and NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics, allowing it to power through complex tasks.

The 23.8 inch Full HD IPS screen can be viewed comfortably at up to 178 degrees and menus can be navigated using the 10-point touch display. The built-in Acer BlueLightShield and Flickerless technologies allow adjusting of the screen’s blue-light emission over extended periods of use.

 

The 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24 Price + Availability

The 2018 Acer Aspire Z 24 series will be available in North America in October, starting at $899; and in EMEA in October, starting at €899.99

 

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The VAIO S11 and VAIO S13 Notebooks Revealed!

VAIO is back! These iconic notebooks from the VAIO Corporation are now back, thanks to Nextsgo, with the launch of the VAIO S11 and VAIO S13 notebooks. Get the full details here!

 

The VAIO S11 and VAIO S13 Notebooks Revealed!

Carefully assembled in Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, the new VAIO S11 and S13 notebooks feature first-rate production quality, advanced electronics, and craftsmanship – a set of procedures called the “Azumino Finish”.

The VAIO S11 and S13 notebooks retain their iconic hexagonal design while staying slim and lightweight. They are also regularly subjected to stringent quality tests to ensure they are highly durable and reliable.

The new VAIO S11 and S13 notebooks are optimized with VAIO TruePerformance technology, allowing the latest 8th Generation Intel Core CPU inside the notebooks to be improved by 11% to 13%. This is due to the enhanced design and architecture of its heat sink, therefore allowing the VAIO notebooks to perform at longer periods of time thanks to its more efficient dispersal of processor heat.

With an outstanding battery lifespan of up to 8 hours for the VAIO S13 and 11 hours for the VAIO S11 notebooks respectively, business professionals can rest assured knowing their notebooks will be ready for them when they most need it. In the event that they need do need to recharge their notebooks, an hour’s time of charging will quickly restore about 80% of battery power.

With the lightweight carbon fibre chassis, the VAIO® S11 weighs in at only 0.85kg with its 11.6” FHD IPS display, making it the lightest of the two new notebooks. The equally light 1.07kg VAIO S13 comes with magnesium alloy chassis and a 13.3” FHD IPS display. Both notebooks’ GPUs are powered by an Intel UHD Graphics 620. An ample serving of up to 16GB of RAM is offered for both notebook models, along with a superfast internal SSD of 512GB.

 

VAIO S11 and VAIO S13 Price + Availability

The VAIO S13 notebook only comes in black and silver, while the smaller VAIO S11 notebook will have more colour options, including black, silver, brown, pink and white.

The VAIO S11 will be priced between RM 6,499 to RM 6,699 while the VAIO S13 will retail at RM 6,199 to RM8,399. Interested buyers will be able to purchase the new VAIO notebooks in person at Plaza Low Yat and Digital Mall, the latter housing the Nexstgo flagship store. The new VAIO notebooks will also be available on Lazada online store.

 

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The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition Revealed!

The annual Acer Day is back! In addition to many great offers, Acer Malaysia also launched the Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition gaming laptop! Check it out!

 

The Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition features a special all-white aluminium chassis accented with gold trim. With only 50 units available in Malaysia, this gorgeous gaming laptop is powered by the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor paired with an overclockable NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, 256 GB PCle solid state drive and a 1 TB hard disk drive.

Its 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display is VR-ready with an upgraded 144 Hz refresh rate. Its high refresh rate also enables tear-free gaming, delivers the best possible gaming experience on-the-go, with low input lag.

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition comes with up to 8 GB of DDR4 memory, which is upgradable to 32 GB, and the latest Intel Wireless-AC 9560 that delivers up to 1.73 Gbps wireless connectivity.

With its dual-fan system built around Acer’s proprietary AeroBlade 3D metal fans featuring the world’s thinnest 0.1 mm metal fan blades, the Predator Helios 300 Special Edition is kept cool even during the most intensive gaming session.

 

2018 Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition Price + Availability

In conjunction with Acer Day 2018, Acer is offering a variety of offers and discounts.

2018

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition comes complete with a Predator gaming backpack, earphone, gaming mouse as well as mousepad in matching white colour schemes.

Priced at RM 6,199 / ~US$ 1,549, the 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300 Special Edition will be available for purchase in mid-August 2018 at all Acer Official Online Stores and authorized Predator Partners nationwide.

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The 2018 Acer Switch 7 Black Edition with GeForce Graphics Revealed!

The annual Acer Day is back! In addition to many great offers, Acer Malaysia also launched the 2018 Acer Switch 7 Black Edition – the world’s first fanless 2-in-1 laptop with discrete graphics! Check it out!

 

The 2018 Acer Switch 7 Black Edition

World’s First Fanless 2-in-1 with Discrete Graphics!

The new 2018 Acer Switch 7 Black Edition is the world’s first fan-less 2-in-1 laptop with discrete graphics. By adopting Acer’s proprietary Dual LiquidLoop fanless cooling technology, both the CPU and GPU is kept cool in an almost dust-free environment, without noise.

Powered by an 8th Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics, the Acer Switch 7 Black Edition is an ideal companion for those who need to perform intensive tasks, creative production and content streaming on-the-go.

2018

The 2018 Acer Switch 7 Black Edition is Acer’s first device to feature the Acer AutoStand, a patented kickstand that can be auto-deployed and auto-retracted, making single-handed operation as simple as opening and adjusting the display on a clamshell laptop.

Even with a large 13.5-inch QHD IPS display with a resolution of 2256 x 1504 pixels, the 2018 Acer Switch 7 Black Edition weighs less than 1.15kg with the keyboard detached. Its versatile 2-in-1 design allows you to use it as a full-function Windows 10 laptop or as a tablet.

 

2018 Acer Switch 7 Black Edition Price + Availability

In conjunction with Acer Day 2018, Acer is offering a variety of offers and discounts.

2018

The 2018 Acer Switch 7 Black Edition is priced at RM 6,999 / ~US$ 1,749 and is available for purchase immediately at all Acer Official Online Stores and authorized resellers nationwide.

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The 2018 Dell Precision 3000 Series Workstations Revealed!

Dell Precision has been the world’s preferred workstation for years, delivering reliable high-performance computing for every industry from manufacturing and engineering to healthcare and content creation. Now Dell is introducing the 2018 Dell Precision 3000 Series workstations. Let’s check them out!

 

2018 Dell Precision 3930 Rack

World’s Most Powerful 1U Workstation

The new 2018 Dell Precision 3930 Rack is the world’s most powerful 1U rack workstation. Featuring the new Intel Xeon E and 8th Gen Intel Core processors, each Dell Precision 3930 Rack supports up to 64 GB of DDR4-2666 memory.

This rack workstation also offers up to 3 PCIe graphics cards (250 watts max), with storage capacities of up to 24 TB. Dell offers a range of NVIDIA Quadro and AMD Radeon Pro graphics card options, including the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 with 24 GB of GDDR5X memory.

 

2018 Dell Precision 3630 Tower

Smaller And Yet More Powerful!

The 2018 Dell Precision 3630 Tower is 23% smaller than the 2017 model, but yet more powerful and offers more expandability!

It now features the 8th Generation Intel Core processors, as well as the new Intel Xeon E processors, and up to 64 GB of faster DDR4-2666 memory. It can also support up to 225 W of graphics cards, and up to 14 TB of SATA and PCIe NVMe SSDs with RAID support.

 

2018 Dell Precision 3430 SFF Tower

SFF Workstation FTW!

The 2018 Dell Precision 3430 Small Form Factor Tower offers many features of the larger Dell Precision 3530 Tower, but in a smaller form factor. It supports up to 55 watts of graphics support, and up to 6TB of SATA or PCIe NVMe SSD storage with RAID support.

 

2018 Dell Precision 3530 Mobile Workstation

Mobile Workstation Of Choice For The Professional On-The-Go!

If your work takes you on the road, the new 2018 Dell Precision 3530 is just what you need. This is a 15-inch high-performance mobile workstation featuring the latest 6-core 8th Generation Intel Core or Intel Xeon E processors, and NVIDIA Quadro P600 professional graphics with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory.

The Precision 3530 Mobile Workstation can be equipped with up to 32 GB of DDR4-2666 memory, and up to 4 TB of SATA HDD storage and/or 512 GB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. If you wish, you can even give it a major boost in graphics capability with an NVIDIA Quadro or AMD Radeon Pro eGPU box.

 

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2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 Gaming Laptop Up Close!

Acer just launched the 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 gaming laptop, which boasts an Intel Core i9 processor, and an overclockable GeForce GTX 1070! Get the price, specifications and video tour here!

 

The 2018 Acer Predator Gaming Laptops

Acer introduced three new Acer Predator gaming laptops – the 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500, the 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300, and the 2018 Acer Nitro 5. They also introduced the Acer Predator Aethon 500 gaming keyboard and the Acer Predator RGB Mousepad.

You can read more about these and other new 2018 Acer products in our article – 2018 Acer Predator Laptops, Desktops + Monitors Revealed!

 

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 Gaming Laptop

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 is designed for graphics-intensive AAA titles with its overclockable NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 GPU, and its large 17.3″ G-SYNC display with a 144 Hz refresh rate.

It features the latest 8th Gen Intel Core i7 or Core i9 processor, with up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory. Keeping everything cool is the job of a dual-fan system featuring the proprietary Acer AeroBlade 3D metal fans, and five heat pipes.

Dual Storage Drives

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 comes with up to two PCIe NVMe SSDs in RAID 0, and up to 2 TB of HDD storage.

Easy Upgrades

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It is very simple to upgrade the 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 with more memory or storage. Just remove the bottom cover!

2.1 Speaker System

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 comes with two speakers and a subwoofer, and a Waves MaxxAudio processor for a more immersive experience.

Killer Networking

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 connects wirelessly with Killer Doubleshot Pro Gigabit Internet connection, and Bluetooth 5.0. It also comes with a Gigabit LAN port.

 

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 Specifications

Acer is offering two variants to cater to different price points. Here are their specifications.

Specifications2018 Acer Predator Helios 500
(Mid Spec)
2018 Acer Predator Helios 500
(High Spec)
Model NumberPH517-51-70HHPH517-51-98WL
Display17.3" Full HD IPS Display
- 1920 x 1080 pixels
- 300 nits max. brightness
- NVIDIA G-SYNC Technology
- 144 Hz refresh rate
17.3" Full HD IPS Display
- 1920 x 1080 pixels
- 300 nits max. brightness
- NVIDIA G-SYNC Technology
- 144 Hz refresh rate
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 HomeMicrosoft Windows 10 Home
ProcessorIntel Core i7-8750H
- 6 cores, 12 threads
- 2.2 GHz base clock
- 4.1 GHz boost clock
- 6 MB L3 cache
Intel Core i9-8950HK
- 6 cores, 12 threads
- 2.9 GHz base clock
- 4.8 GHz boost clock
- 9 MB L3 cache
ChipsetIntel HM370Intel HM370
Memory16 GB DDR4 SDRAM32 GB DDR4 SDRAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5 memory)NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB GDDR5 memory)
Storage256 GB NVMe SSD
1 TB Hard Disk Drive
512 GB NVMe SSD (RAID 0)
1 TB Hard Disk Drive
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11b/g/n/ac
LAN : Gigabit LAN
WiFi : 802.11b/g/n/ac
LAN : Gigabit LAN
Audio1 x microphone
2 x speakers
1 x subwoofer
1 x microphone
2 x speakers
1 x subwoofer
Ports2 x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)
3 x USB 3.0
Gigabit LAN
HDMI
2 x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)
3 x USB 3.0
Gigabit LAN
Gigabit LAN
HDMI
KeyboardBlue backlit keyboardBlue backlit keyboard
Battery4-call, 4810 mAh lithium-ion battery4-call, 4810 mAh lithium-ion battery
Power Adaptor230 W230 W
Dimensions428 mm wide
298 mm deep
38.7 mm tall
428 mm wide
298 mm deep
38.7 mm tall
Weight4.0 kg4.0 kg
PriceRM 8,999 / ~US$ 2,249RM 12,999 / ~US$ 3,249

 

The 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500 Price + Availability

These new gaming laptops are available nationwide from 1 July 2018 onwards, at the following prices :

  • PH517-51-70HH : RM 8,999 / ~US$ 2,249
    – Intel Core i7-8750H, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD
    Price Check : RM 8,999 onwards (Shopee) RM 9,999 onwards (Lazada)
  • PH517-51-98WL : RM 12,999 / ~US$ 3,249
    Intel Core i9-8750HK, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
    Price Check : RM 11,699 onwards (Shopee) RM 12,899 onwards (Lazada)

 

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The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop Up Close!

The affordable Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop just got refreshed! Let’s take a look at the newly-launched 2018 Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop, and see what’s new!

 

The 2018 Acer Predator Gaming Laptops

Acer introduced three new Acer Predator gaming laptops – the 2018 Acer Predator Helios 500, the 2018 Acer Predator Helios 300, and the 2018 Acer Nitro 5. They also introduced the Acer Predator Aethon 500 gaming keyboard and the Acer Predator RGB Mousepad.

You can read more about these and other new 2018 Acer products in our article – 2018 Acer Predator Laptops, Desktops + Monitors Revealed!

 

The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop

The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 is targeted at mainstream gamers, boasting a large 15.6″ Full HD IPS display with Dolby Audio and Acer TrueHarmony audio technologies.

It features the latest 8th Gen Intel Core processor, and up to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB of GDDR5 memory. The top-of-the-line 2018 Acer Nitro 5 even comes with 16 GB of Intel Optane Memory for much faster boot-up and game-loading time.

Keeping things cool is the Acer CoolBoost technology, which features dual fans with high fan speeds. You can even boost the fan speed using the Acer NitroSense application.

 

Styled for Domination

The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop features a laser-textured chassis and a crimson red hinge that matches the futuristic design of the backlit keyboard. Its 15.6-inch Full HD IPS display has a front-facing HD web camera that lets you strategise with your squads in online games.

You can also broadcast games live with Mixer, directly from the Game bar on Windows 10 simply by pressing the Windows key plus G.

Gigabit Wireless

The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop also features Intel Wireless-AC 9560 2×2 802.11ac wireless connectivity, which offers Gigabit performance that enhances gaming, streaming, and conferencing experiences. A plethora of ports including the latest USB Type-C, HDMI 2.0, and Gigabit Ethernet ports are part of the package.

 

The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 Models + Specifications

The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 comes in three variants to cater to different price points between RM 2,999 and RM 3,999 (~US$ 749 and US$ 999). Here are their specifications.

Specifications2018 Acer Nitro 5
(Low Spec)
2018 Acer Nitro 5
(Mid Spec)
2018 Acer Nitro 5
(High Spec)
Model NumberAN515-52-50WXAN515-52-73LNAN515-52-78AS
Display15.6" Full HD IPS Display
- 1920 x 1080 pixels
15.6" Full HD IPS Display
- 1920 x 1080 pixels
15.6" Full HD IPS Display
- 1920 x 1080 pixels
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 10 HomeMicrosoft Windows 10 HomeMicrosoft Windows 10 Home
ProcessorIntel Core i5-8300H
- 4 cores, 8 threads
- 2.3 GHz base clock
- 4.0 GHz boost clock
- 6 MB L3 cache
Intel Core i7-8750H
- 6 cores, 12 threads
- 2.2 GHz base clock
- 4.1 GHz boost clock
- 6 MB L3 cache
Intel Core i7-8750H
- 6 cores, 12 threads
- 2.2 GHz base clock
- 4.1 GHz boost clock
- 6 MB L3 cache
ChipsetIntel HM370Intel HM370Intel HM370
Memory4 GB DDR4 SDRAM4 GB DDR4 SDRAM4 GB DDR4 SDRAM
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (4 GB GDDR5 memory)NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (4 GB GDDR5 memory)NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4 GB GDDR5 memory)
Storage1 TB Hard Disk Drive1 TB Hard Disk Drive1 TB Hard Disk Drive
16 GB Intel Optane Memory
ConnectivityWiFi : 802.11b/g/n/ac
LAN : Gigabit LAN
WiFi : 802.11b/g/n/ac
LAN : Gigabit LAN
WiFi : 802.11b/g/n/ac
LAN : Gigabit LAN
Webcam1280 x 720 pixels1280 x 720 pixels1280 x 720 pixels
Audio2 x microphones
2 x speakers
2 x microphones
2 x speakers
2 x microphones
2 x speakers
Ports1 x USB 3.0
2 x USB 2.0
Gigabit LAN
HDMI
1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type C
1 x USB 3.0
2 x USB 2.0
Gigabit LAN
HDMI
1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type C
1 x USB 3.0
2 x USB 2.0
Gigabit LAN
HDMI
KeyboardRed backlit keyboardRed backlit keyboardRed backlit keyboard
Battery4-call, 48 Whr (3320 mAh) lithium-ion battery4-call, 48 Whr (3320 mAh) lithium-ion battery4-call, 48 Whr (3320 mAh) lithium-ion battery
Power Adaptor135 W135 W135 W
Dimensions390 mm wide
266 mm deep
26.75 mm tall
390 mm wide
266 mm deep
26.75 mm tall
390 mm wide
266 mm deep
26.75 mm tall
Weight2.70 kg2.70 kg2.70 kg
PriceRM 2,999 / ~US$ 749RM 3,599 / ~US$ 899RM 3,999 / ~US$ 999

 

The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 Price + Availability

These newly-refreshed Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptops are available nationwide from 1 July 2018 onwards, at the following prices :

The 2018 Acer Nitro 5 is available in North America starting in May 2018 with prices starting at US$749; and in EMEA in May 2018 as well, with prices starting at €799.

 

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The ASUS Coffee Lake Gaming Laptops Revealed!

ASUS just refreshed their entire range of gaming laptops with the new 8th Gen Intel Core processors, codenamed Coffee Lake, and added two new gaming laptop models. Here is everything you need to know about the ASUS Coffee Lake gaming laptops!

 

The ASUS Coffee Lake Gaming Laptops

ASUS ROG Product Manager Louis Lu gave us a thorough briefing on the key features of the ASUS Coffee Lake gaming laptops, as well as their specifications and prices. He also compared them to the competition from MSI, Lenovo, Acer and Dell.

Intel Coffee Lake Processors

The new ASUS Coffee Lake gaming laptops all come with the new 8th Gen Intel Core processors. Codenamed Coffee Lake, they offer up to 6 processor cores, with 10% better performance than the 7th Gen Core (Kaby Lake) processors, and 30% better performance than the 6th Gen (Skylake) Core processors.

12V Fans

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The new ASUS Coffee Lake gaming laptops feature 12V fans, which spin 20% faster than regular 5V fans. The new fans also have 59 blades, up from just 37 blades. This allows them to deliver 42.5% more airflow, with 92% higher air pressure.

Anti-Dust Cooling System

The fans in the ASUS Coffee Lake gaming laptops feature an exclusive Anti-Dust Cooling System. It basically harnesses the centrifugal force of the fans to shunt dust and debris into an “anti-dust tunnel”. This reduces the amount of dust clogging the heatsinks.

This helps to maintain the performance of the CPU and GPU coolers over time. Keeping the heatsinks clean will also help to reduce fan noise, since the fans don’t need to work harder.

 

The ASUS Coffee Lake Gaming Laptop Models

2018 ASUS ROG G703

2018 ASUS ROG Zephyrus GX501

ASUS ROG Zephyrus M GM501 New Model!

2018 ASUS ROG Strix Hero Edition

ASUS TUF Gaming FX504 New Series!

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ASUS Coffee Lake Gaming Laptop Specifications, Price & Availability

Category

Series

Model

Specifications (Malaysia)

Panel

SRP

Availability

ROG

G703

G703G-IE5095T

i9-8950HK / 16G*2
2T(54) + 256G*2
GTX 1080 8G
FHD 144 Hz

IPS

RM 19,999
~US$ 5,128

May 2018

Zephyrus

GX501G-IEI017T

i7-8750H / 16+8G
1T PCIE SSD
GTX 1080 8G
FHD WV 300 nits 144 Hz

IPS

RM 15,999
~US$ 4,102

End of
April 2018

Zephyrus-M

GM501G-SEI006T

i7-8750H / 16G
1T SSHD + 256G PCIE SSD
GTX 1070 8G
FHD WV 300 nits 144 Hz

IPS

RM 9,299
~US$ 2,384

End of
April 2018

Strix Scar Edition

GL703G-SE5026T

i7-8750H / 16G
1T SSHD + 256G PCIE SSD
GTX 1070 8G
FHD WV 300 nits 144 Hz

IPS

RM 8,799
~US$ 2,256

Available now

Zephyrus-M

GM501G-MEI011T

i7-8750H / 16G
1T SSHD + 256G PCIE SSD
GTX 1060 6G
FHD WV 300 nits 144 Hz

IPS

RM 7,999
~US$ 2,051

End of
April 2018

Strix Scar Edition

GL703G-ME5029T

i7-8750H / 8G
1T SSHD + 256G PCIE SSD
GTX 1060 6G
FHD WV 300 nits 144 Hz

IPS

RM 6,999
~US$ 1,795

Available now

Strix Scar Edition

GL703G-EEE035T

i7-8750H / 8G
1T SSHD + 128G PCIE SSD
GTX 1050 Ti 4G
FHD WV 300 nits 120 Hz

TN

RM 5,299
~US$ 1,359

Available now

Strix Hero Edition

GL503G-EEN057T

i7-8750H / 8G
1T SSHD + 128G PCIE SSD
GTX 1050 Ti 4G
FHD WV 300 nits 120 Hz

TN

RM 4,899
~US$ 1,256

Available now

TUF Gaming

ASUS TUF

FX504G-EE4071T

i7-8750H / 4G
1T SSHD + 128G PCIE SSD
GTX 1050 Ti 4G
FHD IPS WV 250 nits 60 Hz

IPS

RM 4,399
~US$ 1,128

Available now

ASUS TUF

FX504G-DE4096T

i7-8750H / 4G
1T SSHD + 128G PCIE SSD
GTX 1050 4G
FHD IPS WV 250 nits 60 Hz

IPS

RM 4,199
~US$ 1.077

Available now

ASUS TUF

FX504G-DE4092T

i7-8750H / 4G
1T SSHD
GTX 1050 4G
FHD IPS WV 250 nits 60 Hz

IPS

RM 3,899
~US$ 999

Available now

ASUS TUF

FX504G-DDM091T

i5-8300H / 4G
1T SSHD
GTX 1050 4G
FHD TN 200 nits 60 Hz

TN

RM 3,299
~US$ 846

Available now

 

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The MSI Coffee Lake Gaming Laptops Revealed!

The three new MSI Coffee Lake gaming laptops – MSI GS65 Stealth Thin, MSI GT75 Titan with Intel Core i9 processor and MSI GE Raider RGB Edition – are all based on the new 8th Gen Intel Core (Coffee Lake) processors. Check them out below!

 

The MSI Coffee Lake Gaming Laptops Revealed!

Introducing the new MSI Coffee Lake gaming laptops is Pia Huang, MSI Malaysia Notebook Channel Marketing Manager.

Don’t forget to check out our previews of these new MSI Coffee Lake gaming laptops :

 

The MSI GS65 Stealth Thin

The MSI GS65 Stealth Thin is the first gaming laptop to feature a 144 Hz 7 ms IPS display with 4.9 mm bezels – achieving a stunning 82% screen-to-body ratio. While the bezels are extremely thin, MSI left just enough room in the top bezel for the webcam, as opposed to being awkwardly placed within the bottom bezel.

To power the 144 Hz panel, the GS65 Stealth Thin is equipped with up to a GeForce GTX 1070 with NVIDIA Max-Q technology and the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor, with up to 40% boost in performance over the previous generation.

Weighing just 1.8 kg, the GS65 Stealth Thin packs 8+ hours of battery life into the slim chassis, providing real portability not traditionally found in powerful gaming laptops. Its 82 Whr battery is one of the largest batteries available in a laptop this size.

The GS65 Stealth Thin also features a new per-key RGB keyboard designed by SteelSeries. Users can customize each key and receive real-time game status through keyboard lighting. MSI is also rolling out a massive update for Dragon Center 2.0 that comes with an exclusive gaming mode. The gaming mode now optimizes system performance and game-specific keyboard lighting for a list of supported new titles.

More info @ MSI GS65 Stealth Thin Gaming Laptop Preview

 

The MSI GE Raider RGB Edition

First announced at CES, the MSI GE63/73 Raider RGB Edition is inspired by sports cars and the love for RGB. It was crafted for ultra-illumination with RGB lighting on the top cover, keyboard and USB ports. The top cover features 24 separate zones of RGB lighting with more than 16.8 million colors available.

The GE Raider RGB Edition is configurable with up to the latest 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics. It is kept cooled by MSI Cooler Boost 5, a cooling design with dual fans and seven copper heats pipes offering the most stable experience on a laptop.

The GE Raider RGB Edition also boasts Nahimic 3 audio, Killer networking, and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity. Additionally, the Raider can be equipped with up to a 120 Hz 3 ms display.

More info @ MSI GE63 Raider RGB 8RF Gaming Laptop Preview

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The MSI GT75 Titan with Core i9 CPU

With the introduction of the latest 8th Generation Intel processors, the GT series is taking one step further by featuring the world’s first Intel Core i9 overclocked processors in a gaming laptop. MSI coupled it with NVIDIA graphics and mechanical keyboards.

The MSI GT75 Titan is the first gaming laptop to ever feature Intel Core i9 processors. Combined with MSI’s Cooler Boost Titan cooling design, the six-core 12-thread configuration results in up to a 70% performance leap over the previous Core i7. The extra cores are especially beneficial for gamers who stream their gameplay, or for advanced multitasking workloads.

More info @ MSI GT75 Titan 8RG (Core i9) Gaming Laptop Preview

 

Price & Availability

Here are some purchase links of the new MSI Coffee Lake gaming laptops :

  • GE75 Raider (GTX 1070, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB + 2 GB) : US$ 2,625
  • GE75 Raider (GTX 1070, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB + 1 GB) : US$ 2,375
  • GE75 Raider (GTX 1070, 32 GB RAM, 256 GB + 1 GB) : US$ 2,145
  • GE63 Raider RGB (GTX 1070, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB + 1 TB) : $1,999
  • GE63 Raider RGB (GTX 1060, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB + 1 TB) : $1,699
  • GE63 Raider RGB (GTX 1060, 16 GB RAM, 128 GB + 1 TB) : $1,599
  • GS65 Stealth Thin (GTX 1070, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD) : US$ 2,999
  • GS65 Stealth Thin (GTX 1070, 32 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD) : US$ 2,499
  • GS65 Stealth Thin (GTX 1070, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD) : US$ 2,099
  • GS65 Stealth Thin (GTX 1060, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD) : US$ 1,799
  • GT75 Titan (i9-8950HK, GTX 1080, 32 GB, 1 TB + 1 TB) : US$ 4,499
  • GT75 Titan (i9-8950HK, GTX 1080, 32 GB, 512 GB + 1 TB) : US$ 3,999
  • GT75 Titan (i9-8950HK, GTX 1080, 16 GB, 1 TB HDD) : US$ 3,299
  • GT75 Titan (i7-8850H, GTX 1080, 16 GB, 1 TB HDD) : US$ 2,799
  • GT75 Titan (i7-8850H, GTX 1070, 16 GB, 1 TB HDD) : US$ 2,399

 

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The Intel Cannon Lake Processor Details Leaked!

During our continuing coverage of Meltdown and Spectre, we noticed that Intel accidentally leaked details of their upcoming 10 nm Cannon Lake processors. Let’s take a look at what we found!

 

The Intel Cannon Lake Processor

Cannon Lake is the long-delayed 10 nm die shrink of the Intel Kaby Lake microarchitecture. Originally slated for release in 2016, Intel delayed it in favour of another 14 nm process refinement with the Intel Coffee Lake processors.

In addition to a die shrink that would allow it to deliver better performance with lower power consumption and thermal output, the Cannon Lake processors will also boast the AVX-512 instruction set.

At CES 2018, Intel announced that they have already started shipping mobile Cannon Lake processors to their partners, with a production ramp-up in 2018. So we know for sure Cannon Lake will finally see the light of day in 2018.

 

What Intel Leaked On Cannon Lake

In their second Spectre 2 microcode update schedule, Intel accidentally released references to two Cannon Lake-U (CNL-U) processors.

The shorthand numbers appear to indicate that :

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  • they are ultra-low power mobile processors, with a 15 W TDP
  • the (2+2) model is a dual-core processor with an Intel GT2 integrated graphics
  • the (2+0) model is a dual-core processor without integrated graphics

The (2+0) model is interesting because it’s the first U-grade Intel mobile processor to not come with integrated graphics.

Is this meant to be used in applications that do not require displays, like a NAS? Could it possibly be used in an MCM package with Radeon Graphics? Or is this a higher-performance part to be paired with discrete graphics options from AMD or NVIDIA?

 

Cannon Lake Availability

Intel was not specific about when exactly they will launch these mobile Cannon Lake processors, but we can glean some details from their leaked microcode update schedule.

We can see that the Cannon Lake BIOS is currently in beta testing. So a Q1 launch is unlikely, but a Q2 launch is most definitely on the table. In fact, we think that its launch got delayed after the Intel Spectre 2 reboot issue.

Intel probably delayed its official launch until they can make sure they have a fully-patched BIOS. It wouldn’t be good PR to launch the Cannon Lake processors, without being able to claim that they’re fully-protected against Meltdown and Spectre.

 

They’re Vulnerable To Meltdown + Spectre?

Yes, the Cannon Lake processors are all vulnerable to Meltdown and Spectre. These processors were taped out long ago. It was the Intel 10 nm process technology that was not sufficiently mature, not the Cannon Lake design.

Only the next-generation Intel Ice Lake processors, which features a new microarchitecture, will no longer be vulnerable to Meltdown and Spectre.

 

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Everything You Need To Know About The Intel Coffee Lake CPUs! Rev 3.1

Intel fans have been waiting eagerly for the Intel Coffee Lake desktop processors ever since AMD introduced their Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 family of processors. Coffee Lake is the codename for the 8th Generation Intel Core desktop processors that Intel is going to launch very soon. Here is everything you need to know about the 8th Generation Intel Core desktop processors.

Don’t forget to read The 8th Gen Intel Core Desktop Processor Tech Report and how The Ryzen Effect created better Coffee Lake processors!

Updated @ 2017-10-10 : Updated the Malaysian pricing for the Intel Coffee Lake processors.

Updated @ 2017-10-09 : Added the Intel Coffee Lake Malaysia price and availability, as well as other minor updates.

Updated @ 2017-09-26 : Added new information and table on the Intel Coffee Lake processor prices and availability. Various other updates.

Originally posted @ 2017-09-11

 

The Intel Coffee Lake Processors

Codenamed Coffee Lake, the 8th Generation Intel Core processors are the first Intel processors in years to command great interest. Why? Because they will all boast two additional processor cores, finally delivering the big performance boost we have been waiting for.

With Intel Coffee Lake, Intel is changing the number of cores in the Core i7, Core i5 and Core i3 processor families :

Intel Core i7 : 4 cores, 8 threads -> 6 cores, 12 threads

Intel Core i5 : 4 cores, 4 threads -> 6 cores, 6 threads

Intel Core i3 : 2 cores, 4 threads -> 4 cores, 4 threads

The first slew of Intel Coffee Lake processors to hit the market are the Core i7-8700K, the Core i7-8700, the Core i5-8600K, the Core i5-8400, the Core i3-8350K, the Core i3-8300 and the Core i3-8100.

Intel will also launch three Pentium models based on Coffee Lake – the Pentium G4720, the Pentium G4700 and the Pentium G4660. They will be priced at less than US$100 MSRP.

 

The Intel Coffee Lake Processor Specifications

Here is a table comparing the key specifications of the Intel Coffee Lake processors :

SpecificationsCore i7-8700KCore i7-8700Core i5-8600KCore i5-8400Core i3-8350KCore i3-8300Core i3-8100
Cores6666444
Threads121266444
Base Clock3.7 GHz3.2 GHz3.5 GHz2.8 GHz4.0 GHz4.0 GHz3.6 GHz
Boost Clock4.7 GHz4.6 GHz4.4 GHz3.9 GHzNoneNoneNone
L1 Cache384 KB384 KB384 KB384 KB256 KB256 KB256 KB
L2 Cache1.5 MB1.5 MB1.5 MB1.5 MB1 MB1 MB1 MB
L3 Cache12 MB12 MB9 MB9 MB8 MB6 MB6 MB
Multiplier UnlockedYesNoYesNoYesNoNo
TDP95 W65 W95 W65 W91 W65 W65 W
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Worldwide Price & Availability

Intel will officially make the 8th Generation Intel Core desktop processors available on 5 October 2017. We confirmed this date through multiple sources. If you are checking for the availability of these processors online to pre-order, here are their part numbers :

Intel Core i7-8700K : BX80684I78700K

Intel Core i7-8700 : BX80684I78700

Intel Core i5-8600K : BX80684I58600K

Intel Core i5-8400 : BX80684I58400

Intel Core i3-3850K : BX80684I38350K

Intel Core i3-8100 : BX80684I38100

Most of the processors will be priced at the same price points as the preceding 7th Generation Core processor models. Intel will only hike the prices of the K-grade models of the Core i7 and Core i5 families.

Intel Core i7 K-grade models : +$20 premium (gen on gen)

Intel Core i5 K-grade models : +$15 premium (gen on gen)

All other Core i7, i5 and i3 models : PRICE PARITY!

Intel just confirmed that our leaked information is correct. Check out the official prices for the Intel Coffee Lake processors (in 1K quantities) :

8th Gen Intel Core 7th Gen Intel Core Difference
Model Launch Price Model Launch Price
Core i7-8700K $359 Core i7-7700K $339 +$20
Core i7-8700 $303 Core i7-7700 $303
Core i5-8600K $257 Core i5-7600K $242 +$15
Core i5-8400 $182 Core i5-7400 $182
Core i3-8350K $168 Core i3-7350K $168
Core i3-8100 $117 Core i3-7100 $117

Of course, those are price premiums for 1K quantities. The final market price will be considerably more expensive, at least initially. IO-Tech, for example, leaked EU prices of the K-grade processors that show a considerable price premium on those parts :

Intel Core i7-8700K : €419 (+€95 premium)

Intel Core i5-8600K : €299 (+€75 premium)

Intel Core i3-8350K : €199 (+€50 premium)

 

Intel Coffee Lake Malaysia Price & Availability Updated!

Here in Malaysia, only these four Coffee Lake CPUs are available, with considerable variation in the initial prices quoted by ETECH PC and Compuzone. ETECH PC is offering a lower price because the processor must be part of a system build. Compuzone, on the other hand, sells the retail boxed processors.

Intel Core i7-8700K (Retail Box) : RM 1,730 / ~$412
Intel Core i7-8700K (System Build) : RM 1,599 / ~$380

Intel Core i5-8400 (Retail Box) : RM 919 / ~$218
Intel Core i5-8400 (System Build) : RM 809 / ~$193

Intel Core i3-8350K (Retail Box) : RM 833 / ~$198
Intel Core i3-8350K (System Build) : RM 765 / ~$182

Intel Core i3-8100 (Retail Box) : RM 573 / ~$136
Intel Core i3-8100 (System Build) : RM 509 / ~$121

 

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The 11 New ASUS Z370 Motherboards Revealed!

Intel have officially launched the 8th Generation Intel Core processors (codenamed Coffee Lake)! In this article, we will share with you details, videos, pictures and specifications of the 11 new ASUS Z370 motherboards you can pair with your Intel Coffee Lake processor of choice! Which of these ASUS Z370 motherboards will fit your requirements? Read on and find out!

Everything You Need To Know About The ASUS Z370 Motherboards

We will go into the details of the individual ASUS Z370 motherboards, including their specifications. Here are their direct links :

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Don’t forget to also check out our video overviews of the 11 ASUS Z370 motherboards :

Finally, we will share with you the ASUS Z370 motherboard prices and availability, as well as purchase links :

But first, let’s take a look at the presentations on the ASUS Z370 motherboards and a special overclocking demonstration by Coolice!

Updated @ 2017-10-06 : Added the ASUS Z370 motherboard prices and availability. Various minor changes.

Originally posted @ 2017-09-29

 

The New ASUS Z370 Coffee Lake Motherboards Revealed!

At an exclusive regional shindig, ASUS gave us the lowdown on their upcoming Z370 motherboards. Let’s start with the ROG Z370 Gaming series of motherboards.

Then ASUS revealed the new TUF Gaming series for casual gamers, and the ASUS Prime Z370-A motherboard.

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Watch Coolice Overclock The Core i7-8700K To 6.6 GHz!

ASUS also brought overclocker Coolice to showcase the overclockability of the 8th Generation Intel Core processor. He paired the Intel Core i7-8700K with the new ASUS Maximus X Apex Z370 motherboard and used liquid nitrogen cooling, to achieve a clock speed of 6.6 GHz!

Now, let’s take a look at the details and specifications of the new ASUS Z370 motherboards!

Next Page > The ASUS ROG Z370 Motherboards, ROG Maximus X Apex & ROG Maximus X Hero

 

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The ASUS ROG Z370 Motherboards

The ASUS ROG family of Z370 motherboards is divided into the ROG Maximus series, and the ROG Strix series. The ROG Maximus motherboards offer the best features and performance for gamers and enthusiasts, while the ROG Strix motherboards offer key ROG features at more affordable price points.

Here are the specifications of the ASUS ROG Z370 motherboards :

SpecificationsMaximus X ApexMaximus X HeroStrix Z370-E GamingStrix Z370-F GamingStrix Z370-H GamingStrix Z370-G GamingStrix Z370-I Gaming
Form FactorEATXATXATXATXATXmicroATXMini ATX
Memory Slots2 X DDR4
(4266+ OC)
4 x DDR4
(4133+ OC)
4 x DDR4
(4000 OC)
4 x DDR4
(4000 OC)
4 x DDR4
(3866 OC)
4 x DDR4
(4000 OC)
4 x DDR4
(4333+ OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
4-way CrossFire
2-way SLI
3-way CrossFire
2-way SLI
3-way CrossFire
2-way SLI
3-way CrossFire
2-way SLI
2-way CrossFire
2-way SLI
2-way CrossFire
NA
PCIe Slots4 x PCIe x16
2 x PCIe x1
3 x PCIe x16
3 x PCIe x1
3 x PCIe x16
4 x PCIe x1
3 x PCIe x16
4 x PCIe x1
3 x PCIe x16
3 x PCIe x1
2 x PCIe x16
2 x PCIe x1
1 x PCIe x16
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x42 x NVMe x42 x NVMe x42 x NVMe x42 x NVMe x42 x PCIe x42 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports4666664
LAN PortsAquantia 5 Gigabit
Intel 1 Gigabit
Intel 1 GigabitIntel 1 GigabitIntel 1 GigabitIntel 1 GigabitIntel 1 GigabitIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFiNA802.11ac802.11acNANA802.11ac802.11ac
AudioSupremeFX S1220ASupremeFX S1220
ESS Sabre ES9203P
SupremeFX S1220ASupremeFX S1220ASupremeFX S1220ASupremeFX S1220ASupremeFX S1220A
USB 3.1 Gen21 x Type C
1 x Type A
1 x front header
1 x Type C
1 x Type A
1 x Front
1 x Type C
1 x Type A
1 x Type C
1 x Type A
2 x Type A2 x Type A1 x front header
Aura Sync Headers4 Strip2 Strip
1 Address
2 Strip
1 Address
2 Strip
1 Address
NANA1 Address

 

The ASUS ROG Maximus X Apex Motherboard

This is the motherboard Coolice used to overclock the Intel Core i7-8700K to 6.6 GHz. That’s because the ROG Maximus is designed for extreme overclocking. It boasts special operating modes for liquid nitrogen cooling, and even a special fan bracket for the IO heatsink to let overclockers blow away LN2 vapour!

To ensure greater overclockability of the memory modules, the Maximus X Apex uses only two DDR4 memory slots. With the traces slightly more direct with only one slot per memory channel, the memory modules can be overclocked to 4200 MHz and beyond.

SpecificationsASUS ROG Maximus X Apex
Form FactorExtended ATX
Memory Slots2 X DDR4
(4266+ OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
4-way CrossFire
PCIe Slots4 x PCIe x16
2 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports4 x SATA 6 Gbps
LAN PortsAquantia 5 Gigabit
Intel 1 Gigabit
WiFiNA
AudioSupremeFX S1220A codec
USB 3.1 Gen21 x Type C
1 x Type A
Aura SyncVRM heatsink, chipset heatsink, nameplate, PCB backlight, 4 x strip headers
Cooling2 x pump headers
5 x fan headers
3 x full-speed fan headers
4 x thermal sensor headers
1 x flow header
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The ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero Motherboard

The ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero is designed to support both liquid and air coolers, as well as AIO coolers and standalone pumps, with headers for monitoring liquid temperatures and flow. It is also compatible with the ASUS Fan Extension Card, which adds headers for more fans and temperature probes.

Catering to audiophiles, the Maximus X Hero pairs the SupremeFX codec with an ESS Sabre DAC for greater range and an exceptional 120 dB SNR. It also boasts an integrated I/O shield for easier installation and a cleaner look.

Suggested Retail Price At Launch : US$ 289.99

SpecificationsASUS ROG Maximus X Hero
Form FactorATX
Memory Slots4 x DDR4
(4133+ OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
3-way CrossFire
PCIe Slots3 x PCIe x16
3 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports6
LAN PortsIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFi802.11ac
AudioSupremeFX S1220 codec
ESS Sabre ES9203P DAC
USB 3.1 Gen21 x front header
1 x Type C
1 x Type A
Aura SyncIO shield, M.2 heatsink, chipset heatsink, 2 x strip headers, 1 x addressable header
Cooling2 x pump headers
5 x fan headers
1 x high-speed fan header
3 x thermal sensor headers
1 x flow header

Next Page > The ASUS ROG Strix Z370 Motherboards

 

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The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming & Z370-F Gaming

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming and Z370-F Gaming are almost identical. They both have two PCIe x16 slots with SafeSlot reinforcement, and four DDR4-4000 memory slots. They also have dual M.2 slots – both cooled by a large M.2 heatsink that reduces operating temperatures by up to 15°C.

The only real difference is their colour schemes. The Z370-E has integrated WiFi and a gleaming silver finish on its heatsinks and I/O shroud, while the Z370-F has no WiFi capabilities and subtle charcoal shades.

Suggested Retail Price At Launch : US$ 194.99

SpecificationsASUS ROG Strix Z370-E GamingASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming
Form FactorATXATX
Memory Slots4 x DDR4
(4000 OC)
4 x DDR4
(4000 OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
3-way CrossFire
2-way SLI
3-way CrossFire
PCIe Slots3 x PCIe x16
4 x PCIe x1
3 x PCIe x16
4 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x42 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports66
LAN PortsIntel 1 GigabitIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFi802.11ac (2x2)NA
AudioSupremeFX S1220ASupremeFX S1220A
USB 3.1 Gen21 x Front
1 x Type C
1 x Type A
1 x Type C
1 x Type A
Aura SyncIO shield, 2 x strip headers, 1 x addressable headerIO shield, 2 x strip headers, 1 x addressable header
Cooling1 x AIO header
5 x fan headers
1 x thermal sensor header
1 x AIO header
5 x fan headers
1 x thermal sensor header

 

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-H Gaming

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-H Gaming is an entry-level ROG motherboard with all the essential features. It has dual PCIe x16 slots with SafeSlot protection, and support for 2-way SLI and CrossFire, as well as dual NVMe slots. The Strix Z370-H Gaming has four fan headers, with one AIO cooler header. It only lacks sensor grouping and GPU temperature detection.

Recommended Retail Price At Launch : US$ 169.99

SpecificationsASUS ROG Strix Z370-H Gaming
Form FactorATX
Memory Slots4 x DDR4
(3866 OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
2-way CrossFire
PCIe Slots3 x PCIe x16
3 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports6
LAN PortsIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFiNA
AudioSupremeFX S1220A
USB 3.1 Gen22 x Type A
Aura Sync HeadersNA
Cooling1 x AIO header
4 x fan headers
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The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming is a microATX motherboard with two PCIe x16 slots with SafeSlot protection. It even supports 2-way SLI and CrossFire, but cannot fit larger 2.5 slots cards like the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. There are two M.2 slots, but one of them is located under the second PCIe slot.

Suggested Retail Price At Launch : US$ 184.99

SpecificationsASUS ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming
Form FactormicroATX
Memory Slots4 x DDR4
(4000 OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
2-way CrossFire
PCIe Slots2 x PCIe x16
2 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x PCIe x4
SATA Ports6
LAN PortsIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFi802.11ac
AudioSupremeFX S1220A
USB 3.1 Gen22 x Type A
Aura Sync HeadersNA
Cooling1 x pump header
4 x fan headers
1 x thermal sensor header

 

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming

The ASUS ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming is a mini ITX motherboard that is capable of overclocking the memory to DDR4-4333 or better. It also has two M.2 SSD slots, but only one has a heatsink to keep it cool. The usual trimmings are there – SafeSlot protection, 802.11ac WiFi, SupremeFX audio and Fan Xpert 4 capability.

Suggested Retail Price At Launch : US$ 189.99

SpecificationsASUS ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming
Form FactorMini ATX
Memory Slots4 x DDR4
(4333+ OC)
Multi GPU SupportNA
PCIe Slots1 x PCIe x16
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports4
LAN PortsIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFi802.11ac
AudioSupremeFX S1220A
USB 3.1 Gen21 x front header
Aura Sync HeadersRight edge, 1 x addressable header
Cooling1 x AIO header
2 x fan headers
1 x thermal sensor header

Next Page > The ASUS Prime & TUF Gaming Z370 Motherboards, Prime Z370-A & Prime Z370-P

 

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The ASUS Prime & TUF Gaming Z370 Motherboards

The ASUS Prime motherboards are targeted at enthusiasts who don’t need gamer-oriented design or features. The new ASUS TUF Gaming series offers entry-level gaming motherboards.

 

The ASUS Prime Z370-A Motherboard

The ASUS Prime Z370-A motherboard has all of the key features like dual PCI Express slots with SafeSlot protection, two M.2 slots with integrated heatsink. There is even a dedicated mount for a fan bracket with a fan header if you are inclined to cool the M.2 SSDs with a fan.

Recommended Retail Price At Launch : US$ 174.99

SpecificationsASUS Prime Z370-A
Form FactorATX
Memory Slots2 X DDR4
(4000 OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
3-way CrossFire
PCIe Slots3 x PCIe x16
4 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports6
LAN PortsIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFiNA
AudioCrystal Sound 3 S1220A
USB 3.1 Gen21 x Type C
1 x Type A
Aura Sync Headers1 Strip
Cooling1 x AIO header
5 x fan headers
1 x thermal sensor header
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The ASUS Prime Z370-P Motherboard

The ASUS Prime Z370-P motherboard is targeted at budget-minded system builders. It has two PCIe x16 slots, but does not support SLI or CrossFire. It has two M.2 slots, which are without any cooling, but placed away from the hot spots. This is the most affordable ASUS Z370 motherboard in the current line-up.

Suggested Retail Price At Launch : US$ 159.99

SpecificationsPrime Z370-P
Form FactorATX
Memory Slots4 x DDR4
(3866 OC)
Multi GPU SupportNA
PCIe Slots2 x PCIe x16
4 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports4
LAN PortsRealtek 1 Gigabit
WiFiNA
AudioRealtek ALC887
USB 3.1 Gen22 x Type A
Aura Sync HeadersNA
Cooling1 x AIO header
3 x fan headers

Next Page > The ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming & TUF Z370-Plus Gaming, Price & Availability

 

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The ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming Motherboard

The ASUS TUF Z370-Pro Gaming has three PCIe x16 slots, which supports 2-way SLI or 3-way CrossFire. However, the third slot is limited to two PCIe lanes, so a 3-way CrossFire is not a good idea. It has two M.2 slots, that supports the longer 110 mm drives.

Suggested Retail Price At Launch : US$ 159.99

SpecificationsTUF Z370-Pro Gaming
Form FactorATX
Memory Slots4 x DDR4
(3866 OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
2-way CrossFire
PCIe Slots3 x PCIe x16
3 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports6
LAN PortsIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFiNA
AudioRealtek ALC887
USB 3.1 Gen22 x Type A
Aura Sync HeadersNA
Cooling1 x AIO header
4 x fan headers

 

The ASUS TUF Z370-Plus Gaming Motherboard

The ASUS TUF Z370-Plus Gaming is a more affordable version of the TUF Z370-Pro. It lacks SLI support, but it supports 2-way CrossFire. That said, the second PCIe x16 slot only has four lanes of bandwidth to the Z370 chipset. It also supports two M.2 SSDs, with the lower one cooled by a heatsink.

Suggested Retail Price At Launch : US$ 149.99

SpecificationsTUF Z370-Plus Gaming
Form FactorATX
Memory Slots4 x DDR4
(3866 OC)
Multi GPU Support2-way SLI
2-way CrossFire
PCIe Slots2 x PCIe x16
4 x PCIe x1
M.2 Slots2 x NVMe x4
SATA Ports6
LAN PortsIntel 1 Gigabit
WiFiNA
AudioRealtek ALC887
USB 3.1 Gen22 x Type A
Aura Sync Headers1 Strip
Cooling2 x pump headers
3 x fan headers

 

The ASUS Z370 Motherboard Prices & Availability

The ASUS Z370 motherboards are available for purchase beginning 6 October 2017 onwards, at the following prices :

  • ROG Maximus X Hero : RM 1,386 (including 6% GST) / ~US$ 330
  • ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming : RM 999 (including 6% GST) / ~US$ 238
  • TUF Z370-Plus Gaming : RM 899 (including 6% GST) / ~US$ 214
  • PRIME Z370-P : RM 770 (including 6% GST) / ~US$ 183
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Here are some direct purchase links :

 

Other Intel  Coffee Lake Articles

Here are other Intel Coffee Lake articles you should check out :

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The Intel Core i7-8700K Hexa-Core Processor Review

The 8th Generation Intel Core processors, codenamed Coffee Lake, are the first Intel processor family to garner so much interest in recent history. Thanks to the Ryzen Effect, Intel is finally increasing the number of processor cores across the board. FINALLY. In this review, we are going to take a close look at the new Intel Core i7-8700K processor that boasts 6 cores capable of handling 12 simultaneous threads.

 

The 8th Generation Intel Core Processors

The Intel Core i7-8700K headlines the new 8th Generation Intel Core processor family. Here is a table comparing their key specifications :

SpecificationsCore i7-8700KCore i7-8700Core i5-8600KCore i5-8400Core i3-8350KCore i3-8300Core i3-8100
Cores6666444
Threads121266444
Base Clock3.7 GHz3.2 GHz3.5 GHz2.8 GHz4.0 GHz4.0 GHz3.6 GHz
Boost Clock4.7 GHz4.6 GHz4.4 GHz3.9 GHzNoneNoneNone
L1 Cache384 KB384 KB384 KB384 KB256 KB256 KB256 KB
L2 Cache1.5 MB1.5 MB1.5 MB1.5 MB1 MB1 MB1 MB
L3 Cache12 MB12 MB9 MB9 MB8 MB6 MB6 MB
Multiplier UnlockedYesNoYesNoYesNoNo
TDP95 W65 W95 W65 W91 W65 W65 W

 

The Intel Core i7-8700K Hexa-Core CPU

The Intel Coffee Lake (8th Gen) processors are built on the same 14 nm process technology as the Intel Skylake and Kaby Lake processors, albeit refined. In addition to the two extra processor cores, it packs a 50% larger L3 cache and support for faster DDR4-2666 memory.

Even with the two additional cores and a larger L3 cache, the Intel Core i7-8700K looks like any other LGA 1151 processor that have come out of Intel’s factories in years past. However, it cannot be used in older Intel 100-series or 200-series motherboards. Even though it uses the same LGA 1151 socket, its pin configuration has changed. It must be installed in an Intel 300-series motherboard.

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Benchmarking The Intel Core i7-8700K

In this review, we will take a look at the work and gaming performance of the Intel Core i7-8700K processor. We will compare it to the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), the Intel Core i7-6700K, the Ryzen 5 1500X (Price Check) and the Ryzen 3 1300X (Price Check) processors. Here is a table comparing their key specifications.

AMD Ryzen 7 1800X Intel Core i7-8700K Intel Core i7-6700K AMD Ryzen 5 1500X AMD Ryzen 3 1300X
Cores / Threads 8 / 16 6 / 12 4 / 8 4 / 8 4 / 4
Base Clock 3.6 GHz 3.7 GHz 4.0 GHz 3.5 GHz 3.5 GHz
Boost Clock 4.0 GHz 4.7 GHz 4.2 GHz 3.7 GHz 3.7 GHz
L2 Cache 4 MB 1.5 MB 1 MB 2 MB 2 MB
L3 Cache 16 MB 12 MB 8 MB 16 MB 8 MB
Memory Speed DDR4-2666 DDR4-2666 DDR4-2133 DDR4-2666 DDR4-2666
Current Price US$ 499 US$ 339 US$ 298 US$ 189 US$ 129

Here are the specifications of the testbeds we used :

Intel Testbed AMD Testbed
Processors Intel Core i7-8700K
Intel Core i7-6700K
AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
AMD Ryzen 3 1300X
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F-Gaming
ASRock Z170 Extreme4
GIGABYTE AORUS GA-AX370 Gaming-5
ASRock AB350 Gaming K4
Memory Speed Corsair Vengeance LPX
DDR4-2666 (4 GB x 2)
Corsair Vengeance LPX
DDR4-2666 (4 GB x 2)
Graphics Card AMD Radeon RX 480 AMD Radeon RX 480
Storage Western Digital Black² Western Digital Black²
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

The Intel Core i7-8700K has 2 extra cores and handles 50% more threads than the Intel Core i7-6700K, but has a slightly lower base clock speed. However its boost clock goes all the way to 4.7 GHz, if a single core is used. Let’s see how it performs against the field!

Next Page > 3D Rendering, Video Transcoding & Photoshop Performance

 

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3D Rendering Speed – CINEBENCH R15

CINEBENCH R15 is a real-world 3D rendering benchmark based on the MAXON Cinema 4D animation software. This is a great way to accurately determine the actual performance of a processor in 3D content creation.

CINEBENCH R15 Single Core

This Single Core test is not reflective of real world performance, but it is useful to find out the performance of the individual core.

We already knew from our Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) and Ryzen 5 1500X (Price Check) reviews that the Intel Skylake core is about 8% faster than the AMD Ryzen core. Intel made improvements to the Coffee Lake core but do not let the results fool you – most of it is due to the higher clock speed.

When it runs with a single core, the Intel Core i7-8700K has a turbo boost clock of 4.7 GHz – a full GHz over its base clock speed. If we adjust the results to account for the higher clock speed, the Intel Coffee Lake core is about 9.4% faster than the AMD Ryzen core.

CINEBENCH R15 Multi Core

This shows the real-world 3D rendering performance of the five processors. Impressively, the 6-core Intel Core i7-8700K came within 5% of the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), which is an 8-core, 16-thread processor!

Even more impressive is the fact that the Intel Core i7-8700K was 72% faster than the Core i7-6700K in this test. That is a double-digit improvement worth crowing about!

CINEBENCH R15 MP Ratio

The analysis of the Multi-Processing Ratio is useful in checking the efficiency of the SMT implementation. The MP Ratio is independent of the processor’s clock speed.

After adjusting for their clock speed differences, we estimate that the SMT implementation in the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) is about 12% more efficient than Hyper-Threading in the Intel Core i7-8700K.

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Video Transcoding Speed – HandBrake

HandBrake is a free, open-source video transcoding utility. Video transcoding basically converts a video file from one resolution / format to another. As you can imagine, it’s very compute-intensive. In our test, we converted a 4K video of 1.3 GB in size into a 1080p video (HQ1080p30).

The Intel Core i7-8700K transcoded the 1.3 GB video in just over 5 minutes – about 13.3% slower than the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) and 46% faster than the Core i7-6700K. Very nice!

 

Radial Blur Speed – Photoshop CC 14

The radial blur filter adds the perception of motion to a picture. This is a compute-intensive operation that benefits from multiple processing cores. This radial blur test was performed on a single 13.5 megapixel photo, with a filesize of 4,910,867 bytes.

The Intel Core i7-8700K did very well in this test, applying the radial blur filter in just 8 seconds – less than a second (9%) slower than the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check)! It was 57% faster in this test than the Core i7-6700K. Very impressive!

Next Page > 3DMark & Ashes of the Singularity Performance

 

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3DMark – Time Spy (DirectX 12)

In the Time Spy CPU test, the Intel Core i7-8700K was 19% slower than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check) and 30% faster than the Core i7-6700K. However, its overall score was actually a tad higher than that of the Ryzen 7 1800X .

 

Ashes of the Singularity (1080p)

In the RTS game, Ashes of the Singularity, the single core CPU performance has a significant effect on the actual frame rate.

The performance of the Intel Core i7-8700K in this game perplexed us. Despite reinstalling the drivers and benchmarking over and over again, we kept getting the same results. For some reason, the Core i7-8700K was actually 4% slower than the Ryzen 5 1500X (Price Check), 14% slower than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 18% slower than the Core i7-6700K.

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Ashes of the Singularity (4K)

When we bumped up the resolution to 4K, the performance difference was greatly reduced. Even so, the Intel Core i7-8700K continued to underperform, basically matching the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (Price Check) in performance.

Next Page > Warhammer & The Witcher 3 Performance

 

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Total War: Warhammer (1080p)

Like Ashes of the Singularity, the single core performance appears to be crucial in Total War: Warhammer.

Again, the Intel Core i7-8700K perplexed us by underperforming in Total War: Warhammer. In fact, it was even slower than the AMD Ryzen 3 1300X (Lowest Price)!

With an average frame rate of just 66.7 fps, the Core i7-8700K was 19% slower than the Core i7-6700K, 15% slower than the Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check), and 13% slower than the Ryzen 5 1500X (Price Check).

Let’s remember that these are the actual frame rates, not the actual CPU performance.

 

Total War: Warhammer (4K)

When we increased the resolution to 4K, all other four processors delivered practically the same average frame rates. Naturally, at this high resolution, the graphics card was the most important factor in delivering high frame rates.

However, the Intel Core i7-8700K continued to buck the trend by delivering noticeably lower frame rates. Its average frame rate was 9% lower than the other four processors.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (1080p)

The CPU performance has a smaller effect with FPS games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. On the other hand, it supports multi-core processors. In any case, the Intel Core i7-8700K continued its trend of underperforming with games. Its average frame rate was roughly on par with the Ryzen 5 1500X (Price Check).

 

The Witcher 3 : Wild Hunt (4K)

When we bumped up the resolution to 4K though, all five processors were virtually equivalent in performance. That’s not to say that they are equally fast, just that the graphics card mattered far, far more at such a high resolution.

Next Page > Summary & Verdict On The Intel Core i7-8700K

 

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Summary & Verdict On The Intel Core i7-8700K

The Intel Core i7-8700K is a breath of fresh air. Finally, Intel has a new processor worth boasting about. Thanks to the two additional cores, and the consequently larger L2 and L3 caches, it is significantly faster than its predecessor, even those built on the same microarchitecture and process technology.

The multi-core applications we tested just lapped up the extra cores and deliver significantly better performance. Even its single-core performance was improved, mostly due to the higher clock speed.

The Intel Core i7-8700K was 72% faster than the Core i7-6700K in 3D rendering

The Intel Core i7-8700K was 46% faster than the Core i7-6700K in video transcoding

The Intel Core i7-8700K was 57% faster than the Core i7-6700K in applying the radial blur filter

Impressively, it performed very well in comparison to the AMD Ryzen 7 1800X (Price Check).

The Intel Core i7-8700K was just 4.8% slower than the Ryzen 7 1800X in 3D rendering

The Intel Core i7-8700K was 13.3% slower than the Ryzen 7 1800X in video transcoding

The Intel Core i7-8700K was 8.8% slower than the Ryzen 7 1800X in applying the radial blur filter

But when it came to games, everything turned on its head. Perplexingly, it performed poorly in all of our game tests, delivering frame rates that were slower than the AMD Ryzen 5 1500X (Price Check), and even the Ryzen 3 1300X (Lowest Price)!

The Intel Core i7-8700K was 18% slower than the Core i7-6700K in Ashes of the Singularity

The Intel Core i7-8700K was 19% slower than the Core i7-6700K in Total War: Warhammer

The Intel Core i7-8700K was 3.4% slower than the Core i7-6700K in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

As those frame rates are heavily influenced by the graphics card, we think it is likely an issue with the motherboard. We will need to take more time to figure out what’s wrong. We will retest and update this review as soon as we can.

But based on the raw performance of the processor in the applications we tested, we feel safe to say that the Intel Core i7-8700K is definitely the Core i7 processor that Intel fans have been waiting for.

 

Reading Suggestions

Don’t forget to also read our other Intel Coffee Lake and AMD Ryzen-related articles :

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Thank The Ryzen Effect For Better Intel Processors!

Intel has been in doldrums for years, literally stagnating in the lack of competition. Their dominance of the desktop and mobile processor market led them into a vicious cycle of uninspiring products and lacklustre market reception… until the AMD Ryzen arrived on the scene. Let’s look at how the Ryzen Effect helped to create better Intel Coffee Lake processors!

Updated @ 2017-10-01 : Added more information to the comparison table, and updated various parts of the article.

Originally posted @ 2017-09-10

 

Before Ryzen

Even before Intel dropped their Tick-Tock model in 2016, they already had trouble convincing customers to adopt their latest processors because they delivered relatively minor boosts in performance over their predecessors. In the end, they resigned themselves to trying to convince users of 5 years old (or older) PCs to upgrade to the latest Intel processors.

It was not really a matter of technical or manufacturing problems. It was really an almost complete lack of competition. Sure, AMD had a presence in the market with their 7th Generation APUs but no serious gamer or desktop user used them, and Intel locked up almost all of the mobile processor market.

That’s why we have been stuck with (mostly) dual-core processors in laptops, and quad-core processors in desktops. That was, until AMD introduced the Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 family of processors.

 

The Ryzen Effect

As our tests and review have shown, the AMD Ryzen processors are still slightly slower per clock than the Intel Core processors. However, AMD more than made up for that small deficit by doubling the number of physical or virtual cores, and adding a large L3 cache.

Finally, a paradigm shift in the CPU market! Now AMD has a slew of processors that deliver almost twice the performance at a lower price point. This has kicked Intel into doing what has been unthinkable for years – giving us much greater performance for our money.

 

The Intel Coffee Lake Processors

For years, Intel have relied on relatively minor improvements in their processor microarchitecture and process technologies to deliver what they called “double digit improvements in performance“. That’s PR-speak for performance improvements that are too small to boast.

That changed with the Coffee Lake processors that Intel announced on 25 September 2017. Intel finally increased the number of cores in their 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors. Basically…

Intel Core i7 : 4 core, 8 threads -> 6 cores, 12 threads

Intel Core i5 : 4 core, 4 threads -> 6 cores, 6 threads

Intel Core i3 : 2 core, 4 threads -> 4 cores, 4 threads

How does that compare against the Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 processors? Here’s a table that compares their key features!

Processor Families Cores Threads L1 Cache L2 Cache L3 Cache Memory
8th Gen Intel Core i7 6 12 384 KB 1.5 MB 12 MB DDR4-2666
AMD Ryzen 7 8 16 768 KB 4 MB 16 MB DDR4-2666
8th Gen Intel Core i5 6 6 384 KB 1.5 MB 9 MB DDR4-2666
AMD Ryzen 5 (6 Cores) 6 12 576 KB 3 MB 16 MB DDR4-2666
AMD Ryzen 5 (4 Cores) 4 8 384 KB 2 MB 16 MB DDR4-2666
8th Gen Intel Core i3 4 4 256 KB 1 MB 6/8 MB DDR4-2400
AMD Ryzen 3 4 4 768 KB 2 MB 8 MB DDR4-2666

Read The 8th Generation Intel Core Tech Report and Everything You Need To Know About Intel Coffee Lake!

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Much Better Value For Money!

Best of all, Intel is not going to charge a fortune for the extra cores. In fact, they are only going to charge you a small premium for the K-grade Core i7 and Core i5 models. The other Coffee Lake processors will be priced at the same price points as their predecessors.

Intel Core i7 K-grade models : +$20 premium (gen on gen)

Intel Core i5 K-grade models : +$15 premium (gen on gen)

Intel Core i3 K-grade models : PRICE PARITY!

All other Core i7, i5 and i3 models : PRICE PARITY!

So even if you are a die-hard Intel fan, you should thank AMD for forcing Intel to up their game. More cores at the same price point? Unbelievable years ago, but it’s happening right now.

 

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The 8th Gen Intel Core Desktop CPU Tech Report

Intel fans have been waiting A LONG TIME for the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop CPUs, codenamed Coffee Lake. Thanks to the Ryzen Effect, they promise a new level of performance unseen in recent years from Intel. For the first time ever, the Core i7, Core i5 and Core i3 CPUs will come with two additional cores!

Earlier, we shared with you leaked details of the Coffee Lake CPUs – price, specifications and availability. Now, we will share with you the Intel presentation on the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop CPUs.

 

Note On Availability

In our earlier article on the Intel Coffee Lake CPUs, we revealed that Intel would be launching them on 5 October 2017. In fact, tech publications privy to this presentation had to sign an NDA not to reveal this until 5 October 2017.

However, after Intel gave this presentation on 22 September 2017, it got leaked. So Intel basically cancelled their NDA, and here we are with this tech report.

Please note that the Coffee Lake CPUs are still only going to hit the market on 5 October 2017. It’s just the announcement that got brought up to 25 September 2017.

 

The 8th Gen Intel Core Desktop CPU

The processors being announced today are the premium desktop models. Intel had earlier released the 8th Gen Intel Core mobile CPUs in August. That was, confusingly, based on the previous-generation “Kaby Lake Refresh” microarchitecture.

As we revealed in our Intel Coffee Lake article, the new 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors now have up to 6 processor cores that can handle up to 12 simultaneous threads. You can also see from this slide that they definitely planned to launch these processors on 5 October 2017.

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Basically – MORE Cores!

What everyone is excited about is the fact that Intel is introducing two extra cores into each Coffee Lake CPU!

Intel Core i7 : 4 cores, 8 threads -> 6 cores, 12 threads

Intel Core i5 : 4 cores, 4 threads -> 6 cores, 6 threads

Intel Core i3 : 2 cores, 4 threads -> 4 cores, 4 threads

In addition to more cores, the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors have larger caches.

 

A New Chipset Too

This is no secret either – the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors will run on the new Intel 300 series chipset, the first of which is the Intel Z370 chipset.

Next Page > Gaming & Overclocking Performance, Specifications, Price & Availability

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Better Gaming Performance

Intel promises that the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop CPUs will deliver significantly better performance. They paired the Core i7-8700K with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, and noted the following improvements over the Core i7-7700K :

  • 25% higher frame rate in Gears of War 4
  • 45% better performance while gaming + streaming + recording in PlayerUnknown’s Battleground
  • 32% faster 4K video editing in Adobe Premier Pro

There’s the inevitable comparison with older processors to provide a greater performance contrast. Interestingly, Intel only compared against a 3-year CPU (the Intel Core i7-4790K) this time, instead of a 5-year old CPU as they did in past years.

 

Better Overclocking

Unlike AMD whose Ryzen processors are all unlocked, Intel is still restricting the multiplier lock for all 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors, except for their K-grade processors. But they promise better overclocking features like :

  • Per Core Overclocking
  • An increase in Memory Ratio up to 8,400 MT/s
  • Real-time memory latency control
  • Extended PLL trim controls
  • Enhanced package power delivery
  • Performance Tuning Protection Plan (optional)

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8th Gen Intel Core Desktop CPU Specifications

Here is a table comparing the key specifications of the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop processors :

SpecificationsCore i7-8700KCore i7-8700Core i5-8600KCore i5-8400Core i3-8350KCore i3-8300Core i3-8100
Cores6666444
Threads121266444
Base Clock3.7 GHz3.2 GHz3.5 GHz2.8 GHz4.0 GHz4.0 GHz3.6 GHz
Boost Clock4.7 GHz4.6 GHz4.4 GHz3.9 GHzNoneNoneNone
L1 Cache384 KB384 KB384 KB384 KB256 KB256 KB256 KB
L2 Cache1.5 MB1.5 MB1.5 MB1.5 MB1 MB1 MB1 MB
L3 Cache12 MB12 MB9 MB9 MB8 MB6 MB6 MB
Multiplier UnlockedYesNoYesNoYesNoNo
TDP95 W65 W95 W65 W91 W65 W65 W

 

8th Gen Intel Core Price & Availability

As we revealed in our Intel Coffee Lake article earlier, Intel is only hiking the price of their Core i7 K-grade CPUs by $20 and their Core i5 K-grade CPUs by $15. All other 8th Gen Intel Core desktop CPU SKUs will maintain price parity with the 7th Gen models they replace.

8th Gen Intel Core 7th Gen Intel Core Difference
Model Launch Price Model Launch Price
Core i7-8700K $359 Core i7-7700K $339 +$20
Core i7-8700 $303 Core i7-7700 $303
Core i5-8600K $257 Core i5-7600K $242 +$15
Core i5-8400 $182 Core i5-7400 $182
Core i3-8350K $168 Core i3-7350K $168
Core i3-8100 $117 Core i3-7100 $117

While Intel announced the details of the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop CPUs on 25 September, they are only making these processors available on 5 October 2017, as originally planned.

Next Page > Summary & Full Set Of Presentation Slides

 

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The 8th Gen Intel Core Desktop CPUs Summarised

Basically, the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop CPUs are pretty much the 7th Gen Intel Core desktop CPUs with two additional cores, and larger caches. There are no major architectural changes, just some tweaks here and there.

That said, the additional cores and larger caches alone will give the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop CPUs a BIG boost in performance. That’s what got so many people hyped about it.

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The Complete 8th Gen Intel Core Presentation Slides

Here is the complete set of presentation slides for the 8th Gen Intel Core desktop CPUs for your perusal :

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