NEW HIGH-END DESKTOP PLATFORM CPUS AND CHIPSET, INCLUDING FLAGSHIP I9-7900X

Intel has updated their high-end desktop (HEDT) platform, superseding the X99 chipset with the X299 and taking the Skylake and Kaby Lake CPU micro-architectures to new levels of performance. There are three Skylake-X CPUs: i7-7800X (6C/12T, 3.5GHz/4GHz, 140W TDP), i7-7820X (8C/16T, 3.6GHz/4.3GHz, 140W TDP), i9-7900X (10C/20T, 3.3GHz/4.3GHz, 140W TDP) and four Kaby Lake-X CPUs: i7-7740X (4C/8T, 4.3GHz/4.5GHz, 112W TDP), i7-7700K (4C/8T, 4.2GHz/4.4GHz, 91W TDP), i5-7640X (4C/4T, 4.0GHz/4.2GHz, 112W TDP), i5-7600K (4C/4T, 3.8GHz/4.2GHz, 91W TDP). All the X parts use a new LGA2066 socket, with the others remaining LGA1151. There’s support for up to DDR4-2666/DDRR-2400 RAM, loads of L3 cache and on the i9-7900X, a whopping 44 PCIe lanes heaps of I/O options. All CPUs are unlocked too, perfect for overclocking. Even faster (and more expensive) 12, 14, 16 and 18 core i9 CPUs that use the LGA2066 socket will be out later this year.