Intel Claims New Kaby Lake CPU Has Enough Integrated Graphics Power For Gaming

The newest generation of Intel's central processing unit microarchitecture, the Kaby Lake, has finally been announced with the company itself claiming that these newest 14 nanometer transistors have enough power to fulfill the needs of gamers enough to forego more expensive graphics cards.

Though the Skylake series of 14nm processor microarchitecture is still barely a year old, Intel has already officially announced its successor series in the new Kaby Lake. Though the microarchitecture is similar to its Skylake predecessor in that it runs on 14nm transistors, Intel is boasting that the new processing units running with the Kaby Lake can actually pretty much sustain running recently released video games by themselves.

Gamestop reported that Intel has actually done so much improvements within the Kaby Lake's core that though they run on the same 14nm production process as the Skylake, they are much more powerful at the silicon level to the point that they might as well be "14nm plus."

With this added power, Intel is advertising the Kaby Lake as the microarchitecture that will finally make it possible to play more video games on laptops or notebooks without sacrificing too much in terms of performance or graphical quality. "Users can play their favorite PC games on the go in HD with fluid, texture-rich graphics," Intel told reporters.

As evidence of the line's power, Intel showed reporters a Dell notebook that ran on a dual-core Kaby Lake CPU in conjunction with the company's integrated HD Graphics 620. The notebook was then used to play Blizzards' hit new multiplayer team first person shooter "Overwatch," and the game allegedly ran at an average of the basic 30 frames per second at 720p resolution and medium settings. As a note of comparison, the system requirements for the game on the official website state the minimum requirement for processors must be around Intel's i3 or AMD's X3 8650. The graphics minimum requirement state either a GTX 460, Radeon HD 4850, or Intel's own HD 4400.

Though the actual veracity of Intel's claim is debatable considering that "Overwatch" is not actually that graphically intensive in addition to being optimized for a wide range of machines setups, the fact is that the new Kaby Lake will at least provide a wider selection for those looking to game on the go. Instead of being stuck with either buying one of the ridiculously expensive present selections out there or bust, Intel's Kaby Lake could give a much better bang for the buck for those with a budget.