Coffee Lake Thread

[SteelCrysis]

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/2742...om-core-i7

But by positioning the Core i9-9900K at the top of its own stack in an eight-core / 16-thread configuration, Intel is basically daring AMD to try and bring Ryzen CPUs with higher core counts to the desktop as well. It’s not clear if such chips would fit into AMD’s existing socket infrastructure or not (Threadripper motherboards are typically more expensive than your standard AM4 products). There’s unquestionably room in AMD’s product line for a higher core count chip — the eight-core 1900X is $329, while the 12-core Threadripper 1920X is $785. But taking on Intel’s eight-core means AMD either needs a 10-core chip that can drop into that $450 price range or it needs a hell of a price cut on a 12-core chip.

And this raises another question: Which company currently has more long-term headroom? Unofficial rumors suggest Zen 2 will target a 10-15 percent IPC uplift, but AMD is still trying to close the gap with Intel overall, not surpass it. With Intel stuck on 14nm the momentum advantage is very much on AMD’s side of the equation, but given the fundamental problems with improving silicon performance, it isn’t clear how much daylight the two companies can create between each other, in the final analysis. We’re going to need to see someone jockeying with Intel for the pole position before we can tell to what extent Intel’s silicon scaling problems are unique to Intel or common to the entire industry. Right now, we think those problems tend to be common to the industry and a function of clock speeds and material properties. Based on how the next 18 months plays out, that could change.