Kaby lake i5 7600 tests. Intel® Clear Video HD Technology

Therefore, this time we will limit ourselves to comparing the main character, Core i5-7600K, only with a similar representative of the Skylake generation, Core i5-6600K. However, so that Intel processors would not be so boring in the final charts, we added to their company the older AMD chip - FX-9590, which, oddly enough, is comparable to the Core i5-7600K in cost.

Ultimately, a complete list of those involved in test systems components received the following form:

• Processors:
  • Intel Core i7-7700K ( Kaby Lake, 4 cores + HT, 4.2-4.5 GHz, 8 MB L3);
  • Intel Core i5-7600K (Kaby Lake, 4 cores, 3.8-4.2 GHz, 6 MB L3);
  • Intel Core i7-6700K (Skylake, 4 cores + HT, 4.0-4.2 GHz, 8 MB L3);
  • Intel Core i5-6600K (Skylake, 4 cores, 3.5-3.9 GHz, 6 MB L3);
  • AMD FX-9590 (Vishera, 8 cores, 4.7-5.0 GHz, 8 MB L3).
  • CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U14S.
  • Motherboards:
    • ASUS Maximus IX Hero (LGA1151, Intel Z270);
    • ASUS 970 PRO Gaming/Aura (Socket AM3+, AMD 970 + SB950).
    • Memory:
    • • 2 × 8 GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM, 15-15-15-35 (Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2A2666C16R).
      • 2 × 8 GB DDR3-2133 SDRAM, 9-11-11-31 (G.Skill F3-2133C9D-16GTX).
      • Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (8 GB/256-bit GDDR5X, 1607-1733/10000 MHz).
      • Disk subsystem: Kingston HyperX Savage 480 GB (SHSS37A/480G).
      • Power supply: Corsair RM850i ​​(80 Plus Gold, 850 W).

Core i5 processor models from the list above were tested not only when operating in nominal mode, but also with stable overclocking suitable for long-term use, which is achievable with the cooling we use:

• Core i5-7600K overclocked to 4.5 GHz with a voltage of 1.325 V;
• Core i5-7600K overclocked to 4.8 GHz with a voltage of 1.4 V and reset to 3.8 GHz when executing AVX instructions;
• Core i5-6600K overclocked to 4.5 GHz with a voltage of 1.325 V.

Testing was performed in operating system Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Build 14393 using the following driver set:

• Intel Chipset Driver 10.1.1.38;
• Intel Management Engine Interface Driver 11.6.0.1030;
• NVIDIA GeForce 376.33 Driver.

Description of the tools used to measure computing performance:

Comprehensive benchmarks:

• BAPCo SYSmark 2014 SE - testing in Office Productivity scenarios ( office work: text preparation, processing spreadsheets, work with by email and visiting Internet sites), Media Creation(working on multimedia content - creating a commercial using pre-shot digital images and videos), Data/Financial Analysis (processing an archive of financial data, their statistical analysis and forecasting investments based on a certain model) and Responsiveness (analysis of system responsiveness when launching applications , opening files, working with an Internet browser with a large number of open tabs, multitasking, copying files, batch operations with photos, encrypting and archiving files and installing programs).
• Futuremark 3DMark Professional Edition 2.2.3509 - testing in the Time Spy 1.0 scene.

Applications:

• Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 - processing performance testing graphic images. Measures the average execution time of a test script that is a creative reworking of the Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed ​​Test, which involves typical processing of four 24-megapixel images taken digital camera.
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.8 - testing performance when batch processing a series of images in RAW format. The test scenario involves post-processing and exporting to JPEG at 1920 × 1080 resolution and maximum quality of two hundred 12-megapixel RAW images taken with a Nikon D300 digital camera.
• Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017 - performance testing for non-linear video editing. The time for rendering a Blu-Ray project containing HDV 1080p25 video with various effects applied is measured.
• Autodesk 3ds max 2017 - final rendering speed testing. Measures the time it takes to render at 1920 x 1080 resolution using the mental ray renderer of a standard Hummer scene.
• Blender 2.78a - testing the final rendering speed in one of the popular free packages for creating 3D graphics. The duration of building the final model from Blender Cycles Benchmark rev4 is measured.
• WinRAR 5.40 - archiving speed testing. The time spent by the archiver to compress a directory from various files with a total volume of 1.7 GB. The maximum degree of compression is used.
• x264 r2744 - testing the speed of video transcoding into H.264/AVC format. To evaluate performance, we use an original 1080p@50FPS AVC video file with a bitrate of about 30 Mbps.
• x265 2.2+17 8bpp - testing the speed of video transcoding into the promising H.265/HEVC format. To evaluate performance, the same video file is used as in the x264 encoder transcoding speed test.

Games:

• Ashes of Singularity. Resolution 1920 × 1080, DirectX 11, Quality Profile = High, MSAA = 2x.
• Civilization VI. Resolution 1920 × 1080, DirectX 11, MSAA = 4x, Performance Impact = Ultra, Memory Impact = Ultra.
• Grand Theft Auto V. Resolution 1920 × 1080, DirectX Version = DirectX 11, FXAA = Off, MSAA = x4, NVIDIA TXAA = Off, Population Density = Maximum, Population Variety = Maximum, Distance Scaling = Maximum, Texture Quality = Very High, Shader Quality = Very High, Shadow Quality = Very High, Reflection Quality = Ultra, Reflection MSAA = x4, Water Quality = Very High, Particles Quality = Very High, Grass Quality = Ultra, Soft Shadow = Softest, Post FX = Ultra, In-Game Depth Of Field Effects = On, Anisotropic Filtering = x16, Ambient Occlusion = High, Tessellation = Very High, Long Shadows = On, High Resolution Shadows = On, High Detail Streaming While Flying = On, Extended Distance Scaling = Maximum, Extended Shadows Distance = Maximum.
• Hitman™. Resolution 1920 × 1080, DirectX 12, Super Sampling = 1.0, Level of Detail = Ultra, Anti-Aliasing = FXAA, Texture Quality = High, Texture Filter = Anisotropic 16x, SSAO = On, Shadow Maps = Ultra, Shadow Resolution = High.
• Rise of the Tomb Raider. Resolution 1920 × 1080, DirectX 11, Preset = Very High.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Resolution 1920 × 1080, Graphics Preset = High, Postprocessing Preset = High.
• Total War: WARHAMMER. Resolution 1920 × 1080, DirectX 11, Quality = Ultra.

If you have already read the review of the older processor of the Kaby Lake generation, then today we are unlikely to be able to tell you anything new. Discussed in this Core review The i5-7600K is the same typical quad-core representative of the Kaby Lake family, only of a lower class, which is mainly expressed in the absence of Hyper-Threading technology in it. And this means that the new product under consideration is an “improved” Core i5-6600K with a clock frequency increased by approximately 300 MHz. Exclusively due to this, the Core i5-7600K is faster. True, this is not a simple legal overclocking. The basis for frequency growth has been provided by changes in technological process, therefore, the heat dissipation and power consumption of Kaby Lake are by no means higher than those of its predecessors.

All this makes the Core i5-7600K a very attractive alternative to the Core i7-7700K in cases where the processor requires four full cores and relatively good performance, but there is a desire to save money or, when creating a system, to transfer part of the budget from the CPU to, for example, a video card. The Core i5-7600K is $97 cheaper than the older representative in the Kaby Lake family, but even in the most resource-intensive tasks it is capable of delivering about 75-80 percent of the performance of the Core i7-7700K. This is quite enough for comfortable work in most common applications, and for unlocking the potential of flagship graphics cards in modern games, which makes the Core i5-7600K a worthy choice for a gaming build.

In addition, the Core i5-7600K can be an interesting object for overclocking experiments. It has a full set of unlocked multipliers and overclocks at least as well as the Core i5-6600K. However, it is not possible to achieve the level of performance of the Core i7-7700K with the Core i5-7600K even through overclocking. Unfortunately, the relative overclocking potential of Kaby Lake is not that great, and something not entirely clear is going on with overclocking the Core i5-7600K. There is an opinion that semiconductor crystals with the best frequency characteristics go first of all to the Core i7-7700K, and so far our experience allows us to confirm rather than refute this hypothesis.

Our first acquaintance with the processors of the family took place more than a month ago. Then we tested the flagship model in the line and came to the conclusion that Intel decided to offer almost the same thing as before (see Skylake), but with an optimized supply voltage-frequency curve. In other words, the new processors have no differences in microarchitecture, but there is an improved production technology 14+ nm, which allows you to obtain semiconductor crystals with better energy efficiency and increased frequency potential. This is precisely why the updated Core line makes some sense. The processors included in it received higher performance while remaining within the usual thermal packages. In our article we talked about this in relation to a representative of the Core i7 class. But in fact, a similar acceleration affected all seventh-generation Core models. And today we will look at what Intel can now offer consumers in a more down-to-earth price segment, which includes LGA1151 processors of the Core i5 class. Like the Core i7, this class has its own fresh overclocker model, the Core i5-7600K, and it was this that became the main character of the second Kaby Lake review on 3DNews.

Historically desktop Core processors i5 is one of the most talked about products Intel. The fact is that the differences between Core i5 and Core i7 are not so obvious. It all revolves around the fact that the younger family lacks support for Hyper-Threading virtual multithreading technology, but at the same time, like the older one, it continues to have four computing cores. Formally, this can cause a fairly serious difference in performance, but in reality it manifests itself only in a few cases - in those applications that can create more than four equal threads. As practice shows, there are not many applications of this kind, and they relate mainly to professional tools for creating or processing digital content. In most tasks solved by average users, including games, Hyper-Threading is of practically no use. The price of Core i5 processors is significantly lower compared to Core i7. For example, the same Core i5-7600K is cheaper than the Core i7-7700K, almost $100, which can be successfully used to purchase a more powerful graphics card, more memory or SSD storage. Therefore, Core i5 processors may well seem like a much more rational basis for the LGA1151 platform.

And until recently, this is exactly how it was: the older Core i5 has traditionally been one of the best options for gaming computer in terms of price/performance ratio. However, with the release of recent generations Intel processors slightly tweaked the characteristics of the older representatives in the Core i7 and Core i5 series, and now it makes sense not only for notorious maximalists to give preference to the Core i7. The fact is that, starting around mid-2014, when the Devil’s Canyon line came to the market, representatives of the Core i7 series acquired an additional advantage: their nominal frequencies compared to Core i5 became noticeably higher. This situation is observed now: the gap in the operating frequencies of the older Core i7 and Core i5 is about 300 MHz, which is actually not so small.

Of course, one can object to this that the older Core i7 and Core i5 are CPUs with unlocked multipliers that are very easy to overclock, and therefore superiority in nominal frequencies is only an imaginary advantage. But practice shows that not everything is so simple. For some reason, Core i7 overclocks better than its younger counterparts, although logically it should be the other way around. Indeed, Core i5s do not support Hyper-Threading technology, so at the same frequency they should generate less heat and, therefore, should conquer higher frequency boundaries without any problems. However, in reality it turns out that overclocked Core i7s can operate at an average frequency of 100 MHz higher than similar Core i5s - this is evidenced by both our experience and statistics collected on overclocker forums. It’s hard to say with complete certainty what’s going on here, but it seems very likely that Intel is deliberately choosing more successful semiconductor crystals for the older family.

It turns out that the microprocessor giant is trying with all its might to reorient the Core i5 in such a way as if it were a compromise offer for those who cannot afford a full-fledged Core i7. How fair is this attitude and can modern Core i5s from the Kaby Lake generation really no longer be considered as a full-fledged replacement for the Core i7? In this review we will try to answer this question reasonably.

Our experience with overclocking the Core i5-7600K is one of complete disappointment. The first tests of representatives of the Kaby Lake family became a source of very bold expectations: indeed, those samples that the microprocessor giant distributed to reviewers for reviews easily reached milestones unimaginable for processors of previous generations. For example, a sample of the Core i7-7700K that came into our laboratory worked without problems at a frequency of 4.8 GHz, and some of our colleagues managed to conquer the psychologically important five-gigahertz mark. But the test copy of the Core i5-7600K, which we bought in a regular retail store, could not even come close to the coveted 5.0 GHz mark. And this, it seems, is not an accident at all. Back in the days of Devil’s Canyon and Skylake, we began to notice that processors with disabled Hyper-Threading technology overclocked no better than their counterparts from the Core i7 family. With the release of Kaby Lake, this pattern only got worse. Therefore, if you want to get the maximum frequency, then it is better to immediately focus on the more expensive Core i7-7700K. For the Core i5-7600K, apparently, Intel uses semiconductor crystals that are worse in terms of frequency properties. In addition, it is very likely that the first batches of Kaby Lake semiconductor crystals, which were also used in press samples, had better frequency potential. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to explain what happened.

What happened is that the test Core i5-7600K was only able to overclock to a frequency of 4.5 GHz, that is, approximately the same as the not-so-successful Core i5 processors of the Skylake generation are overclocked.

To provide stable operation in this state and without errors passing testing in LinX 0.7.0, it was necessary to increase the supply voltage to 1.325 V. With a lower voltage, errors occurred. However, even with such a very moderate increase in voltage, temperatures reached extreme levels: the heating of the hottest core reached 96 degrees. It is quite obvious that there could be no talk of any further acceleration here.

Thus, our experience with the serial Core i5-7600K allows us to at least say that the better overclocking of Kaby Lake compared to Skylake is far from an immutable truth. And it is quite possible that the overclocking potential of the Core i5-7600K may be even worse than that of its predecessor.

However, the Core i5-7600K, like the Core i7-7700K, has new feature, which allows you to get out of this situation: AVX Offset. The bottom line is that the highest heat generation is caused by AVX instructions, and it is their execution that most often leads to overheating of the computing cores. To counteract this selective heating, Kaby Lake family processors provide the ability to temporarily reduce the clock frequency while processing complex vector commands. This feature is available via Motherboard BIOS boards and is implemented in the form of an additional negative multiplier, which is applied to the processor frequency in cases where it encounters AVX instructions. As a result, by sacrificing performance in less common applications that rely on AVX commands, the user can get better processor overclocking in other cases.

To check everything that was said in practice, we tried to correct the situation with the extremely limited overclocking of the test Core i5-7600K by using the “inverse AVX multiplier” of 10x. In other words, we configured the processor in such a way that its frequency when working with AVX commands was temporarily reduced by 1000 MHz, which should have allowed us to get rid of overheating in the most energy-intensive tasks. And this helped: without causing overheating, the supply voltage was raised significantly above 1.325 V, due to which the maximum frequency of the test Core i5-7600K quite expectedly moved further - to 4.8 GHz.

An important nuance: when checking overclocking in the case of using the “reverse AVX multiplier”, there is no point in relying on the usual modern utilities for checking stability. All of them actively use AVX instructions, so the processor will work in them in a weakened mode - at a reduced frequency. To take this point into account, we used old version LinX 0.6.4: it works with SSE4, but does not use AVX.

Stable operation at a frequency of 4.8 GHz required increasing the supply voltage to 1.4 V. The maximum heating of the processor cores in such conditions did not exceed 80 degrees. It is clear that such a mode would be completely unacceptable if the load contained AVX commands. But when working with them, the frequency dropped to 3.8 GHz, and therefore there were no signs of overheating. In other words, the appearance of the “reverse AVX multiplier” in Kaby Lake really allows you to get more or less decent overclocking even in completely hopeless cases.

In general, all the difficulties we encountered with overclocking the Core i5-7600K can be safely attributed to the thermal interface that Intel places between the processor chip and the copper (nickel-plated) heat distribution cover covering it. The area of ​​the quad-core Kaby Lake crystal with GT2 graphics is about 125 mm 2 . This is a very small surface, and efficient heat removal from it is one of the key factors influencing the final result of overclocking. However, in the case of processors in the LGA1151 version, Intel skimps on high-quality thermal paste, and the polymer thermal interface used clearly cannot cope with the heat flux density coming from overclocked Kaby Lake.

Packaging, delivery and appearance

The new product came to us for testing without packaging or delivery kit. Therefore, let’s turn to the official press materials to get acquainted with it. At first glance, it uses the same bright design of the Intel Skylake series processors, but there are still some differences.

Firstly, the designation “7th Generation” was added to the front side, which does not require translation. Secondly, boxes with processors with a locked multiplier have a proprietary cooler, and the viewing window is located on the top panel. In models with an unlocked multiplier, the word “Unlocked” has been added to the front, and the viewing window has been moved to back. Also, quite logically, their kit does not include a cooling system.

And finally, the “For a great VR experience” logo has appeared on the Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i7 series CPUs, which will allow inexperienced users to quickly navigate their choice.

Intel Core i5-6600K

The appearance of Intel Kaby Lake series processors is quite logically no different from their predecessors, since they are designed for the same socket (Socket LGA1151). Accordingly, owners of cooling systems should not have any problems installing a cooler on new CPUs.

Traditionally, on the heat distribution cover of the Intel Core i5-7600K you can find its name, markings, base clock frequency and other designations. On the reverse side are located contact pads for Socket LGA1151 connector.

Technical characteristics analysis

Under load clock frequency the new product rises to 4 GHz at a voltage of 1.136 V. In turn, the model in a similar mode operated at a speed of 3.6 GHz at a voltage of 1.193 V.

Under certain loads, you can reach the maximum declared frequency of 4.2 GHz at a voltage of 0.768 V. For its predecessor, it was 3.9 GHz at a voltage of 1.304 V.

After deactivating dynamic overclocking technology ( Intel Turbo Boost 2.0), the frequency of the Intel Core i5-7600K in load does not exceed 3.8 GHz at a voltage of 1.072 V. But the Intel Core i5-6600K can only boast a speed of 3.5 GHz at a voltage of 1.194 V.

And finally, in power-saving mode, both processors can reduce the frequency to 800 MHz. But if the representative of Intel Kaby Lake requires 0.688 V for this, then Intel Skylake requires 0.846 V.

In general, we can state a decrease in operating voltages while simultaneously increasing the frequency and maintaining thermal package. These are clear results of optimizations in design and production technology.

Left: Intel Core i5-7600K, right: Intel Core i5-6600K

Absolutely nothing has changed in the cache memory organization. We still have the following structure:

• 32 KB of L1 cache per core with 8 associative channels is allocated for instructions and the same amount for data;
• 256 KB L2 cache per core with 8 associativity channels;
• 6 MB shared L3 cache with 12 associative channels.

And here is the built-in controller random access memory has been improved and is now guaranteed to support DDR4 modules running at 2400 MHz instead of 2133 MHz. Support for DDR3L-1600 MHz memory has not gone away either.

Now a few words about the integrated graphics adapter Intel HD Graphics 630, built on the Intel Gen9.5 microarchitecture. In its presentation, Intel did not indicate the number of execution units, but the AIDA64 program suggests that there are 24 of them, just like its predecessor. The base frequency is not specified, and the dynamic frequency is also at 1150 MHz.

The maximum temperature for the Intel Core i5-7600K was not officially designated at the time of writing this review, so we will focus on the Tjmax parameter of the AIDA64 program, which is 100°C.

When the processor and graphics cores were simultaneously loaded, the clock frequency of the former slightly exceeded 3.8 GHz, and the latter - 1150 MHz. CPU power consumption reached 60 W. In turn, the temperature of the processor cores did not exceed 55°C, and the iGPU - 49°C.

Testing

During testing we used Processor Test Stand No. 2

We will traditionally start analyzing the results with the efficiency of Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, the deactivation of which reduces the maximum possible clock frequency from 4.2 to 3.8 GHz. Disabling it reduces the performance of the Intel Core i5-7600K by an average of 3.3% in synthetic tests and by 1% in games.

We would like to thank Intel for providing the processor for testing.

28.09.2018 19:34

The guest of today's review appeared on the high-tech market about a year and a half ago (in the first quarter of 2017), and it is still an excellent processor with sufficient performance for any gamer. However, progress does not stand still, and, as you know, the eighth generation of CPUs from Intel is a kind of revolution in the desktop segment. It's all about the increased number of physical cores of new solutions. As a result, those products that previously bore the name Core i5 can now be safely attributed to model range Core i3.

With toys Intel Core i5-7600 “ understands” no worse than any unlocked CPU or “ stone" with a large number of physical cores/threads.

That is why we decided to get acquainted with the capabilities of the Intel Core i5-7600 processor now, when it is realistic to compare the performance level of the device under review with the power stones eighth generation.

We remind you that CPUs of the Coffee Lake family operate exclusively with the three hundred line of chipsets, but Kaby Lake solutions are friendly with both hundredths, so with two hundredth. Despite the fact that the profile connector is the same for all of these devices (Socket LGA 1151), it will not be possible to install seventh and eighth generation Intel Core processors on any one motherboard.

Technical features

So, the Intel Core i5-7600 is a 4-core processor (14 nm) with the same number of computational threads; The solution has a 6 MB cache, integrated graphics core HD Graphics 630, 16 PCI-E lanes for external graphics and support for DDR4-2133/2400 and DDR3L-1333/1600 RAM.

The nominal clock frequency of the reviewed solution is 3500 MHz; in automatic acceleration mode it increases to 4100 MHz. Actually, the x41 multiplier is the maximum for the Intel Core i5-7600, this is a locked processor without the “K” index, which means overclocking it classic this method is not possible, but we will talk about this later.

TDP Intel Core i5-7600 - 65 W, at paper the indicator really looks modest, although this CPU cannot be called completely cold. We were chilling stone Using a small horizontal format cooler (something like a Box option), during the Cinebench and Corona 1.3 benchmarks, the chip temperature jumped to 69 degrees, and the CO rotation speed reached 2000 rpm.

It is important to note that the Core i5-7600 supports technology, which means that on the basis of this CPU (and a compatible motherboard) you can build an extremely fast PC with a disk subsystem that meets the highest modern standards. By the way, it was one of these SSDs that we used when testing the processor.

Test stand:

Motherboard – ASUS Maximus IX Extreme
RAM -
Video card –
Storage device -
Power unit -

Performance and Test Results

As we already noted at the beginning of the article, we were primarily interested in the capabilities of the Intel Core i5-7600 in comparison with the eighth-generation 4-core solution; judging by the hardware characteristics, such a competitor is with a similar number of physical cores, cache size and TDP (although the Core i5-7600 has a higher clock speed of 500 MHz).

In almost all system applications And Intel games The Core i5-7600 turns out to be faster than the Core i3-8100 (in some programs the difference is minimal), but this is not a critical lag. If in domestic retail both processors cost as much as they should (and the eighth-generation version, by the way, is almost half the price of the Core i5-7600), it would definitely be worth choosing the more modern CPU of the Coffee Lake family.

With toys Intel Core i5-7600 understands no worse than any unlocked CPU or stone with a large number of physical cores/threads. The device under review can be trusted with the most powerful video card, for example, GeForce GTX 1080 Ti; the potential of such an adapter will be revealed 100%.

And the Intel Core i5-7600 copes well with any other multimedia tasks, the main thing is not to forget about the need to install high-speed RAM (DDR4-2666 and higher) into the system.

Overclocking

We remind you once again about the maximum multiplier that can be fixed in the BIOS in relation to the Intel Core i5-7600 – x41. It is possible to increase additional megahertz exclusively using the BCLK bus.

The test motherboard is capable of a lot, but only with CPUs that have a “K” in their name. As a result, the BCLK indicator was increased only to 103 MHz, the result was 4200 MHz (the overall performance level after such an overclock increased by about 5%).

And this is a good indicator for a locked Intel Core i5-7600, although the standard power of the device is sufficient for most specialized needs (and even more so for games).

Conclusion

Users who already have an Intel Core i5-7600 installed in their system are well aware that this is a balanced and very powerful processor for multimedia/gaming needs. This solution has no weaknesses, the reviewer CPU capable rock a top-class video card, and the power of four physical cores will be enough to perform core tasks for quite a long time.

Is it worth purchasing an Intel Core i5-7600 now that more affordable CPUs with identical technical specifications? The question is controversial. On the one hand, it is possible to find this stone at a good price at flea markets (in the store it is unreasonably expensive), on the other hand, the notorious eighth generation, motherboards for which they will also support ninth processors.

One way or another, before us is a worthy and very modern processor, created for the demanding user who does not dream of overclocking and extra computing threads. Intel Core i5-7600 is a balance that meets all the needs of the average user. We recommend.

That is why Kaby Lake processors were introduced into a separate Core series, the seventh generation.

Finally

I'll start with the banality. There is no point in actively advertising and promoting Kaby Lake desktops. Everything is clear to everyone. Skylake owners sit on their cars absolutely calmly for another generation/another (if not more). For all those who are assembling a computer from scratch, it makes sense to immediately take the seventh generation Core and a board on the 200 series chipset. These are the most functional solutions to date. Let's see how quickly all the Kaby Lake chips will appear on the market. Overclocker models are great, but in most cases, cheaper processors will be used. I wonder how much they will cost. I don’t rule out that stores will keep prices for new “crusts” high for the first few months. To sell out the Skylakes.

There is an opinion that Kaby Lake is the last chips of the old generation. Intel's next step is to move the Skylake architecture to the 10nm process. The next “5% per year” can only be achieved in one way - through overclocking. But the Core i7-7700K already operates at 4500 MHz. What's next? 4700 MHz? 5000 MHz out of the box? I believe that the time has come to increase the cores/threads on the mainstream Intel platform. The first swallows have already appeared. Pentium processors (not all) are getting support again Hyper-threading technologies. I think that “tick” chips will noticeably increase performance due to an increase in cores/threads. Let's see what role the competitor will play. AMD Zen is about to be released.

The Core i5-7600K was no surprise. The processor is like a processor. I assume that someone more fortunate will come across a “pebble” operating at a stable 5000 MHz. Good cooling is a must.

We were pleased with the Core i7-7700 and Core i7-7700K. If you are not in the mood for overclocking, but need a fast “stone” - I have found you an excellent candidate. 4 GHz for all four cores, eight threads, energy efficiency, beauty! The Core i7-7700K, of course, won over with its overclocking abilities. There are stable 5 GHz! Therefore, a toast: may you be lucky with your processor in the new year. Unfortunately, a lottery is a lottery.