05-29-2020, 07:50 AM
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/mythic...the-camera
Quote:Legend has it that Intel prepared the Core i5-7660X three years ago, but never officially released the processor. A Chinese Twitter user recently obtained a working sample of the forgotten child from the Skylake-X family.
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At the end of the day, the Core i5-7660X is essentially a Core i7-7800X with higher clock speeds but without Hyper-Threading. It's rated with the same 140W TDP (thermal design power), but by disabling Hyper-Threading, Intel could jack the Core i5-7660X's boost clock through the roof.
As a matter of fact, the Core i5-7660X could have been a product of Intel recycling subpar silicon that didn't meet the standards for a Core i7-7800X. This would certainly explain the close similarity between the two HEDT processors.
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It remains a mystery why Intel never released the Core i5-7660X to the public. Probably Intel was concerned with either lack of interest, or it wanted to keep HEDT as a platform for Core i7 and above (never mind the short-lived i5-7640X). Word on the street is that some i5-7660X samples actually made it to the hands of a few selected overclockers.