Intel Announces X299, Skylake-X, and Kaby Lake-X Release Schedule: Pre-Orders June 19th, Availability June 26th

At Computex a couple of weeks ago, Intel announced its new Basin Falls platform, consisting of the X299 chipset with motherboards based on it, a pair of Kaby Lake-X processors, and a set of Skylake-X processors going all the way up to eighteen cores, denoting the first use of Intel’s enterprise level high core-count silicon in a consumer product. For the most part, we had assumed that the news was just that, and following traditional Intel strategy they would not officially give a launch date until the reviews go live sometime later. So imagine our surprise when Intel starts announcing dates at the E3 show this week.

As part of Intel’s E3 press release, as well as their presentations at the show, the new Core i9 processors were discussed, along with Intel’s continued commitment towards eSports. Intel gave the dates for the new platform as the following:

• 4, 6, 8 and 10-core parts available for pre-order from June 19^th
• 4, 6, 8 and 10-core parts shipping to consumers from June 26^th
• 12-core parts expected to ship in August
• 14, 16 and 18 core parts expected to ship in October

This means that the following five processors will be available from June 26th:

The two quad-core parts are part of the Kaby Lake-X family, essentially using the mainstream Kaby Lake-S silicon but disabling the integrated graphics and expanding the voltage/frequency window and TDP limit to give extra frequency. As already demonstrated, extreme overclockers have hit over 7.5 GHz on these chips at a special Computex Intel event using Liquid Helium, with positive words coming out about 24/7 overclocking capabilities on air and water.

The other three parts are the Skylake-X family, with the 6, 8 and 10-core variants all coming from the same harvested low-core-count die. The big upswing for these processors is the rearranged cache arrangement, with Intel moving from 256KB of L2 cache on the previous generation to 1MB of L2 cache on Skylake-X (and changing the L3 cache from being a fully inclusive cache to being a non-inclusive cache). This significantly enhances software which is L2 cache size sensitive, although it remains to be seen how much of an effect it will have for consumers.

For the other parts, 12 core and up, Intel is staggering their launch to the extent that we do not even know many of the details. Intel’s own documents list them all as TBD for frequency, power and DRAM support – the only certainties are core counts, pricing, and the fact that they will use the same socket as the above five processors. The August shipping date for the 12-core will be interesting, given that Dell has announced that pre-orders for its ThreadRipper Alienware desktops start on July 27th. The same announcement from Dell states ‘and the Area 51 featuring Intel Core X-Series will arrive on August 22nd, and the product page states that this includes the 12-core option, as well as 6-10 cores. Whether the wording ‘arrive’ means pre-order or release we do not know, although the TR version explicitly states ‘pre-order’. Ryan points out that this could just mean the 6-10 core options, as it doesn’t explicitly state the 12 core and Intel hasn’t made a firm date themselves yet.

Further Reading

• Intel Announces Basin Falls: The New High-End Desktop Platform and X299 Chipset
• Intel Announces Kaby Lake-X Processors
• Intel Announces Skylake-X: Bringing 18-Core HCC Silicon to Consumers for $1999

Intel’s Credit-Card Sized Compute Card Detailed, Shipping in August

Intel unveiled its credit card-sized Compute Card at CES earlier this year, and now at Computex, the company has brought us up to speed on the available SKUs and the release date.

The Compute Card comes packed with the full functionality of a standard computer, including an SoC, connectivity, storage, and memory in one slim device. The device slots into a range of devices from laptops, tablets, and AIOs to interactive refrigerators and IoT gateways. The devices can be ejected and replaced, thus decoupling compute from the device and allowing for easy upgrades as the card evolves into more powerful variants. That could also make for interesting new laptop platforms with longer shelf lives.

The Compute Card family offers processors that span from Core to Celeron and come in four SKUs. Each respective product has varying compute, storage, and connectivity options, though the processor serves as the only differentiation between the two high-end options. Aside from listing the processors, Intel hasn’t given us an indication of performance.

Intel has signed on a bevy of partners to develop new products that leverage the device, including Contec, ECS, Foxconn, LG Display, MoBits Electronics, NexDock, Sharp, Seneca, SMART Technologies, Suzhou Lehui Display, and TabletKiosk. Many of these partners will have products on display at Computex 2017. Dell, HP, and Lenovo are also working on new products, but have yet to reveal any of the end devices.

Intel also released its Compute Card Device Design Kit, which is a set of guides and reference designs that simplify and speed up the product development process.

In many ways Intel’s Compute Card signifies the company’s continued push for product diversification as it delves into IoT, automated driving, and other lucrative climes. In this case, its efforts also further its objectives in the mobility space, as we can expect new laptops and AIOs to come to market with the new cards installed. The Compute Card will begin shipping in August 2017, but Intel hasn’t revealed pricing info.

Paul Alcorn contributed to this report