Intel Processors Release Date, News & Update: Kaby Lake-X, Skylake-X Keep Up With AMD Ryzen Popularity By Releasing ASAP

by Guenee Simmons / May 01, 2017 02:43 AM EDT

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Intel Kaby Lake-X and Skylake-X are expected to have an early launch, including the 8th gen Core. The two high-end Intel processors and the "Coffee Lake" are also reported to compete against AMD Ryzen.

Intel Processors Are Launching Early To Keep Up With The Pressure After Ryzen 5 Release

According to reports, the Intel Kaby Lake-X and Skylake-X will be launched in May, while its 8th Generation Core series processor, the "Coffee Lake" is expected to have an August launch. There are speculations that Intel faces the pressure following the launch of Ryzen 5 processors, which suggests keeping up by launching its own processors as early as possible. That said, the company will have to launch the high-end desktop processors in May and the Coffee Lake in August instead of January.

Intel Kaby Lake-X and Skylake-X are both based on the Basin Falls platform that is supposed to have the codename X299 chipset.Based on reports, the Kaby Lake-X features are not confirmed yet, although reports claim that it will have four-core CPU with integrated graphics that can run on X299 platform. On the other hand, the Intel Skylake-X is believed to be a regular CPU update that is rumored to be available in three different cores like 6, 8 and 10, Segment Next reported.

Intel's New Chips Are Expected To Have Lower Margins

The pricing power of Intel would be limited due to the lack of hyper threading capabilities. According to reports, the new hexa-core SKUs will around a mid-range quad core SKU when it comes to performance, which means Intel may be prompted to offer the Coffee Lake at $250-300. Incidentally, Intel will have a chip that has 5 to 15 percent more costs, yet would sell for around the same price as a quad core chip.

That said, the Intel Coffee Lake series may result to a contradiction of margins. Given that Intel has more than 100 SKUs being produced right now, some few low-margin Coffee Lake chips are expected not to have any impact on the chipzilla's general profitability, Seeking Alpha reported.