The Seventh Generation Intel Processors

The Intel Seventh Generation Processors (also known as Kaby Lake) are the successors to the Sky Lake. Intel claims that they have been produced using a 14 nanometer manufacturing process. They provide up to 12% increased productivity and up to 19% increased web performance over the Sky Lake. They have some promising features but the increase in the processing speed is hardly noticeable if you are already using a Sky Lake.

Features:

4k video: The 7^th gen processors’s upgraded graphic chip is capable of encoding and decoding in HEVC format (High Efficiency Video Coding- the codec designed for 4k video). This enables the user to stream 4k videos in HEVC format. It also supports VP9 decoding. The video battery life has been increased by 1.75 times and it supports additional formats of 4k 360 content streams.

Performance: As mentioned earlier, there is only a slight improvement in the performance of Kaby Lake. However, the improvements in the 3D graphics are noticeable. The Kaby Lake U series introduced the Intel Iris Plus Graphics which promise a 65% improvement in 3D graphics.

Efficiency: The ultra-low power Kaby or the Y-series chips supposedly have a TDP (Thermal design power) of just 4.5 Watts which is 10 times more efficient than the first generation chips. Unfortunately, they provide much less performance compared to their U-series counterparts.

Intel Optane: Intel Optane is a new technology which works with the Kaby Lake. It can be used as an SSD (Solid State Drive) or a RAM. It has low latency, that is, the delay between an i/o request and the drive acting is reduced. Intel Optane provides a large capacity for storage and makes everything work faster.

Actually, for a PC, both the Sky Lake and Kaby Lake use the same LGA 1151 socket so you can swap your 6^th gen processors with the 7^th gen but you will miss out some of the new features. If you are a serious gamer you could consider using the Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 which has been announced for all Kaby Lake models. If you already have a Sky Lake processor there is not much reason to upgrade to Kaby Lake. If you have an older 4^th or 5^th generation you would want to purchase Kaby Lake as the difference in performance and efficiency widens.