From now on, the Intel Core i7 processors won’t be the highest end ones. Instead, the newly announced Intel Core i9 processor will sit on the top. After a number of rumours and leaks, Intel has finally made the Core X PC processors, along with the improved Core i5 and Core i7 processors and the mighty 18-core Core i9 processor.
With the Core X family of processors, now the mid-range Core i5 and Core i7 processors have grown more powerful than the existing ones. For the core count, the lineup starts from 4 cores and goes up to 18 cores for the Core i9 Extreme.
The beast of a processor is targeted purely at the enthusiast customers that includes gamers and content creators who want nothing below the best. The gamers will be able to run the newest titles in the highest possible resolution and graphics quality, while there are multiple heavy software running in the background.
Starting from the base model, the Intel Core i5-7640X comes with 4 cores and 4 threads. The Intel Core i7 X-series starts with 4 cores and 8 threads and goes all the way up to 10 cores and 20 threads. While the Intel Core i9 processor will come in four models excluding the Extreme edition. It starts from 12 cores with 24 threads, while the highest of them all has 16 cores and 32 threads.
Intel launched this series with two architectures – Kaby Lake X and Skylake X. The 4-core processors, the Intel Core i5-7640X and Core i7-7740X, will be built on Kaby Lake X, while the rest of the processors will be built on the upgraded Skylake X architecture.
For a higher frequency on boost, the processor range will with Intel’s Turbo Boost 3.0 Technology that promises 10 percent faster multi-threading performance and 15 percent faster single thread. These processors will support the Intel X299 motherboard chipset.
Intel also revealed the pricing of these processors with the base Core i5 processor priced at $242. The updated Core i7 processor will start at $339 and will go all the way up to $599. Coming to the new Core i9 chipset, it will start from $999 for the 12-core variant will go up to $1,699 for the 16-core variant.
The Intel Core i9 Extreme, that comes with 18 cores and 36 threads, will come with a price tag of $1,999. The processor is the first to bring teraflop performance to desktop computers, giving justification to the high price.
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