Intel introducere X299, Kabylake-X & Skylake-X

X299 Platform    

The new X299 chipset will support DMI 3.0, which is a welcome upgrade from the DMI 2.0 interface X99 used. It will also get 30 high-speed IO lanes that can be used as PCI-E/USB 3.0/SATA6Gb/s. The platform will support up to eight SATA6Gb/s ports, up to 10 USB 3.0 ports, and up to 24 PCI-E 3.0 ports finally putting it above the Z270 chipset in terms of IO capability. It will still support a maximum of three NVMe x4 PCI-E drives in RAID, just like the Z170 and Z270 chipsets.      

Intel is also introducing a new Intel AIO cooler. It should be competitive with other single radiator AIOs from the major brands in the industry, but will have the fancy Intel logo and blue lit fan. The Intel Thermal Solution TS13X should cost between $85 and $100. It will support LGA2011 (and LGA2066), LGA1366, and LGA 115X.    

While Intel will initially release the Core i9-7900X along with its X299 platform, the monster Core i9-7980XE, which features 18 cores and 36 threads won't be available until later down the road. Intel's pricing looks to be extremely competitive with the Kabylake-X processors costing $242 (4C/4T) and $339 (4C/8T) respectively. The six core i7-7800X looks to be the sweet spot at $389 and 6C/12T. Competition is good for everyone, and Intel's X299 offerings look to be very competitively priced.   

We look forward to testing out its performance in the coming weeks!