2017 has been an interesting year for processors with AMD's long awaited introduction of the Zen-based Ryzen / Threadripper / EPYC processors, Intel's Core X-Series processors for high-end desktops, the Xeon Scalable processor family introduction, and now the launch of Coffee Lake as a "Kaby Lake Refresh" step before the Cannonlake desktop processors expected in 2018. While another 14nm CPU, Coffee Lake is interesting is that Intel has now upped their desktop core counts in response to Ryzen. With the Core i7 series is now six cores plus Hyper Threading, compared to 4 cores plus HT with previous i7 models. The Core i5 CPUs are also now six core but sans Hyper Threading and there is also the just-published Core i5 8400 Linux benchmarks. This article serves as our first look at the Coffee Lake Core i7 CPUs in the form of the 8700K.

The Core i7 8700K hexa-core processor features a 3.7GHz base frequency, 4.7GHz single core turbo frequency, or 4.3GHz turbo frequency across the six cores. The Core i7 8700K and the i7-8700 have a 12MB L3 smart cache while the non-K version comes clocked at 3.2GHz with 4.0GHz turbo but that does drop the TDP from 95 Watts on the i7-8700K to just 65 Watts with the i7-8700. The entire Coffee Lake CPU line-up has native support for dual channel DDR4-2666. The Core i7 8700K has a launch price of $359 USD.

While the Coffee Lake CPUs use the LGA-1151 socket that's been around since Skylake, Intel is again requiring new motherboards/chipsets for Coffee Lake -- reportedly due to a power circuitry redesign for these higher core count CPUs. With the Intel Z370 chipset for Coffee Lake, there's also next-gen Optane memory support, USB 3.1 Gen 1 support, Thunderbolt 3.0 capabilities, an updated audio DSP, and minor improvements.

The integrated graphics of the Coffee Lake CPUs shipping today are marketed as "UHD Graphics 630" compared to "HD Graphics 630" of Kabylake. This is mainly a rebranding change by Intel from HD to UHD graphics, although the GPU is effectively the same as we've seen out of Kabylake GT2. It's not until the Cannonlake launch where there is the "Gen 10" graphics that should be more exciting. The UHD Graphics 630 on the Core i7 8700 series clocks up to 1.2GHz.

While we've had Coffee Lake CPUs at Phoronix for a few weeks, it wasn't until two days ago that I received a 300-series LGA-1151 motherboard with one of our usual motherboard vendor partners running on short supply this time around. Fortunately, ASUS stepped up to the plate and sent over their PRIME Z370-A motherboard. But due to having a working Coffee Lake setup for just two days, our launch-day benchmarks are on the shorter side compared ot normal. There are plenty of raw benchmark results while performance-per-Watt / power consumption and other interesting Intel Gen 8 CPU benchmarks will be coming in the days ahead.

The PRIME Z370-A will be featured in a review soon on Phoronix but for those curious about this Coffee Lake motherboard it features dual M.2 slots, USB 3.1 Gen 2 and Thunderbolt 3 support, Displayport / DVI / HDMI if using the UHD Graphics, DDR4-4000 overclocking support, and the various other ASUS bells and whistles we are used to seeing with their gamer/enthusiast oriented products.