NEW QUAD-CORE CPUS HIT 5GHZ

We first saw dual-core Kaby Lake notebook CPUs in August, but now it’s time for quad-core processors – seven chips for laptops and 16 for desktops. They’re all part of Intel’s CES Kaby Lake series, and while performance increases in many scenarios aren’t incredible relative to previous-generation silicon, the new architecture is still intriguing.

For starters, while cache size, the memory controller, and motherboard socket haven’t changed since previous-generation Skylake chips, the Kaby Lake desktop CPUs seem ripe for overclocking (despite early reports). We’ve have seen the quadcore chip reach the vaunted 5GHz barrier without any problems. The Kaby Lake Z270 chipset is also “Optane-ready,” suggesting motherboards will support Intel’s superfast memory of the same name. Though we do have Optane caveats. See page 64.