We have some juicy leaks coming in from various sources on Intel's Kaby Lake Z270 platform. Intel Kaby Lake processors will be launching in early January. These processors will feature compatibility with both 100-series and new 200-series boards which will be available soon.
ASRock Z270 Motherboards For Kaby Lake Processors Pictured
Our first leak comes from Zolkorn who has managed to obtain box shots of two ASRock motherboards. Both motherboards are based on the latest Z270 chipset. The Z270 chipset is part of the upcoming 200-series chipset stack and will be the top tier in the lineup. Intel's Kaby Lake processors will be support by all 200-series and 100-series based motherboards. Intel's board partners will be offering firmware updates for current generation boards. This will allow support for Kaby Lake CPUs with existing motherboards.
The motherboards pictured include the ASRock Z270 Gaming K6 and ASRock Z270 Pro 4. We can tell by the name that the Gaming K6 is aimed at gamers and enthusiasts while Pro 4 is part of the mainstream line. The Gaming K6 comes in a red and black colored black, suggesting its color scheme. The package for this board is relatively large hence we can consider some good add-ons with this board. The Pro 4 comes with a smaller, blue color packaging. Both motherboards will be priced accordingly for the market. The Gaming K6 will come at a higher price while the Pro 4 will have a optimized pricing for the mainstream audience.
The packaging confirms that the boards are under full production and will be supplied to retail outlets in the upcoming months. Intel's Kaby Lake processors will be launching at CES 2017 but we can see some board companies offering these boards prior to launch. Intel Skylake and Kaby Lake processors will work on the new chipset, allowing support for Optane SSDs.
Here’s What To Expect From The Kaby Lake Platform (200-Series)
The Kaby Lake processors in general would be getting increased core performance. Some numbers for the top Core i7-7700K were leaked last week, showcasing impressive performance. The processors will retain the basic features such for DIY users such as enhanced full range BCLK overclocking and 95W “Unlocked” options to choose from.
The Intel 200-Series PCH is a crucial update for the upcoming family of processors as it will allow support for them. The Intel 200-series PCH will include several SKUs such as Z270, H270, Q270, Q250 and B250. While the new chipset doesn’t include any major changes over the Skylake PCH, it does include support for Intel Optane technology. The new tech utilizes Intel’s 3D XPoint memory to deliver high-performance SSDs and memory solutions.
Intel 7th Generation 'Kaby Lake' Desktop Lineup
| SKU Name | Cores/Threads | Core Clock | Boost Clock | L3 Cache | TDP | Socket | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core i7-7700K | 4/8 | 4.2 GHz | 4.5 GHz | 8 MB | 91W | LGA1151 | $339 US |
| Core i7-7700 | 4/8 | 3.6 GHz | 4.2 GHz | 8 MB | 65W | LGA1151 | $303 US |
| Core i7-7700T | 4/8 | 2.9 GHz | 3.8 GHz | 8 MB | 35W | LGA1151 | $303 US |
| Core i5-7600K | 4/4 | 3.8 GHz | 4.2 GHz | 6 MB | 91W | LGA1151 | $242 US |
| Core i5-7600 | 4/4 | 3.5 GHz | 4.1 GHz | 6 MB | 65W | LGA1151 | $213 US |
| Core i5-7600T | 4/4 | 2.8 GHz | 3.7 GHz | 6 MB | 35W | LGA1151 | $213 US |
| Core i5-7500 | 4/4 | 3.4 GHz | 3.8 GHz | 6 MB | 65W | LGA1151 | $192 US |
| Core i5-7500T | 4/4 | 2.7 GHz | 3.3 GHz | 6 MB | 35W | LGA1151 | $192 US |
| Core i5-7400 | 4/4 | 3.0 GHz | 3.5 GHz | 6 MB | 65W | LGA1151 | $182 US |
| Core i5-7400T | 4/4 | 2.4 GHz | 3.0 GHz | 6 MB | 35W | LGA1151 | $182 US |
| Core i3-7350K | 2/4 | 4.2 GHz | N/A | 4 MB | 60W | LGA 1151 | $168 US |
| Core i3-7320 | 2/4 | 4.1 GHz | N/A | 4 MB | TBD | LGA 1151 | $149 US |
| Core i3-7300 | 2/4 | 4.0 GHz | N/A | 4 MB | 51W | LGA1151 | $138 US |
| Core i3-7300T | 2/4 | 3.5 GHz | N/A | 4 MB | 35W | LGA1151 | $138 US |
| Core i3-7100 | 2/4 | 3.9 GHz | N/A | 4 MB | 51W | LGA 1151 | $117 US |
| Core i3-7100T | 2/4 | 3.4 GHz | N/A | 4 MB | 35W | LGA 1151 | $117 US |
| Pentium G4620 | 2/4 | 3.7 GHz | N/A | 3 MB | 51W | LGA1151 | $86 US |
| Pentium G4600 | 2/4 | 3.6 GHz | N/A | 3 MB | 51W | LGA 1151 | $75 US |
| Pentium G4560 | 2/4 | 3.5 GHz | N/A | 3MB | 54W | LGA 1151 | $64 US |
| Pentium G3950 | 2/2 | 3.0 GHz | N/A | 2 MB | 35W | LGA1151 | $52 US |
| Pentium G3930 | 2/2 | 2.9 GHz | N/A | 2 MB | 35W | LGA1151 | $42 US |
Intel's Kaby Lake Based Xeon E3-1200 V6 Family Leaked - Planned For Q1 2017 Launch
Coming to the second leak, the Xeon E3-1200 V6 lineup has been leaked by Benchlife. Replacing Skylake Xeon E3 V5 after more than a year, the new processors will be updated with the optimized Kaby Lake architecture that comes with 14nm+ FinFET process technology. The lineup will initially include four processors which are listed below:
- E3-1280 v6
- E3-1270 v6
- E3-1240 v6
- E3-1230 v6
Specifications for these processors have not been listed yet but we can expect the usual clock speed bump along with changes to the architecture and TDP. Kaby Lake will be another annual refresh for Intel before the move to their 10nm architecture with next-gen Cannonlake processors. We will be looking at some intense competition between Zen based Summit Ridge and Kaby Lake based Core processors in early 2017.
| WCCFTech | AMD Summit Ridge | Intel Kaby Lake |
|---|---|---|
| Product Naming | AMD RYZEN | Intel Core 7000 Series |
| Product Segment | Mainstream Desktop PCs | Mainstream Desktop PCs |
| Product Architecture | x86 Zen (+40% IPC compared to Excavator) | 7th Gen Kaby Lake (Same IPC as Skylake) |
| Process Node | 14nm | 14nm+ |
| Max CPU Cores/Threads | 8/16 | 4/8 |
| GPU Architecture | N/A | Intel HD 600 Series |
| TDP | Up to 95W | Up to 95W |
| Socket | AM4 | LGA 1151 |
| PCH | X370 | Z270 |
| Memory Support | DDR4 | DDR4 |
| Launch | February - March 2017 | January 2017 |
