Intel's Core X-Series: Unpacking the High-End Desktop Processors

Intel's Core X-series is a high-end desktop processor lineup designed for enthusiasts and professionals who demand top-notch performance. The platform is built on two major architectures: Kaby Lake X and Skylake X. Kaby Lake X, also known as the 7th Gen Core processors, are essentially consumer 7000-series chips with heavier-duty traces, slightly higher clock speeds, and increased power consumption. These chips are ideal for entry-level users who want to get into an HEDT (high-end desktop) or high-end workstation and plan to upgrade later.

In contrast, Skylake X, which includes the Core i7 and Core i9 processors, is a more mature architecture with two classes of processors: Core i7 and Core i9. Both types share unlocked multipliers for overclocking, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, quad-channel DDR4 memory support, AVX2 and AVX-512 extensions, and a new cache setup of 1MB of Level 2 cache per core matched with a shared Level 3 cache. The main differences between Core i7 and Core i9 processors are the number of PCI Express lanes, which is lower on Core i7 models, and the implementation of Turbo Boost Max 3.0.

The Core i9 7980XE, also known as the "beast" of Intel's desktop lineup, is a 18-core processor with 44 PCIe lanes, making it an excellent choice for users who need full unbottlenecked access to multiple connected devices such as networking, storage, video capture, or expensive accelerator cards. The Core i9 7980XE offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, the Core i7 6900K, and even the Core i7 6950X. While not everyone will see a performance boost with this processor, users who require extreme multi-threading capabilities will benefit from the additional cores.

In contrast, the Core i9 7900X, also known as the "jack-of-all-trades," is an 8-core processor with 28 PCIe lanes and Turbo Boost Max 3.0. This chip is a great fit for entry-level workstations that don't require extreme performance but still need robust capabilities. The Core i7 7820X, on the other hand, has 28 PCIe lanes as well, making it an excellent choice for users who want to upgrade their system later.

The Skylake X platform represents a significant improvement over its predecessor and is a solid choice for both per-thread and multi-threaded performance. Intel's plan for future development is uncertain, but the company has demonstrated a willingness to push the boundaries of performance in recent years. The question remains whether this will continue, and what innovations we can expect next.

The Skylake X platform is built on two main architectures: Kaby Lake X and Skylake X. The former is essentially Intel's consumer 7th Gen Core processors with heavier-duty traces, slightly higher clock speeds, and increased power consumption. These chips are ideal for entry-level users who want to get into an HEDT or high-end desktop workstation and plan to upgrade later.

In contrast, Skylake X includes the Core i7 and Core i9 processors. Both types share unlocked multipliers for overclocking, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, quad-channel DDR4 memory support, AVX2 and AVX-512 extensions, and a new cache setup of 1MB of Level 2 cache per core matched with a shared Level 3 cache. The main differences between Core i7 and Core i9 processors are the number of PCI Express lanes, which is lower on Core i7 models, and the implementation of Turbo Boost Max 3.0.

The Skylake X platform offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, making it an excellent choice for users who require robust capabilities. The main advantages of Skylake X include its high boost frequency, high base frequency, and high turbo boost max 3.0 frequency, which make it well-suited for workloads that can take advantage of these features.

The Core i9 7980XE is a 18-core processor with 44 PCIe lanes and Turbo Boost Max 3.0, making it an excellent choice for users who need full unbottlenecked access to multiple connected devices such as networking, storage, video capture, or expensive accelerator cards. This chip offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, the Core i7 6900K, and even the Core i7 6950X.

The Core i9 7900X is an 8-core processor with 28 PCIe lanes and Turbo Boost Max 3.0, making it a great fit for entry-level workstations that don't require extreme performance but still need robust capabilities. The Core i7 7820X has 28 PCIe lanes as well, making it an excellent choice for users who want to upgrade their system later.

The Skylake X platform is built on two main architectures: Kaby Lake X and Skylake X. The former is essentially Intel's consumer 7th Gen Core processors with heavier-duty traces, slightly higher clock speeds, and increased power consumption. These chips are ideal for entry-level users who want to get into an HEDT or high-end desktop workstation and plan to upgrade later.

The Kaby Lake X architecture includes the Core i7 and Core i9 processors, which share unlocked multipliers for overclocking, Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, quad-channel DDR4 memory support, AVX2 and AVX-512 extensions, and a new cache setup of 1MB of Level 2 cache per core matched with a shared Level 3 cache. The main differences between Core i7 and Core i9 processors are the number of PCI Express lanes, which is lower on Core i7 models, and the implementation of Turbo Boost Max 3.0.

The Kaby Lake X architecture offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, making it an excellent choice for users who require robust capabilities. The main advantages of Kaby Lake X include its high boost frequency, high base frequency, and high turbo boost max 3.0 frequency, which make it well-suited for workloads that can take advantage of these features.

The Skylake X platform offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, making it an excellent choice for users who require robust capabilities. The main advantages of Skylake X include its high boost frequency, high base frequency, and high turbo boost max 3.0 frequency, which make it well-suited for workloads that can take advantage of these features.

The Core i9 7980XE is a 18-core processor with 44 PCIe lanes and Turbo Boost Max 3.0, making it an excellent choice for users who need full unbottlenecked access to multiple connected devices such as networking, storage, video capture, or expensive accelerator cards. This chip offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, the Core i7 6900K, and even the Core i7 6950X.

The Core i9 7900X is an 8-core processor with 28 PCIe lanes and Turbo Boost Max 3.0, making it a great fit for entry-level workstations that don't require extreme performance but still need robust capabilities. The Core i7 7820X has 28 PCIe lanes as well, making it an excellent choice for users who want to upgrade their system later.

The Skylake X platform offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, making it an excellent choice for users who require robust capabilities. The main advantages of Skylake X include its high boost frequency, high base frequency, and high turbo boost max 3.0 frequency, which make it well-suited for workloads that can take advantage of these features.

The Core i9 7980XE is a 18-core processor with 44 PCIe lanes and Turbo Boost Max 3.0, making it an excellent choice for users who need full unbottlenecked access to multiple connected devices such as networking, storage, video capture, or expensive accelerator cards. This chip offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, the Core i7 6900K, and even the Core i7 6950X.

The Core i9 7900X is an 8-core processor with 28 PCIe lanes and Turbo Boost Max 3.0, making it a great fit for entry-level workstations that don't require extreme performance but still need robust capabilities. The Core i7 7820X has 28 PCIe lanes as well, making it an excellent choice for users who want to upgrade their system later.

The Skylake X platform offers significant performance improvements over its predecessor, making it an excellent choice for users who require robust capabilities.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI think on some levelIntel must know that their product naming scheme could be less confusingWhere that level is well your guess is as good as mine because they have certainly never admitted it to usAnd yet here we are with an Intel sponsored deeper dive into the core x-seriesTheir high-end desktop processors where we'll cover the key options available and what they might be most useful forOkay, so first a little context Intel's X 299 platform is divided up into two major architecturesKaby lake X andSkylake x Kabylake X is essentially their consumer7000-series chips with more heavy duty tracesSlightly higher clock speeds and the higher power consumption that goes with it as a result it differs significantlyfrom other CPUs that fit into the LGA 2066 socketIntel intends them as entry-level chips for folks who want to get into an h EDT or high end desktopMotherboard and then upgrade later, but so far they've been most successful in competitive overclockingEspecially in light of the six core options that are available on the Z 370 consumer side of things nowSkylake acts on the other hand is where the meet set herewe've got two classes of processors core i7 and core I 9All of them have unlocked multipliers for overclockingIntel hyper-threading technologyquad channel ddr4 memory support for avx2 and avx-512x86 extensionsandThey share skylake X's new cache set up of 1 Meg of level 2 cache per core matched with a shared level 3 cacheThat's much smaller than previous generationsbut in practice proves more efficient in most scenariosWhere they differ is in the core count?Which increments by 2 for each step up the product stack the number of PCI Express LanesWhich is lower on core i7 models and the implementation of turbo boost max?3.0so CPUs with 8 cores or more get 2 max boost cores while the7800X gets zero turbo boost max course now we won't be doing a deep dive onEvery skew just the top tier core i9 7980XE to show what the platform is capable of inmulti-threaded and virtualized workloads the core i9 7900X the jack-of-all-trades andThe core i7 7820X, which we believe should be the entry level CPU for most buyersOn this platform, let's start with that last one it has 28 PCI Express Lanesso that's enough for a full speed graphics card a couple of nvme SSDs andSome high-speed networking, so it's about right for an entry-level workstationWhich is great because that's where this chips performance shines it actually has the highestbase frequency in the entire skylake X lineupit shares the highest boost frequency with the7900 X and it also shares the highest 2 core turbo boost max 3.0 frequency at4.5. Gigahertz making it a great fit for a workstation that isn't always used for workmoving into corei9 territory we leave behind the 28 PCIe lanes and step up to44 where we get perhaps the most interesting CPU in the x299 line up the 10 core core I97900 X when this guy launched we reviewed it quite favorablyThanks to its major performance improvements over its predecessor the core i7 6900Kand even the 6950 XNow to be clear not everyone is going to see a performance improvement versus the 7820xBut if you want to have full unbottlenecked access to many connected PCI Express devices be theynetworking storagevideo capture or expensive accelerator cards this is where you want to be andYou get another 2 cores for workloads that can take advantage of them as well the rest of the corei9 lineup is what I would describe as tweeners that is they are in between the7900X 2 cores per step and the highest end cpu intel has ever released on a desktop platform the$2000.00 18 core core i9 7980XEThis thing is an absolute beast and it shows in both its performance numbersAnd its power draw it blitz through our testing suite pulling off similar per thread performancenumbers to its fewer core brethren and even beating out our22 core xeon E52699 v4 andIt managed to pull500 to 600 watts on its own when overclocked it doesn't win any bang for the buck gaming awardsBut for those that need this kind of performance be they video editors3D animators using fluid simulation or anyone who's doing high-end computational work that can't be offloaded onto a GPUWell it could be that for youRaw performance is all that matters because time is money and a cpu that outputs faster can pay for itself pretty quicklySkylake X represents a healthy improvement upon the previous generationAnd it's a solid choice when it comes to both per thread and multi-threaded performance nowwe just hope that Intel's plan for a more dynamic and risky future brings us even more performance next year andthe year after thatBecause we're insatiable like thatSo thanks for watching guys if you dislike this video you can hit that buttonbut if you liked it hit like get subscribed maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featured at the link in thevideo descriptionAlso down there. 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