While Intel’s other 5GHz processor has turned out to be greatly exaggerated, Intel’s original 5GHz chip, the Coffee Lake-based Core i7-8086K, is very much real. And right on schedule, Intel has rolled it out to retail.

As unexpectedly published in the Intel 8086K giveaway terms & conditions, the retail price on the chip is indeed $425. This makes for what’s essentially a $75 premium over Intel’s once and future king, the Core i7-8700K. As a reminder only 50,000 units of the 8086K are being released – minus 8,086 for the giveaway – so while this is technically Intel’s fastest 6-core CPU, it isn’t going to be a permanent fixture like the 8700K.

Intel 8th Generation 'Coffee Lake' Core i7 Desktop Processors
  i7-8086K i7-8700K i7-8700 i7-8700T
Cores 6C / 12T
Base Frequency 4.0 GHz 3.7 GHz 3.2 GHz 2.4 GHz
Turbo Boost 2.0
(Single Core)
5.0 GHz 4.7 GHz 4.6 GHz 4.0 GHz
L3 Cache 12 MB
DRAM Support DDR4-2666
Integrated Graphics GT2: 24 EUs
IGP Turbo 1.20 GHz
PCIe Lanes (CPU) 16
TDP 95 W 95 W 65 W 35 W
Price (tray) $425? $359 $303 $303

While we’re still waiting to get the individual per-core turbo levels of Intel’s special edition chip, officially its base clock and single-core turbo clock are both 300MHz higher than the 8700K, or about 6-8% faster than its non-special counterpart. And we expect the other turbo levels to be similar. Ostensibly the TDP remains at 95W, however as Intel defines this as power consumption under load at the base clock, power consumption with turbo – particularly multi-core enhancement, which I know you’re all going to run anyhow – will definitely be higher.

The CPU is available from Amazon, Newegg, and a few other retailers while supplies last.

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  • Gothmoth - Friday, June 8, 2018 - link

    does it come with a chiller??
  • haukionkannel - Friday, June 8, 2018 - link

    No, but liquid LN is good enough!
  • close - Saturday, June 9, 2018 - link

    So this is a "5GHz chip" without Intel actually announcing individual per-core turbo levels? Technically one single core could run at 5GHz at any time but we're touting it as a 5GHz chip?

    Because Intel would never try to mislead... Wondering how much egg can fit on a single face :).
  • ianmills - Saturday, June 9, 2018 - link

    Lisa Su's tears work great too
  • alan1476 - Thursday, June 21, 2018 - link

    Thats Dr. Lisa Su if you dont mind LOL
  • Memo.Ray - Saturday, June 9, 2018 - link

    50k 8700K at MSRP ==> 50,000 * 350 = 17,500,000
    It is really selling for 299.99, so
    50,000 * 300 = 15,000,000

    8086K =>
    (50,000 - 8086 ) * 425 = 17,813,450

    17,813,450 - 15,000,000 = 2,813,450

    So, Intel managed to give away 8086 "pinned" 8700K (AKA 8086K) and still make some money on top of it. win-win situation :D

    Cheers!
  • jimmysmitty - Friday, June 15, 2018 - link

    Where do you see the i7 8700K for $299? I see the i7 8700 for $299 but the cheapest i7 8700K is $347 so round to $350 so it should be $17,813,450 - $17,500,000 = $313,450.
  • skunkworker - Friday, June 8, 2018 - link

    I'm not sure why you would buy this over a delidded and binned 8700k? silicon lottery has a 5.0ghz stable 8700k for $419.
    https://siliconlottery.com/products/8700k50g
  • vincentlaw - Friday, June 8, 2018 - link

    Because it's a ~~~~COLLECTORS ITEM~~~~
  • eastcoast_pete - Friday, June 8, 2018 - link

    Exactly. If people really go crazy for this special, limited edition, the best thing might be to leave it in the sealed box and resell it a a premium, just like some action figures.
    As an aside, siliconlottery.com has an interesting statement about 8700K chips: "As of 6/08/18, the top 86% of tested 8700Ks were able to hit 5.0GHz or greater." Sounds like Intel didn't have to really do that much hard work to get enough 5 GHz single core chips.

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