14 DAY TRIAL // Intel has decided to keep the distinction between the K Series of unlocked SKUs and the normal locked variants of its sixth-generation central processing units, but has also chosen to group them all together in a single new line: Skylake-S.
That, at least, is the codename used internally and by the press to refer to the new series of central processing units coming from Santa Clara, California.
In addition to the Skylake-S series of chips, Intel is preparing the Skylake-U, which will be used in laptops ant tablets rather than desktop computers. Those are not part of today's report, however.
Instead, it has been discovered when and where the Skylake-S CPUs will be officially introduced, even if it turns out that shipments don't start right away.
The Intel Skylake-S CPUs are set for August release
In August 2015, Intel will host its annual Intel Developer Forum conference. Making the Skylake-S CPU introduction then would be in line with previous roadmaps, so we are relatively confident in this leak from VR-Zone.
The exact day should be August 15, which means that Broadwell-K CPUs will have just one quarter to themselves before they are basically rendered obsolete.
Or perhaps Skylake-S won't provide extreme-performance variants for a while, only “normal” high-end Core i7 chips and no Xeons for a while.
Interestingly enough, the Broadwell-K generation of CPUs will have a superior GPU, the Iris Pro integrated graphics processor with 48 execution units, as opposed to Skylake-S's 24-unit iGP.
Intel may or may not be reserving the better, 64 MB eDRAM and 72-unit GT4e iGPU for extreme performance Skylake-S. Or the suggestion about a weaker iGPU for the whole lot is false. We will have to wait and see.
Moving on, the K-Series Skylake-S units will have a thermal design power (TDP) of 95W, which is more than reasonable for quad-core units with GT2 graphics.
65W and 35W quad-core processors of lower performance, and some dual-core, will be released as well, also with GT2 graphics.
Compatibility
Intel Skylake processors work with the LGA 1151 socket motherboard and 100-Series chipset (Z170/H170 Sunrise Point). Don't expect more than a few extra PCI Express lanes and maybe USB 3.1 10 Gbps from the chipset upgrade compared to the existing technology.
The table below has the specifications of the Skylake processors, all made on the 14nm fabrication technology. There will be several of each four chip types.
