With Coffee Lake processors like the Intel Core i7-8700K, Intel had to up the core count on its mainstream processors.The Intel Core i7-8700K is easily the best processor in the Coffee Lake lineup, with 6-cores, 12-threads and higher core clocks than any of the AMD Ryzen chips. Its gaming performance is high end. Find details on Intel i7 8700K review, specs and price 2020.
Compare intel i7-8700K vs 9700K specs review
| Product Collection | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700K | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700 | 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-8700K |
| Processor Number | i7-9700K | i7-9700 | i7-8700K |
| Launch Date | Q4’18 | Q2’19 | Q4’17 |
| Lithography | 14 nm | 14 nm | 14 nm |
| Included Items | Please note: The boxed product does not include a fan or heat sink | Please note: The boxed product does not include a fan or heat sink | |
| Use Conditions | PC/Client/Tablet | PC/Client/Tablet | |
| Recommended Customer Price | $374.00 – $385.00 | $323.00 – $335.00 | $359.00 – $370.00 |
Performance Intel i7 8700K
| 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700K | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700 | 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-8700K | |
| # of Cores | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| # of Threads | 8 | 8 | 12 |
| Processor Base Frequency | 3.60 GHz | 3.00 GHz | 3.70 GHz |
| Max Turbo Frequency | 4.90 GHz | 4.70 GHz | 4.70 GHz |
| Cache | 12 MB Intel® Smart Cache | 12 MB Intel® Smart Cache | 12 MB Intel® Smart Cache |
| Bus Speed | 8 GT/s | 8 GT/s | 8 GT/s |
| TDP | 95 W | 65 W | 95 W |
Intel i7 8700K memory specifications review
| 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700K | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700 | 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-8700K | |
| Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type) | 128 GB | 128 GB | 128 GB |
| Memory Types | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 | DDR4-2666 |
| Max # of Memory Channels | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Max Memory Bandwidth | 41.6 GB/s | 41.6 GB/s | 41.6 GB/s |
| ECC Memory Supported ‡ | No | No | No |
Processor Graphics Intel i7 8700K
| 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700K | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700 | 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-8700K | |
| Processor Graphics ‡ | Intel® UHD Graphics 630 | Intel® UHD Graphics 630 | Intel® UHD Graphics 630 |
| Graphics Base Frequency | 350 MHz | 350 MHz | 350 MHz |
| Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency | 1.20 GHz | 1.20 GHz | 1.20 GHz |
| Graphics Video Max Memory | 64 GB | 64 GB | 64 GB |
| 4K Support | Yes, at 60Hz | Yes, at 60Hz | Yes, at 60Hz |
| Max Resolution (HDMI 1.4)‡ | 4096×2304@24Hz | 4096×2304@24Hz | 4096×2304@24Hz |
| Max Resolution (DP)‡ | 4096×2304@60Hz | 4096×2304@60Hz | 4096×2304@60Hz |
| Max Resolution (eDP – Integrated Flat Panel)‡ | 4096×2304@60Hz | 4096×2304@60Hz | 4096×2304@60Hz |
| DirectX* Support | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| OpenGL* Support | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Intel® Quick Sync Video | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® InTru™ 3D Technology | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Clear Video HD Technology | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Clear Video Technology | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| # of Displays Supported ‡ | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Device ID | 0x3E98 | 0x3E98 | 0x3E92 |
Expansion Options Intel i7 8700K
| 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700K | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700 | 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-8700K | |
| Scalability | 1S Only | 1S Only | 1S Only |
| PCI Express Revision | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| PCI Express Configurations ‡ | Up to 1×16, 2×8, 1×8+2×4 | Up to 1×16, 2×8, 1×8+2×4 | Up to 1×16, 2×8, 1×8+2×4 |
| Max # of PCI Express Lanes | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Package Specifications Intel i7 8700K
| 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700K | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700 | 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-8700K | |
| Sockets Supported | FCLGA1151 | FCLGA1151 | FCLGA1151 |
| Max CPU Configuration | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Thermal Solution Specification | PCG 2015D | PCG 2015C (65W) | PCG 2015D (130W) |
| TJUNCTION | 100°C | 100°C | 100°C |
| Package Size | 37.5mm x 37.5mm | 37.5mm x 37.5mm | 37.5mm x 37.5mm |
Advanced Technologies Intel i7 8700K
| 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700K | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700 | 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-8700K | |
| Intel® Optane™ Memory Supported ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Turbo Boost Technology ‡ | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Intel® vPro™ Platform Eligibility ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology ‡ | No | No | Yes |
| Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT) ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Transactional Synchronization Extensions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® 64 ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Instruction Set | 64-bit | 64-bit | 64-bit |
| Instruction Set Extensions | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 | Intel® SSE4.1, Intel® SSE4.2, Intel® AVX2 |
| Idle States | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® Technology | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Thermal Monitoring Technologies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Identity Protection Technology ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Stable Image Platform Program (SIPP) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Security & Reliability Intel i7 8700K
| 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700K | 9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-9700 | 8th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Processors i7-8700K | |
| Intel® AES New Instructions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Secure Key | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Software Guard Extensions (Intel® SGX) | Yes with Intel® ME | Yes with Intel® ME | Yes with Intel® ME |
| Intel® Memory Protection Extensions (Intel® MPX) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® OS Guard | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Trusted Execution Technology ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Execute Disable Bit ‡ | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Intel® Boot Guard | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Intel i7 8700K review and features
The Core i7-8700K brings Intel’s multi-core performance up to and well above the high benchmark Ryzen has set this year. This chip soundly overtook AMD’s competing Ryzen 7 1700X in Geekbench 4, with a score several thousands of points higher – by extension, this makes the previous-generation Intel Core i7-7700K’s multi-core numbers look like a joke.
What’s even more impressive is Intel’s latest part beat the pants off its predecessor in all our single-core tests, too. All of this processing power also ends up helping the 8700K convert video as fast as some of the industry’s most overpowered CPUs, like the Intel Core i9-7980XE and AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X – though these aforementioned chips will still win any hyper-threading race through sheer brute force.
When it comes to gaming, in our testing, there’s not going to be a huge improvement over last generation. Compared to last year’s Core i7-7700K, the shiny new hexa-core CPU increased frame rates across the board, with the greatest improvements seen in titles running at Full HD and Ultra quality settings.
Features and chipset
Intel worked some black magic to squeeze 18 cores into the tiny Intel Core i9-7980 XE, and some of that witchcraft has found its way into the Intel Core i7-8700K. Rather than packing in two more cores than we ever saw on Kaby Lake, the processor package hasn’t grown by a single millimeter.
While that’s impressive, it’s also slightly annoying that this new generation of CPUs still demands us to buy into a whole new motherboard.
However, the Z370 isn’t actually much of an improvement over last-gen’s Z270 chipset. It still only supports dual-channel memory and, out of the 40 available PCIe lanes, only 16 are directly connected to the processor. The other 24 PCIe lanes share a single DMI 3.0 connection to the processor – which means you can only squeeze out the full potential of two GPUs – or one graphics card and two M.2 NVMe SSDs.
Thankfully, Z370 does have a silver lining of adding official support for DDR4 2,666MHz memory – up from the 2,400MHz frequency seen on Z270 – and improved power delivery for some of the greatest overclocking we’ve seen on a mainstream processor.
Overclocking and heat
Obviously, with a core count increase comes the inevitable rise in power consumption. However, we weren’t expecting the Intel Core i7-8700K to be twice as power hungry as its Kaby Lake predecessors. Still, at idle, the 6-core chip sips electricity at an average of five wats, way less than the 12 watts the AMD Ryzen 1700X gulps, so Intel hasn’t completely abandoned energy efficiency.
On the flipside, the 8700K is more than happy to soak up extra current and push itself beyond its rated maximum 4.7GHz frequency.
We easily achieved a 5.0GHz frequency across all the cores just by giving the processor an extra 0.02 volts of juice, and only saw the maximum temperature jump to 85-degrees Celsius and 152.84 watts of power consumption. Another extra dab of juice allowed us to further clock up the Intel Core i7-8700K to 5.1GHz across all cores without significantly detrimental effects.
Pushing the six-cores to 5.2GHz unfortunately proved to be too unstable to even get Windows 10 to load properly. While this might seem disappointingly short from the 8700K’s maximum speed of 4.7GHz, we’re impressed with how little extra heat and power demands overclocking created.
At the end of the day, the Intel Core i7-8700K stays relatively cool, maxing out at just 76 degrees, while operating normally and comfortably under a Thermaltake triple radiator as its cooling blanket. The only time it got a bit hot under the covers was when we overclocked the processor to that 5.1GHz mark, where it reached a peak temperature of 87 degrees.
Intel i7 8700K test performance review
CPU Mark Relative to Top 10 Common Desktop CPUs
CPU Value (CPU Mark / $Price )
Last 5 Baselines for Intel Core i7-8700K @ 3.70GHz
| Baseline | CPU Mark |
|---|---|
| BL1231976 – May 03 2020 | 13832 |
| BL1231973 – May 03 2020 | 13856 |
| BL1231863 – May 03 2020 | 13541 |
| BL1231839 – May 03 2020 | 15740 |
| BL1231831 – May 03 2020 | 14190 |
Popular comparisons for Intel Core i7-8700K @ 3.70GHz