Intel Core i7-8700K Benchmarks With MSI Z370 KRAIT Gaming Motherboard Leaked – Overclocking Detailed, Still Features TIM Instead of Solder

Hassan Mujtaba

A new set of benchmarks for Intel's upcoming Core i7-8700K flagship Coffee Lake CPU have leaked out. The latest benchmarks evaluate the CPU in various single and multi-threaded tasks. There are also some new details regarding overclocking which shows that the chip can support more than a 5 GHz clock speed.

Intel Core i7-8700K Latest Benchmarks Leak Out - Shows The Flagship Chip Knocking Out Other 6 Core Chips and Even Coming Close To 8 Core Processors

The Intel Core i7-8700K is the flagship processor of the Coffee Lake desktop family which launches early next month. The processor will be the first mainstream product from Intel to boast 6 cores in a single package. Although Intel hasn't made any significant architectural changes in Coffee Lake, the updated process design will deliver increased performance output and efficiency through clock rate and core count bump. Following are the specifications for the Intel Core i7-8700K CPU.

Related Story ZOTAC Unleashes AI-Powered ZBOX Mini PCs: Intel Core Ultra & AMD Ryzen Options In Compact & Fanless Designs

Intel Core i7-8700K – The Coffee Lake Flagship With 6 Cores and 4.3 GHz Boost Across All Cores

The Intel Core i7-8700K will be the flagship processor of the lineup. It will feature 6 cores and 12 threads. The chip will be compatible with the LGA 1151 socket and rumors are that board makers will extend support of Coffee Lake onto 200-series and even 100-series platforms. The chip will be Intel’s first hexa core product and will be based on the 14nm process node.

In terms of clock speeds, we are looking at a 3.7 GHz base frequency which boosts up to 4.3 GHz (6 core), 4.4 GHz (4 core), 4.5 GHz (2 core) and 4.7 GHz (1 core). These clocks are really impressive so we can expect much faster gaming performance on Coffee Lake parts rather than the current generation of CPUs. The chip is fully unlocked allowing for overclocking and comes with a TDP of 95W. There’s 12 MB of L3 cache on board along with a GT2 tier iGPU. The chip supports DDR4-2666 MHz memory (native) and up to 4400 MHz+ (OC). We can expect the Core i7-8700K to cost around $349 US when it launches in Q3 2017.

Intel Coffee Lake 8th Gen Desktop Core Lineup:

CPU NameIntel Core i3-8100Intel Core i3-8350KIntel Core i5-8400Intel Core i5-8600KIntel Core i7-8700Intel Core i7-8700KIntel Core i7-8086K
CPU FamilyCoffee Lake-SCoffee Lake-SCoffee Lake-SCoffee Lake-SCoffee Lake-SCoffee Lake-SCoffee Lake-S
CPU Process14nm14nm14nm14nm14nm14nm14nm
CPU Cores4466666
CPU Threads4466121212
Base Clock3.60 GHz4.00 GHz2.80 GHz3.60 GHz 3.20 GHz3.70 GHz4.00 GHz
Boost Clock (Max)N/AN/A4.00 GHz4.30 GHz4.60 GHz4.70 GHz5.00 GHz
Boost Clock (6 Core)N/AN/A3.50 GHz4.40 GHz4.20 GHz4.30 GHz4.30 GHz
L2 Cache1 MB (256 KB per Core)1 MB (256 KB per Core)1.5 MB (256 KB per Core)1.5 MB (256 KB per Core)1.5 MB (256 KB per Core)1.5 MB (256 KB per Core)1.5 MB (256 KB per Core)
L3 Cache6 MB6 MB9 MB9 MB12 MB12 MB12 MB
Overclocking SupportNoYesNoYesNoYesYes
Socket SupportLGA 1151LGA 1151LGA 1151LGA 1151LGA 1151LGA 1151LGA 1151
PCH300-Series300-Series300-Series300-Series300-Series300-Series300-Series
TDP65W91W65W95W65W95W95W
Price$117 US$168 US$182 US$257 US$303 US$359 US$429 US

Finally coming over to the benchmarks, we have first of all the CPU-Z test. Here, the chip is being compared to the Intel Core i7-7700K. In the single threaded test, the 8700K scores 525.4 points while the 7700K scores 492 points. In the multi-threaded test, the 8700K scores 3832.6 points compared to 2648 points on the 7700K. In the Fritz Chess benchmark, the single thread score is reported at 3513 kilonodes while the multi-threaded score is reported at 24537 kilonodes. The Cinebench R15 score for the Intel Core i7-8700K is 1402 points with all cores and an OpenGL score is reported at 144.33 FPS.

intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_cpuz-test
intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_fritz-chess-single-coe
intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_fritz-chess-multi-core
intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_timespy
intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_firestrike
intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_firestrike-ultra
intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_firestrike-extreme
intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_cinebench-r15
intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-benchmarks_1

We also have some 3DMark scores for comparison. In Time Spy, the chip reports a CPU score of 7686 points, while Fire Strike tests report a physics score averaging around 19250 points. There's also AIDA64 memory benchmark test which can be seen below.

One thing to note is that all of the testing was done at stock clocks of the chip. It was tested on a MSI Z370 KRAIT Gaming motherboard which was detailed in this post. The platform featured 16 GBs of DD4 memory clocked at the native speeds of 2666 MHz.

Intel Core i7-8700K CPU Benchmarks:

Benchmark NameAMD Ryzen 5 1600XAMD Ryzen 7 1800XIntel Core i7-7700KIntel Core i7-8700K
CPU-z Single CoreN/AN/A492525.4
CPU-z Multi-CoreN/AN/A26483832.6
Fritz Chess One CoreN/A~2500~35003513
Fritz Chess Multi CoreN/A~20500~1750024537
Cinebench R15 Multi~1130~1600~10501402
3DMark Time Spy~5800~7900~55007686
3DMark Firestrike~15300~18400~1450019250

Intel Core i7-8700K 5.3 GHz and Intel Core i3-8350K 5.0 GHz Overclock Possible On Good AIO Coolers

Now when it comes to overclocking, there are kind of mixed reports. One Chinese source has said that 5.3 GHz on the Core i7-8700K and 5.0 GHz on the Core i3-8350K are possible with simple core tuning but you would require a good AIO cooler or high-end air coolers to keep these chips cooler under load.

intel-core-i7-8700k-5-3-ghz-oc
intel-core-i3-8350k-5-0-ghz-oc

Expreview points out that the chips will have really low voltage which means that overclockability will be generally higher but as soon as the chips start going beyond 5.0 GHz, there's an overheating issue. The reason cited is use of TIM (Thermal Interface Material) instead of solder. Now Intel has been using TIM on their chips for several generations but it remains to be seen just how far these chips can be pushed on standard air and liquid coolers at full load before heat becomes an issue. Expect more details on the Coffee Lake chips in the coming weeks.

Share this story

Deal of the Day

Comments