Intel first launched its 8th-generation branding last year. In the mobile space, we had the U-series Kaby Lake-R: four-core, eight-thread chips running in a 15W power envelope. On the desktop, we had Coffee Lake: six-core, 12-thread chips. In both cases, the processor lineup was limited: six different chips for the desktop, four for mobile.
Those mobile processors were joined earlier this year by Kaby Lake-G: four-core, eight-thread processors with a discrete AMD GPU on the same package as the processor.
Today, Intel has vastly expanded the 8th generation lineup, with 11 new mobile chips and nine new desktop processors, along with new 300-series chipsets.
First up are new H-series mobile processors: these bring the six-core, 12-thread processors to the mobile space, all with a 45W power envelope. Last year Intel introduced i9 branding for its top-end chips, and it’s using that new naming for one of these chips, too: the Core i9-8950HK is a six-core, 12-thread mobile chip running at a base of 2.9GHz with boosting up to 4.8GHz. The chip has a 12MB cache, supports two channels of DDR4-2666, and comes fully multiplier unlocked. Aimed at high-end gaming laptops, this is an overclockable part.
| Model | Base/Turbo/GHz | Cores/threads | Cache/MB | vPro | Unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i9-8950HK | 2.9/4.8 | 6/12 | 12 | Yes | |
| Xeon E-2186M | 2.9/4.8 | 6/12 | 12 | Yes | |
| Xeon E-2176M | 2.7/4.4 | 6/12 | 12 | Yes | |
| Core i7-8850H | 2.6/4.3 | 6/12 | 9 | Yes | Partial |
| Core i7-8750H | 2.2/4.2 | 6/12 | 9 | ||
| Core i5-8400H | 2.5/4.2 | 4/8 | 8 | Yes | |
| Core i5-8300H | 2.3/4.0 | 4/8 | 8 |
Just below this are two Xeon-branded mobile chips. The higher-end Xeon E-2186M is almost identical to the i9-8950HK but with a couple of critical differences: it drops the overclocking but gains support for ECC memory. The Xeon E-2176M cuts clock speeds to 2.7/4.4GHz, but it has ECC support, as well.
At the bottom of the H-series range is the i5-8300H: a four-core, eight-thread processor with 8MB cache, running at 2.3/4.0GHz.
Next up are four new U-series chips with Intel Iris Plus graphics. The Iris Plus name denotes that the processor has an integrated level 4 cache, which in the past has proven to provide a healthy boost to both graphics and non-graphics applications. All four parts have 128MB of level 4 cache, all have a 28W power envelope, and all have their graphics branded as Iris Plus Graphics 655. At the top we have the i7-8559U: a four-core, eight-thread chip with 8MB level 3 cache, running at 2.7/4.5GHz. At the bottom is the i3-8109U: two cores, four threads, and 4MB of level 3 cache, at 3.0/3.6GHz.
| Model | Base/Turbo/GHz | Cores/threads | Cache/MB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core i7-8559U | 2.7/4.5 | 4/8 | 8 |
| Core i5-8269U | 2.6/4.2 | 4/8 | 8 |
| Core i5-8259U | 2.3/3.8 | 4/8 | 8 |
| Core i3-8109U | 3.0/3.6 | 2/4 | 4 |
The nine desktop chips are all similar to the parts already available. They do two things in particular: five of them are vPro-capable, meaning that they offer additional management features used in corporate environments, and six of them are T-series low-power parts. These cut the power envelope from 65W or more to just 35W. The top-end T-series part is the i7-8700T: a six-core, 12-thread processor with 12MB cache, running at 2.4/4GHz.
| Model | Base/Turbo/GHz | Cores/threads | Cache/MB | vPro | TDP/W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i5-8600 | 3.1/4.3 | 6/6 | 9 | Yes | 65 |
| Core i5-8500 | 3.0/4.1 | 6/6 | 9 | Yes | 65 |
| Core i3-8300 | 3.7/— | 4/4 | 8 | 62 | |
| Core i7-8700T | 2.4/4.0 | 6/12 | 12 | Yes | 35 |
| Core i5-8600T | 2.3/3.7 | 6/6 | 9 | Yes | 35 |
| Core i5-8500T | 2.1/3.5 | 6/6 | 9 | Yes | 35 |
| Core i5-8400T | 1.7/3.3 | 6/6 | 9 | 35 | |
| Core i3-8300T | 3.2/— | 4/4 | 8 | 35 | |
| Core i3-8100T | 3.1/— | 4/4 | 6 | 35 |
The desktop processors and the H-series mobile parts all use separate motherboard chipsets, and Intel has launched a range of new 300-series chipsets today, too. The notable thing about these is that, for the first time, Intel is offering USB 3.1 generation 2, running at 10 gigabits per second, integrated into three of the four new chipsets. Until now, the chipsets only supported 5Gb/s generation 1, requiring additional chips on the motherboard to hit the highest speeds of the latest USB revision.
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1287309