Intel Anniversary processor

I have just received a special version of the Coffee Lake i7 processors. The i7 8086K is basically a souped up version of the top i7 Coffee Lake, the 8700K. The 8700K runs at 3.7Ghz and the anniversary version runs at 4Ghz.

There are only 50,000 of these processors released, and Intel has done so to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Intel releasing their first processor with the 8086 architecture.

It will cost you about £60 more than the normal i7 and this gives you an extra .3Ghz speed. Whilst this is not too much extra speed, it does mean that you get the fastest i7 Coffee Lake processor Intel have made so far.

There is a new generation of processors coming in the next few months that should be faster with new i7 and i9 processors, based on the same kind of architecture as the Coffee Lake ones (I.e. they will also include a graphics card and should have Intel Quick Sync).

BTW the processor does not look like the one in the picture. It has a green edge like a normal processor and just the letters i7-8086K etched on the top. Such a shame as it would be nice to have some colour to differentiate this from the run-of-the-mill i7.  Of course, you would never see it as the processor would be hidden under a decent heat sync!

Is this the fastest Intel single processor?

No.  This is the fastest in the Coffee Lake range which are the most popular because they are not too expensive and Intel Quick Sync in which programs like Grass Valley EDIUS, and more recently Premiere Pro CC, can use to help playback H.264 based footage.  Intel have Skylake-X i7 and i9 processors which are more powerful but do not have Quick Sync.