Earlier this month, AMD made waves by announcing its Threadripper chip, but now it's Intel's turn and the X-Series, announced at Computex, does not disappoint.
Kaby Lake
At the lower end of the X299 spectrum are the newest versions of the Kaby Lake processors. The i5-7640X and i7-7740X are similar to the existing Kaby Lake models and feature four cores with four or eight threads respectively. Beyond the number of threads, the chips share many of the same features including two memory channels and 16 PCle lanes.
In comparison to some of the older Kaby Lake models, these chips will offer a bit higher speeds. The i7-7740X will feature a base close speed of 4.3 GHz and a boost speed of 4.5 GHz. For the sake of comparison, the i7-7700K featured the same boost speed, but a slightly lower base speed at 4.2 GHz.
The i5 and i7 will be priced $242 and $339 respectively.
i9 Features
More interesting than the revamped Kaby Lake processors are Intel's new i9 line which will feature powerful specs with price tags to match.
At the top end, both in terms of power and price, is the Core i9 Extreme Edition i9-7980XE which Intel says is the world's first teraflop processor. Featuring 18 cores and 36 threads, this monster of a processor eclipses even the Threadripper's power. Of course, all of this power comes at a price and, in the case of the i9 Extreme Edition, that price is $1,999.
For those of us who don't want to spend a month's rent on a processor, Intel is offering slightly more affordable processors to round out the new i9 line. Starting at $999 and going up to $1,699, Intel is offering a series of 10-,12-,14-, and 16-core processors.
The War With AMD
It's often said that the competition brings out the best in companies and that certainly appears to be the case in the ongoing struggle between Intel and AMD. To the former's credit, Intel has once again upped the ante in terms of power, likely making it the preferred choice for professionals whether they are working in technical industries or creating streams on Twitch or YouTube. Hardcore gamers may not necessarily need the extra power, but we could see plenty being drawn to the chips regardless.
On the other hand, AMD has successfully positioned itself as a more affordable alternative to Intel. While its chips might not be as powerful and the name not quite as prestigious, we believe that the lower price point will be enough to sway many consumers. Of course, we still don't know the full price of the 10, 12, and 14 core variants of the Threadripper, but we would be surprised if they weren't somewhat cheaper than Intel's offerings.
