Budget motherboards coffee lake fresh material. (updated). Why you shouldn't buy Intel's eighth-generation Coffee Lake processors just yet Design and layout

Along the way, serious questions arose regarding the reasons for the incompatibility of Coffee Lake with earlier platforms. Intel claims that the need for new boards is caused by the increased demands of processors with an increased number of cores on power supply circuits. However, motherboard manufacturers deny this and claim that the incompatibility is completely artificial. Moreover, there are even examples of successful launch of new processors on old motherboards. Because of this, Coffee Lake's reputation was somewhat tarnished from the very beginning.

In addition to the intensive development of the basic desktop platform, which, in the absence of obvious progress in the implementation of new technological processes and without introducing any microarchitectural improvements, was updated twice last year, Intel also brought to the market a new premium platform LGA2066, which belongs to the HEDT class. As before, the processors for it were designed according to server patterns, but in the new Skylake-X design, when transferring server developments to the desktop platform, the company went much further than usual.

Importantly, AMD will continue to support 1st and 2nd generation Ryzen on all socket AM4 motherboards.

This year, Intel will strongly develop the Coffee Lake line, expanding the range of processors, as well as offering new chipsets with improved functionality. But as for the next generation of CPUs, if you believe the slides with the manufacturer’s plans that have leaked online, the release of desktop 10-nanometer chips for LGA1151 is not expected in the near future. The transition to a new technological process is accompanied by serious difficulties, especially when it comes to the manufacture of complex crystals. This is not the first time the release of 10nm chips has been postponed, although, as we see with Coffee Lake, the potential of the improved 14nm process technology has not yet been exhausted.

Now the combination of cheap motherboards and microprocessors should push many to change platforms. Moreover, the reputation of Intel products was affected by the discovery of serious hardware vulnerabilities that existed for more than twenty years. A comparison of chip prices and specs shows that the Ryzen family offers consumers more threads and processing cores at a lower price. For example, the Ryzen 7 1800X with 8 computing cores, having fallen in price by one hundred dollars, became one third cheaper than its counterpart from the Intel Core i7-8700K.

To cool the transistors of the 11-phase power supply system of the CPU connector, two radiators and a heat pipe are used here. On the sides of the TR4 socket there are four slots for DDR4 RAM, two Ultra M.2 (32 Gbps) and a single U.2. Below you can see three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, another Ultra M.2 and eight SATA 6 Gb/s. Wi-Fi antenna sockets on the rear panel indicate that the X399M Taichi has a corresponding network adapter. In addition, the I/O panel has two RJ-45 ports, eight USB 3.0, single USB 3.1 Type-A and USB 3.1 Type-C.

It is quite obvious that the announced changes in the prices of AMD products are largely related to the launch of the Coffee Lake processor family, in which Intel began to offer six-core chips as mass models for the first time in its history. This happened partly under pressure from AMD, so now the “reds” themselves are forced to respond to the decisive steps of their competitor.

The chosen strategy gave very good results. In addition, what about return Both experts and ordinary users began to talk seriously about AMD entering the desktop systems market, and the company was able to gradually begin to win back market share. According to the latest published analytical data, AMD is now controls approximately 13 percent of the desktop processor market, which is two and a half to three percent more than a year ago. If we translate these figures into absolute numbers, then we can say that over the past year AMD was able to increase sales compared to 2016 by about one and a half million processors. It should be emphasized that in the upper price segment, where Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 are fighting against processors of the Core i7 and Core i5 series, AMD’s current share is even larger and exceeds 15 percent.

However, over time the situation should change. In theory Coffee Lake really look very tempting, and as soon as the problems with the availability of processors and motherboards are resolved, buyers will certainly appreciate such an interesting offer in terms of price and performance. Apparently, this will happen sometime in March. At least, it was for this period that the release of Coffee Lake and the accompanying platform was originally planned.

The delivery also includes a G-Connector adapter, which allows you to assemble all the necessary connectors for buttons/indicators, connecting them simultaneously to the panel on the board. An additional sticker with the logo of the Ultra Durable line can decorate the case if desired.

Where to buy Intel Coffee Lake motherboard details. Latest information.

In the presented cases, the side wall is entirely made of tempered glass, so the system should be assembled as carefully as possible. It’s interesting, but manufacturers are trying to use the same developments in cheap devices. Only glass and metal in inexpensive cases are replaced by plastic, and this plays a cruel joke on such models. As a rule, the assembled system looks quite clumsy.

Today there are many options for how to build a PC. The system can be created either on the basis of classic Tower cases or using Slim Desktop format devices. You can also assemble a PC in a display case, use an open bench stand, or order a full-fledged table with the ability to install all the hardware in it (remember the Lian Li DK-02 Case). But that is not all. The system unit can be hung on the wall, placed under the TV, or traditionally placed next to the monitor. As you can see, there are a lot of options, and each of them is beautiful in its own way.

The classic option is still to build PCs in tower form factor cases, and it is unlikely that the situation will change in any way in the next few years. It is in tower cases that it is easiest to organize efficient cooling of all system components.

The cheaper the assembly, the more difficult it is to select components for it. Especially at times when there is a shortage of any product or a noticeable increase in prices for a particular product. In August, the cost of RAM increased noticeably. Back in the spring, an 8 GB DDR4-2400 module could be purchased for 4,000 rubles, but now the exact same board is sold for 6.5-7 thousand rubles. The saddest thing is that the rise in prices for RAM will continue in 2018, but now the memory module is 8 GB costs more than the Pentium G4600 processor, for example.

Raven Ridge processors for the desktop segment have not yet been officially announced, and this event should only be expected in the coming spring. However, this does not mean at all that the Socket AM4 platform released this year has not yet received its APUs. You just need to keep in mind that the Bristol Ridge processors currently offered for this role with an integrated GPU, although released quite recently, are based on an outdated design: their computing cores have an Excavator microarchitecture, and their graphics belong to the GCN 1.3 generation (that is, Fury ).

The past year could well be declared the year of central processors. Announcements of fresh products of this kind occurred more frequently in 2017 than ever before. Moreover, we are really talking about the appearance of fundamentally new chips, and not the next cosmetic changes and a slight increase in clock frequencies. As a result, while over the past few years, final articles about the processor market for personal computers had to be literally tortured, with difficulty trying to remember at least something worthy of attention, last year gave so many hot topics that it was simply not clear what to grab onto . Stories poured out like from a cornucopia.

In 2017, a case with a power supply at the top could easily be called a curiosity. In many even the cheapest devices, the seat for installing the breadwinner of the entire PC is located at the bottom. Over the past two years (and especially in 2017), the power supply in cases began to be hidden behind a damper. A hard drive cage is also placed there. Manufacturers do this primarily for aesthetic reasons, because using a curtain allows you to hide unused power supply wires, as well as hard drives. If there is a window on the side wall, the user sees only the main components of the system: the motherboard, video card, fans and CPU cooler. As a result, you can safely install a non-modular power supply in a system with such a case, since a bunch of unused wires will not spoil the whole picture.

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Unfortunately, the junior eight-core Ryzen 7 1700, popular among enthusiasts, has not lost much in value. The new price is set at $299, which is only $30 less than the old price. But for the faster Ryzen 7 1700X, the price was dropped by as much as $90, and now this “intermediate” processor in the Ryzen 7 series is only $10 more expensive than the junior eight-core processor.

How much will a Coffee Lake motherboard cost? Main news today 01/11/2018

AMD decided to use a fail-safe tool to strengthen its market position - it sharply reduced prices. Representatives of the famous chip manufacturer announced this during CES 2018. The entire family of Ryzen microprocessors should become cheaper, as AMD reduces the recommended prices for Ryzen Threadripper, as well as chips of the third, fifth and seventh generations. For some models, prices will drop by almost a third.

You can argue for a long time about what came first: the egg or the chicken, but, in my opinion, it was the dominance of cases with side windows that motivated motherboard and video card manufacturers to release more and more elaborate products. The tactic is simple: I (the manufacturer) would rather save on cooling the VRM area, but I’ll cram in the backlight!

The external interfaces implemented in Bristol Ridge processors are also not encouraging. The DDR4 memory controller they use is very slow, seriously inferior in latency to the controller of Ryzen processors and cannot work with any high-speed DDR4 SDRAM modules. The bus for connecting discrete graphics accelerators in Bristol Ridge is presented only in a stripped down form to PCI Express 3.0 x8.

It's no exaggeration to say that these are golden times for performance enthusiasts. Intel, which claims to hold the crown for making the fastest desktop processors, can now offer Core i9-7980XE and Core i9-7960X CPUs with nearly double the number of cores of any desktop chip released before 2017. AMD, on the other hand, has in its arsenal Threadripper, a processor with similar characteristics, but sold at half the price, which is impressive in itself.

Apparently, AMD initially did not intend to launch Bristol Ridge into open sale at all due to the obvious backwardness of their architecture. Such processors were to be distributed on special orders among OEM partners. But later, the company decided to present to the public a limited range of desktop Bristol Ridge models in order to somehow justify the presence of video outputs on most Socket AM4 boards. Nevertheless, they did not attract any noticeable attention to themselves, which, however, is completely natural.

This year also promises to be interesting. AMD needs to update its Ryzen line. We are not talking about deep architectural changes. First of all, we expect an improvement in the frequency potential of processors and better compatibility with high-speed memory modules. If the chip manufacturer, GlobalFoundries, still manages to transfer the production of AMD chips to the 12-nanometer process technology, then in addition to the frequency reserve, we will also get some reduction in the power consumption of processors. Surely the Ryzen update will stretch over several stages and follow a well-trodden path - from the most productive to the least expensive. If no technological difficulties arise, perhaps Ryzen Threadripper will also receive an upgrade.

ASUS ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming is a gaming motherboard of an unusual mini-ITX format. It is based on the modern Intel Z370 chipset, so it allows you to install eighth generation Intel Core processors

AMD's elegant approach to scaling its solutions, where a single semiconductor die with two quad-core Zen modules can be found in any of its desktop processors, has allowed the company to minimize rejection. Most of the blanks that AMD receives from its manufacturing partner, GlobalFoundries, are somehow used in some kind of processor. For example, partially inoperative crystals can be used in lower-end Ryzen 3, where half the cores and half the cache memory are supposed to be disabled.

Video review of the new Coffee Lake motherboard. Latest details.

Following the announcement of the 8th generation Intel Core processors, codenamed Coffee Lake, all leading motherboard manufacturers announced their solutions based on the Intel Z370 chipsets for the new processors. In this article we will take a look at the inexpensive Asus Prime Z370-A board.

Options and packaging

The Asus Prime Z370-A board comes in a compact-sized box on which all its advantages are eloquently described.

The delivery set is very modest: three SATA cables (all connectors with latches, one cable with an angled connector on one side), a user manual, a DVD with software and drivers, a plug for the rear panel of the board, an SLI bridge for two video cards and a holder for an additional fan (40x40 or 50x50 mm), which can optionally be screwed to the board. The fan itself is not included.

Board configuration and features

A summary table of the characteristics of the Asus Prime Z370-A board is given below, and further in the text we will look at all its features and functionality.

Form factor

The Asus Prime Z370-A board is made in the ATX form factor (305x244 mm); standard nine holes are provided for mounting it into the case.

Chipset and processor socket

The Asus Prime Z370-A is based on the new Intel Z370 chipset and only supports 8th generation Intel Core processors (codenamed Coffee Lake) with LGA1151 socket.

Memory

To install memory modules, the Asus Prime Z370-A board has four DIMM slots. The board supports unbuffered DDR4 memory (non-ECC), and the maximum memory capacity is 64 GB (using 16 GB modules).

Expansion slots, M.2 connectors

For installing video cards, expansion cards and drives, the Asus Prime Z370-A motherboard has three slots with the PCI Express x16 form factor, four PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots and two M.2 connectors.

The first slot is switchable and can operate at x16/x8 speeds, that is, it is a PCI Express 3.0 x16/x8 slot. To switch the operating modes of this slot, four PCIe 3.0 ASMedia ASM1480 line multiplexers/demultiplexers are used.

The second slot with the PCI Express x16 form factor always operates at x8 speed, that is, it is a PCI Express 3.0 x8 slot in the PCI Express x16 form factor.

Accordingly, the operating modes of these two slots can be the following: either x16/—, or x8/x8. If only the first slot is used, then it will operate at x16 speed, but if both slots are used, then they will operate at x8 speed.

The third slot with the PCI Express x16 form factor operates only at x4 speed and is a PCI Express 3.0 x4 slot in the PCI Express x16 form factor. This slot is already implemented on the basis of four PCIe 3.0 chipset lanes.

Note that the board supports Nvidia SLI and AMD CrossFireX technologies and allows the installation of two Nvidia video cards and up to three AMD video cards.

Four PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots are also implemented via the Intel Z370 chipset.

M.2 connectors are designed for installing SSD drives with standard sizes 2242/2260/2280. One connector (M.2_1) supports PCIe 3.0 x4 and SATA devices, and the second (M.2_2) supports only PCIe 3.0 x4 devices. Both M.2 connectors are implemented via the chipset.

Video connectors

Since Coffee Lake processors have an integrated graphics core, there are Display Port 1.2, DVI-D and HDMI 1.4 video outputs on the rear panel of the board to connect a monitor.

SATA ports

To connect storage devices or optical drives, the board has six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, which are implemented on the basis of a controller integrated into the Intel Z370 chipset. These ports support the ability to create RAID arrays of levels 0, 1, 5, 10.

USB connectors

To connect all kinds of peripheral devices, the board provides six USB 3.0 ports, six USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.1 ports.

USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports are implemented via the Intel Z370 chipset. Two USB 2.0 ports and two USB 3.0 ports are located on the rear panel of the board, and to connect four more USB 2.0 ports and four USB 3.0 ports, the board has two USB 2.0 port connectors and two USB 3.0 port connectors (two ports per connector).

Two USB 3.1 ports are implemented on the basis of the ASMedia ASM3142 controller, which connects to the chipset via two PCIe 3.0 lines. These ports are located on the rear panel of the board, with one port having a Type-A connector and the other having a Type-C connector.

Network interface

To connect to the network, the Asus Prime Z370-A board has a gigabit network interface based on the Intel I219-V physical layer controller (used in combination with a MAC-level chipset controller).

How it works

In terms of its capabilities, the Intel Z370 chipset is no different from the Intel Z270 chipset. Actually, the only difference between these chipsets is that they support different families of processors: Intel Z270 - only 6th and 7th generation Intel Core processors, and Intel Z370 - only 8th generation Intel Core processors.

So, let us recall that the Intel Z370 chipset has 30 high-speed input/output ports (HSIO), which can be PCIe 3.0, USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Some ports are strictly fixed, but there are HSIO ports that can be configured as USB 3.0 or PCIe 3.0, SATA or PCIe 3.0. Moreover, in total there can be no more than 10 USB 3.0 ports, no more than 6 SATA ports and no more than 24 PCIe 3.0 ports.

Now let's see how all this is implemented in the Asus Prime Z370-A board.

The chipset on the board includes: a PCI Express 3.0 x4 slot, four PCI Express 3.0 x1 slots, two M.2 connectors, a network controller and an ASMedia ASM3142 controller. All this together requires 19 PCIe 3.0 ports. But here we need to add that there are 6 more SATA ports and 6 USB 3.0 ports, and that’s 12 more HSIO ports. That is, there are 31 HSIO ports in total. It is clear that you cannot do without separation of ports and connectors.

In this case, the M.2_2 connector is shared with two SATA ports. That is, if the M.2_2 connector is used in PCIe 3.0 x4 mode, then two SATA ports (SATA#5 and SATA#6) will be unavailable. If the SATA#5 and SATA#6 ports are used, the M.2_2 connector will only be available in PCIe 3.0 x2 mode. Accordingly, the M.2_2 connector and two SATA ports require a total of only 4 HSIO ports, of which two ports can be configured as SATA or PCIe 3.0. The operating mode of the M.2_2 connector is set in the UEFI BIOS settings.

In addition, the M.2_1 connector is shared with the SATA#1 port via the SATA line. That is, if the M.2 connector is used in SATA mode, then SATA#1 port will be unavailable. If the SATA #1 port is used, the M.2 connector is only available in PCIe mode.

Taking into account the specified division, a total of 29 HSIO ports are required. These are 17 individual PCIe 3.0 ports, 6 USB 3.0 ports and 4 SATA ports. Two more HSIO ports are configured as either two SATA ports or two PCIe 3.0 ports.

The block diagram of the Asus Prime Z370-A board is shown in the figure.

Additional features

There are not many additional features on the Asus Prime Z370-A gaming board, but they are there.

Let's start with the fact that there are two buttons: the power button and the MemOK! button, traditional for Asus boards.

There is a CLRTC jumper for resetting BIOS settings, as well as a CPU_OV jumper for setting high voltage values ​​when overclocking the processor.

Another feature is the implementation of RGB backlighting. On this inexpensive board it is minimal, no frills. On the back of the board, under the 24-pin power connector, there is a row of 8 LEDs. In the UEFI BIOS settings you can only turn off the RGB backlight, but not configure it. To configure, you need to use the Asus Aura utility.

The board also has a special four-pin (12V/G/R/B) connector for connecting an LED strip.

Let us note one more feature of the board. Two slots with the PCI Express x16 form factor, implemented on the basis of PCIe 3.0 processor lines, have metal casings.

Supply system

Like most boards, the Asus Prime Z370-A model has 24-pin and 8-pin connectors for connecting the power supply.

The processor supply voltage regulator on the board is 8-channel. The supply voltage regulator is controlled by a controller labeled ASP1400BT.

Cooling system

The cooling system of the Asus Prime Z370-A board consists of several radiators. Two heatsinks are located on two adjacent sides of the processor socket and are designed to remove heat from the processor voltage regulator elements. Another radiator is designed to cool the chipset. In addition, a heatsink is also provided for the drive installed in the M.2_1 slot.

In addition, to create an effective heat dissipation system, the board provides six four-pin connectors for connecting fans. Two connectors are for the processor cooler, two more are for additional case fans, one connector is for the M.2 drive cooler fan, and there is a connector for connecting the CBO pump. There is also an additional connector for connecting the Asus Extension Fan expansion card (the card itself is not included in the kit). In addition, the board has a two-pin connector for connecting a thermal sensor (again, the thermal sensor itself is not included in the kit).

Audio subsystem

The audio subsystem of the Asus Prime Z370-A board is based on the Realtek ALC1220 codec. There are no additional amplifiers or codecs here. All elements of the audio path are isolated at the level of PCB layers from other components of the board and are allocated in a separate zone.

The rear panel of the board has five mini-jack audio connectors (3.5 mm) and one S/PDIF optical connector (output).

To test the output audio path intended for connecting headphones or external speakers, we used an external Creative E-MU 0204 USB sound card in combination with the Right Mark Audio Analyzer 6.3.0 utility. Testing was carried out in stereo mode, 24-bit/44.1 kHz. According to the test results, the audio path on the Asus Prime Z370-A board received a “Good” rating. The full report with testing results in the RMAA 6.3.0 program is posted on a separate page, followed by a short report.

In the near future, Intel is going to update its range of offerings for desktop systems with processors from the Coffee Lake family, which should replace Skylake and Kaby Lake. As it recently became known, this update will be a huge step in increasing the performance of the mass desktop platform, since Coffee Lake models of the Core i7 and Core i5 series will have their own computing cores. However, now an unpleasant nuance has become clear: Coffee Lake processors will be incompatible with the fleet of existing LGA1151 motherboards based on Z270 chipsets, and even more so Z170.

Previously, it has been repeatedly suggested that Coffee Lake may require new motherboards for its operation. However, there was no final certainty about this until today. Now there is no room for doubt: six-core CPUs for desktops will come with the new platform, and LGA1151 motherboards currently on the market will not be able to work with them. This was confirmed by ASRock on its official Twitter account, whose representatives responded negatively to a user’s specific question about the compatibility of Coffee Lake and boards based on the Intel Z270 system logic set.

"No. Coffee Lake processors are not compatible with 200 series motherboards"

The incompatibility information, originally coming from ASRock, has been confirmed by two other industry independents. Websites report this Tomshardware.com And PCWorld.com. Thus, the possibility of error or misinterpretation is eliminated, and soon we will truly witness this ridiculous grimace of market segmentation from Intel.

As you know, Coffee Lake processors will be based on the same microarchitecture as Kaby Lake, and their main differences from their predecessors will be the increased number of computing cores and the use of a new version of the 14-nm process technology (14++ nm) in their production. Intel previously promised that the performance advantage that Coffee Lake would provide over existing desktop processors would be up to 30%, but all this gain should be attributed to the increased number of cores. No fundamental innovations were promised in Coffee Lake, so depriving it of compatibility with older boards is more of a marketing step.

Traditionally, Intel changes platforms every two generations of processors - this approach allows the company to make timely changes to platforms and provides the opportunity for stable income for motherboard manufacturers. The need to use new motherboards based on future 300 series chipsets with Coffee Lake fits into this logic. However, there was a possibility that, under pressure from competition from Ryzen, the microprocessor giant would reconsider its attitude to the life cycle of platforms, because AMD promises to maintain the relevance of its Socket AM4 platform until 2020. But Intel decided not to deviate from the established course, even under the threat that when upgrading older LGA1151 systems, users may choose processors from another manufacturer.

It was previously reported that Coffee Lake processors will have a similar LGA1151 form factor to Kaby Lake, but this does not mean that the lack of compatibility with older boards will be limited solely at the firmware level. Perhaps Coffee Lake will impose some specific requirements on the power circuit on the motherboard, related to the introduction of new energy-saving technologies or the transfer of some elements of the power converter to the processor itself, as is done in Skylake-X.

It is not known for certain when Coffee Lake processors and accompanying motherboards based on the new 300 series chipsets will come to market. Initially, it was believed that the announcement of desktop versions of Coffee Lake would take place in January 2018, then this time frame was shifted to September of this year, but some motherboard manufacturers cite the end of this year as the release date for Coffee Lake.

News about Intel processors is steadily coming from the Chinese direction. One of the users of the MSI Z170A XPower Titanium motherboard based on the Intel Z170 chipset managed to find a way to run the Coffee Lake generation Core i3-8350K processor, which is not officially supported by such boards. The author of the experiment wrote about his impressions on the pages of the Baidu resource - in Chinese, of course.

Image source: Baidu

Screenshots were taken using a camera directly from the monitor to reduce the number of skeptics who were ready to compete with the author in the art of falsifying evidence. Unfortunately, the quality of the images predictably suffered.

Image source: Baidu

Judging by the illustrations, a Chinese enthusiast modified the microcode of the motherboard, making it think that instead of the Core i3-8350K, a Core i7-7700K processor of the Kaby Lake generation was installed, which is officially supported by the Intel Z170 chipset.

Image source: Baidu

Alas, there were some losses - the integrated graphics of the Core i3-8350K processor did not function, and the PCI Express x16 slot closest to the central processor also did not accept the video card.

Image source: Baidu

Perhaps the main conclusion can be drawn from these results - the incompatibility of Coffee Lake processors with motherboards based on the Intel Z170 chipset is artificial. At least, quad-core Coffee Lake models can be launched on older boards after modifying the microcode. Intel once claimed that motherboards based on the Intel Z370 chipset have an upgraded power subsystem capable of accepting six-core Coffee Lake processors.

Hi all! Not long ago, Intel introduced its new creation to users - the Coffee Lake line of processors. And at the start of sales in Russia, they, like many other innovations, will be a frenzied excitement. Today I will not make a comparison, do a detailed review, or identify the best model in the line, but will only explain to you why buying new products in the first couple of months is not profitable. And it’s not all about the coffee, it’s all about e What is written below applies to absolutely any innovation. I take the new processors from Intel as an example, only because this topic is now relevant and the brightest in the field of computer technology.

So, the first reason to refuse to purchase in the near future is the price. In most cases, a new product will cost you more. The amount of overpayment depends on a huge number of factors. For example, depending on the number of models in the first batch prepared for sale, the fewer processors that are released to the market at first, the more people there will be who want to be among the first to purchase a stone. This means that dealers and distributors can adjust prices as they see fit. The recommended price for the i5 8400 is $182, which at the time of writing this is approximately 10,500 rubles. Not only is the price abroad already high, but it’s no secret that in Russia it will be even higher. There are no stones in any store at the moment, but new processors can already be purchased in the foreign ComputerUniverse. The i5 8400 costs about 12,000 rubles, which is 1,500 rubles more expensive than indicated in the recommendations. And let me remind you that prices there, in comparison with DNS or Citylink, may differ by 10-20% in favor of the German site.

Moreover, it is important to understand that new stones are aimed at all three main market segments - budget, medium and premium. Stones in the budget and mid-range segments are in much greater demand than stones in the premium segment. This means that the number of budget models on the market is significantly greater than models from the premium segment. It follows that for the top models in the line, the price will be even more inflated. For example, the best i7-8700K in the line should cost $359, which equals 20,500 rubles. But even abroad it costs about 26,000-27,000 rubles.

That is, for the average i5 8400 the overpayment is currently about 1,500 rubles, and for the top-end i7 8700k the overpayment is already about 5,000 rubles. In our stores the price will be even higher.

• However, exceptions to the rules still happen. Just remember the recently released , which was approximately equal to the recommended price. How did this happen? It's anyone's guess, but I don't think the same thing will happen with coffee.

The next reason is the dampness of the product. And although the new line of processors has very tasty options, it is important to understand that even a successful new product requires some time to break in. Just remember how it is with the Rizens. At the start of sales, standard BIOSes did not reveal the full potential of processors, and only with new versions came optimization and correct operation. Multithreading was not stable in some applications, and only after the appearance of patches did everything return to normal. And the point here is not in the processor itself, but in how other components interact with it, both at the hardware and software levels. Just look at the situation with boxed coolers, when they did not fit on motherboards due to the fact that the mount did not fit. And this problem was not on the part of AMD, but on the part of motherboard manufacturers, but for us users it doesn’t matter who is to blame, the main thing for us is that everything works correctly and reliably. Of course, it’s not a fact that the same thing will happen to Intel, but anything can happen. Even before Ryazan, the most striking example is Windows 10, which for a very long time was in the so-called “beta testing” state, when there were a lot of errors and bugs and they were corrected over time with each new patch until the operating system became stable Overall, all I'm saying is that any new product tends to run into some unexpected problems at first, so you should wait until those problems are resolved.

The third reason is marketing. The era of marketing, what can I say. Marketing decisions are present in any area of ​​production and computer technology is no exception. The new socket 1151 v.2, which will support Coffee Lake, currently has only one chipset on the market - the z370, which is premium, very expensive and supports overclocking.

What is this if not marketing? Those who want to buy simple i3 8100 and i5 8400 stones will have to buy the motherboard for the first two months on this particular chipset. But why, if these stones cannot be overclocked? Obviously, this is a premeditated move that will force those who want to be among the first to buy more expensive motherboards with a top-end chipset. The simplest H370 and H310 chipsets will appear only in the new year. Returning to the question of price, we can include motherboards here. Due to the shortage on the market, at first they will cost significantly more.

And the last reason is competition. There is currently a virtual duopoly reigning in the processor production market. Accordingly, the more successful the new product is for some, the more radical measures others need to take in order to retain their audience or attract new customers. This was the case with Vega. Its release encouraged the green ones to develop it, because Nvidia saw a strong competitor in the Vega 56. This was the case with Ryzen. After the release of Ryazhenka, prices for blue processors of the Kaby Lake series dropped sharply due to the fact that the new Coffee Lake line was still in development, and buyers needed to be encouraged to buy their product. There are many examples in history. The most important thing is that, ultimately, we, the end users, benefit from all these manipulations in any case. Perhaps the release of Coffee Lake will force the Reds to tighten up and update the Ryzen line in the near future. This may not happen, but it’s worth waiting a couple of months in any case, there is more than one reason for this.