Intel 8th Generation desktop CPU packaging confirms 300-series chipset requirement

Today Intel officially announced their 8th generation of Core CPUs, revealing their new U-series CPU lineup as well as packaging for their upcoming desktop series CPUs.

This packaging officially confirms that Intel’s upcoming desktop i5 will feature a total of 6 cores and that Intel’s upcoming i7 series of CPUs will feature 6 cores and a total of 12 threads. This marks a huge increase in core/thread count for both models, making these the most powerful desktop-oriented CPUs on a mainstream CPU socket.   

This packaging also confirms what was revealed earlier this month by AsRock,  that this new generation of CPUs will require a new Intel chipset. Existing 200-series motherboards will not be usable with Intel’s new 6-core desktop CPUs, which is hugely disappointing given the fact that Intel’s 200-series of motherboards were only released at the start of this year. 

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