Cheap motherboards for coffee like. When will new Coffee Lake motherboards be released latest news

Intel Coffee Lake processors require motherboards based on Intel 300 series chipsets. Of this line, only the Intel Z370 is currently available, so those wishing to use the new CPUs from Intel need a board based on a top-end chipset. In such a situation, the most affordable motherboards based on the Intel Z370 are the most interesting, which is why today we are reviewing the GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 model.

Contents of delivery

The board comes in a compact box with a thickness of only 55 mm. The kit includes a manual, installation instructions, a disk with drivers and software, two SATA interface cables and a plug for the rear wall of the case.

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.

Design and Layout

The GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 follows the ATX standard with a slightly reduced PCB width. Overall dimensions – 305×225 mm. The model is decorated in dark colors.

On the black PCB, veins of copper conductors are visible through the protective varnish, which gives the printed circuit board a brownish tint. In addition, a decorative pattern is applied to the surface. Painting the textolite base has become an almost mandatory design element of new motherboards. In this case, another visual technique is used - the pattern on the chipset heatsink is made in such a way as not to disrupt the overall composition. It’s a small thing, but this “camouflage” looks interesting.

Some of the connectors for memory modules and full-length slots are made in gray, while most of the remaining connectors and radiators of the cooling system are black. At first glance, you can immediately identify several yellow barrels - capacitors in the audio circuit.

The motherboard uses a 7-phase power regulator subsystem. Additional cooling is provided for all power assemblies and the control controller. These are fairly large aluminum blocks with a complex profile that increases the area of heat dissipation. The radiators are attached using plastic clips, and they are tightly attracted to the elements.

One 8-pin connector is provided for connecting additional power.

Four DIMM slots accommodate up to 64 GB of RAM. The manufacturer claims support for kits up to DDR4-4000, although the list of validated kits includes kits up to DDR4-3866. But even in this case, it’s quite good. The chipset allows you to experiment with memory overclocking using high-speed kits, despite the fact that the standard DDR4-2400/2666 modes are declared for Coffee Lake.

GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 offers six slots for additional expansion cards - three PCI Express x16 and the same number of PCI Express x1. The board does not allow separation of PCI Express 3.0 bus processor lines. All of them go to the first full-length PCI Express x16 slot, which must be used when installing a video card. The other two large connectors are served by the chipset and offer x4 bandwidth. In this case, both slots can simultaneously operate in x4 modes, and in this case all three PCI-E x1 slots remain available. Models with advanced functionality often have problems here, but in this case the absence of a large number of additional controllers allows you not to limit yourself when choosing expansion cards.

As for support for combinations with several video cards, the SLI mode, by definition, is not supported by boards that do not allow the separation of PCI Express 3.0 processor lines, but the CrossFireX combination is possible. For video cards with AMD chips, the requirements are less stringent, even taking into account the fact that an additional bridge is not needed to synchronize them.

There are no additional controls on the board. If the system is assembled in a case, then the power/reboot keys and similar elements are of little use, but they inevitably increase the cost of the device. The only useful feature we can highlight is a group of four LEDs in the lower right corner. These indicators are highlighted during the self-test of the board at the stage of loading the platform, and if there are difficulties with any node, then by the glowing light you can easily identify the problem node (processor, memory, video card or boot drive).

As expected, the GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 is equipped with a pair of chips with firmware. DualBIOS technology with backup chips has become a mandatory attribute of manufacturer's motherboards for several years now.

Of course, additional backlighting is mandatory for new motherboards. Although, in the case of the GIGABYTE Z370 HD3, the developers did not bother.

Only the audio subsystem area is illuminated on the board, and single-color orange LEDs are used for illumination.

A pair of the same sources are installed in the upper right corner. Here they light up when using an XMP profile for memory modules. By today's standards, this can be called a Spartan option.

The backlight is customizable in the RGB Fusion application, while only two modes are available for the built-in illumination: static glow and pulsation. Of course, the lights can be put out. But if you want to enhance the illumination, you can do this using an external LED strip. At the bottom edge there is a 4-pin connector for connecting an RGB garland. Supports 12V tapes with 5050 RGB elements with a total length of up to 2 meters, requiring up to 2 A. Its operation is also configured in the RGB Fusion application, but in this case the choice of modes is modest.

To organize the cooling system inside the system unit, the board has four 4-pin connectors. One of them is nominally intended for a processor cooler, and three more are for case coolers. This is a normal starter kit, which will be enough for most typical situations, unless exotic CBOs or cases with even more fans are used.

It is pleasant to note that recently the manufacturer has been equipping its models with a large number of internal temperature sensors. And this applies not only to specialized enthusiast models. The GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 definitely cannot be classified as such, but at the same time, the board is equipped with six sensors, the indicators of which can be used when setting up the fan operation algorithm. Smart Fan 5 allows you to “link” the rotation speed of a specific fan to the temperature readings of one of the temperature sensors.

The board offers six SATA ports for connecting storage devices. All connectors are assembled into one block, installed at the right edge of the board.

But as for ports for high-speed drives, the GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 offers one universal M.2 port, allowing you to use both SATA devices and the most powerful PCI-E drives.

The mount allows for installation of devices up to 110 mm long. The port is allocated four PCI Express 3.0 bus lanes, which provide a throughput of up to 32 Gb/s.

The presence of “only” one M.2 solves the issue of restrictions on the simultaneous use of drives of different formats. One of the six SATA channels is deactivated only when using an M.2 SATA drive. In other cases, the available PCI-E lanes of the chipset are sufficient to operate all system nodes at full capacity. In addition to high-performance PCI-E M.2 x4 SSDs, Intel Optane Memory accelerators are also supported.

GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 does not have an additional USB 3.1 Gen2 controller. Support for this interface at the chipset level is still not implemented, and additional chips increase the final cost of the motherboard. In practice, ports with a throughput of up to 10 Gb/s can be useful only when using the fastest external SSDs. For other peripherals, 5 Gb/s is often sufficient, which is provided by chipset USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen1). There is no shortage of the latter.

There are 4 such ports on the interface panel. In addition, the printed circuit board has two internal connectors that allow you to add the same amount of USB 3.0 to the case wall.

As for USB 3.1, if there is a real need for an accelerated interface, it is always possible to use an additional PCI-E expansion card with an appropriate controller.

The Intel i219-V gigabit controller is responsible for connecting to the wired network, revealing the capabilities of the chipset.

The sound subsystem is based on the Realtek ALC892 chip. This is not a top codec, but for this category of motherboards it’s a good solution. The audio path is partially separated from the main array, while Japanese capacitors from Nichicon are used in the circuit. Modes with additional amplification are not provided, but by default the signal level is quite decent.

In the settings you can activate the surround sound effect, but this is very much for an amateur. The sound subsystem will not be any kind of revelation, especially for sophisticated listeners, but the overall impression is perhaps even better than we initially expected.

The bottom edge of the printed circuit board is built very tightly, and its composition deserves special mention. There is a connector for outputting audio ports to the case wall, as well as COM and LPT connectors. Yes, yes, such ports may still be in demand, although not in a typical home environment. Nearby is a 4-pin connector for connecting an additional RGB strip and a connector for TPM. A pair of internal USB 2.0 allows you to get 4 more corresponding ports on the case wall. At the bottom edge there is also one of the connectors for connecting a fan, and closer to the right corner there is a color-coded panel for control buttons and indicators. All connectors have additional plastic guides, some of them even have signatures inside for quick identification - a rule of good form.

The two-pin connector for clearing CMOS memory is located immediately above the control panel, so if necessary, you won’t need to make your way to the connector while maneuvering between video cards. When the system is already assembled in a housing, this is not always convenient.

There are a minimum of elements on the back side of the board.

The interface panel houses a combined PS/2, two USB 2.0 ports, four USB 3.0 ports and an Ethernet socket. To connect display devices, two digital video outputs are provided - DVI-D and full-format HDMI. For acoustics, there are six 3.5 mm jacks. There is no standard optical S/PDIF here; if necessary, “digital” can be obtained from the internal connector.

In progress

The UEFI graphical shell is already familiar, without any innovations. The number of available settings is not abundant, but it is enough for typical overclocking of the platform.

The voltage on the processor can be adjusted in the range of 0.6–1.8 V in steps of 0.005 V, while the memory modules can be supplied with 1.0–2.0 V in steps of 0.01 V. Key parameters for tuning the operation of the power regulator subsystem is also in place, so if you wish, you can experiment, at the same time not forgetting that this is still not a model for record overclocking.

The EasyTune application is used to programmatically configure most parameters. The SmartBoost tab traditionally offers profiles for easily accelerating processors with an unlocked multiplier. However, it’s not worth relying on automation here yet.

As in the case of the GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS Gaming K3, for the Core i7-8700K processor the application assumes overclocking the chip to 4900 MHz with an increase in the supply voltage to 1.38 V. This is generally a noticeable “overvoltage”, especially considering the fact that in such mode, a correction with a reduction in frequency is not offered when executing AVX instructions. Under load, the processor overheats and begins to skip clock cycles to reduce the temperature.

The automatic tuning system also sets the value to 4900 MHz. However, the rapid test used in the process is not sufficient to identify problems under high, continuous load.

Developers should use less aggressive modes, while simultaneously using reduction factors to adjust the frequency while executing resource-intensive AVX instructions.

By taking control into your own hands, you can configure a more suitable mode. Our processor instance worked stably at 5000 MHz when the supply voltage was increased to 1.32 V and the AVX adjustment was 4 steps (-400 MHz).

Conclusion: GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 is one of the most affordable full-length motherboards for Intel Coffee Lake processors. The Intel Z370 based model has decent functionality. Among the typical options for more expensive devices on a top-end chipset, we can only note the absence of a USB 3.1 controller and one M.2 connector. Otherwise, this is a good launching pad for new Intel chips, and the board allows you to experiment with overclocking K-versions of processors and not be limited by standard operating memory modes. A rational balance of characteristics and prices explain the current position of the GIGABYTE Z370 HD3 in the list of the most popular motherboards on hotline.ua among models based on the Intel Z370. Although, an additional price reduction would make this offer even more attractive in its category.

Hello, dear readers! Today we will have PC builds on Intel Coffee Lake. Intel's new processors were officially announced on September 24, 2017, and became available for purchase on October 5, 2017. The new line was a response to the AMD Ryzen processors released in the spring of 2017, and looking ahead, the response turned out to be very successful. The processors turned out to be so good that buying previous generation processors became pointless.

Assembly on Intel Core i3 8100

In general, the assembly allows you to play all modern games at medium-high graphics settings. In the future, I recommend purchasing another 8GB memory stick. The assembly can be reduced in cost by removing the processor cooler and replacing it with a box cooler, but it will be noisy.

Motherboard - ASUS PRIME H310M-K
Processor - Intel Core i3 8100
CPU cooler - LC-Power Cosmo Cool LC-CC-120
Memory - Crucial Ballistics Sport LT Rot 8GB DDR4
Video card - ASUS GeForce Cerberus GTX1050TI
Power supply - Seasonic S12II-430 Bronze 430 Watt ATX2.2
Winchester - WD Blue Desktop WD10EZEX 1TB

Assembly in the ComputerUniverse online store, including delivery, will cost us 37,700 rubles, which is comparable to assemblies on the previous generation Intel Core i5 7400 processor, but do not forget that Intel has done a good job on the performance of processor cores, and the Core i3 8100 has become more productive Core i5 7400.

Assembly on Intel Core i5 8400

The assembly will allow you to play all modern games at maximum graphics settings in Full HD resolution. The assembly can be reduced in cost by removing the processor cooler and replacing it with a box cooler, but it will be noisy.

Motherboard - ASUS PRIME B360M-K
Processor - Intel Core i5 8400
CPU cooler - LC-Power Cosmo Cool LC-CC-120
Memory - G.Skill Value 16GB DDR4 16GNT Kit 2400 CL15 (2x8GB)
Video card - ASUS GeForce GTX1060 DUAL-6G
Power supply -Seasonic S12II-620 Bronze
Winchester - WD Blue Desktop WD10EZEX 1TB

Assembly in the ComputerUniverse online store, including delivery, will cost us 57,000 rubles, which is 6,500 rubles cheaper than assembly with a previous generation processor Intel Core i7 7700, but do not forget that Intel has done a good job on the performance of processor cores, and the Core i5 8400 has become more powerful than the Core i7 7700, so you get a more powerful processor for less money.

Assembly on Intel Core i5 8600K

The assembly will allow you to play all modern games at maximum graphics settings in WQHD resolution. Unlike the previous build, there is an overclockable processor and a more powerful video card.

Motherboard - ASRock Z370 PRO 4
Processor - Intel Core i5 8600k
CPU cooler - be quiet! Pure Rock
Memory -
Video card - Palit GeForce GTX1080 Dual OC
Power supply - EVGA B1 Bronze 600 Watt
Winchester - WD Blue Desktop WD10EZEX 1TB

Assembly in the ComputerUniverse online store, including delivery, will cost us 76,439 rubles, this is less than assembly on the previous generation Intel Core i7 7700k processor, while for less money you will get a more productive processor.

Assembly on Intel Core i7 8700

Assembly for playing at maximum graphics settings in all modern games at WQHD resolution, and in some cases at high graphics settings in 4K resolution.

Motherboard - ASUS PRIME B360M-A
Processor - Intel Core i7 8700
CPU cooler - be quiet! Pure Rock
Memory - G.Skill Aegis 16GB DDR4 16GISB K2
Video card - ASUS Geforce GTX1070TI
Power supply - Seasonic S12II-620 Bronze
Winchester - WD Blue Desktop WD10EZEX 1TB

ATTENTION!

Since the cost of assembled goods exceeds 1000 euros, in order to avoid problems with customs, the order will need to be divided into 2 parts and ordered for different people. This will also reduce the final delivery cost by approximately 1,500 rubles.

Assembly in the ComputerUniverse online store, including delivery, will cost us 80,000 rubles, this is only 2 thousand rubles more than an assembly based on an Intel Core i7 7700k, and you will receive a 6-core 12-thread processor, not a 4-core 8-thread. At the same time, the cores themselves are faster.

Assembly on Intel Core i7 8700K

Assembly for playing at high and, in some cases, maximum graphics settings in modern games at 4K resolution. The processor cooler allows you to overclock the processor to 4.8-5 GHz, especially if you use scalping and replace the thermal interface of the processor. This power is quite enough not only for 1080ti, but also for top-end video cards of the next generation.

Motherboard - ASROCK Z370 KILLER SLI
Processor -

Essentially, the new Intel Core i3 is a renaming of the old Intel Core i5. Now this family includes processors with 4 cores and 4 threads, previously such processors were called Intel Core i5. Dual-core processors have finally left the budget niche of Pentium processors. At the same time, the Intel Core i3 8100 is very inexpensive; this processor can confidently compete with younger AMD Ryzen processors

To start, MSI will be introducing ten Z370 motherboards. Even the prices of some models in Canadian dollars are known. There is no information yet about the mini-ITX model. Flagship will Z370 Godlike Gaming, as well as the manufacturer will once again introduce the Gaming Pro Carbon model.

Sales of the eighth generation of Intel Coffee Lake-S processors will start in October. Manufacturers are preparing motherboards based on the Z370 logic set. The VCZ resource has obtained a list of new motherboards based on the Z370 chipset.

However, fortunately, nowadays you can enjoy the beauty of modern games even on weak computers or even laptops. Just try Playkey - our cloud gaming platform will take it all complex calculations for yourself! Enjoy gaming, not PC shopping!

After the release of AMD Ryzen, Intel needed an urgent response, and if the new i3s are essentially rebranded old i5s, then the new i5s are a completely innovative product. These are 6-core 6-thread processors that are not inferior in performance, and in many tasks even superior to the previous Intel Core i7 with 4 cores and 8 threads. Yes, 6x6 is better than 4x8. Buying old i7s now makes no sense. Also, the new i5 processors are ahead of the AMD Ryzen 1600 and 1600x in most tasks. Let's look at assemblies based on them.

The cost of the assembly, taking into account delivery and discounts in ComputerUniverse, will be 76,439 rubles, this is less than the cost of assemblies based on the Intel Core i7 7700K; in the previous review of PC assemblies, you could get an Intel Core i7 7700k 1070 for the same money, but now for the same money, with similar or higher processor performance, the assembly includes a more powerful NVidia GTX 1080 video card.

When will budget coffee lake motherboards be released, detailed information. Fresh material.

After Z370, Q370, Q360 and B360 chipsets aimed at the enterprise segment will be announced in the first quarter of next year. At about the same time, the mid-budget H370 chipset and the budget H310 solution will be shown. After that, sometime in the second half of next year, the top-end Z390 will also be released.

5. Top solutions (flagships) for 29-133 thousand rubles - older Intel Core i7 and i9 (i7-6900K and higher, i7-8700K and higher, as well as i9-7900X and higher). Top processors are usually purchased if two video cards of the GeForce GTX 1070 or GTX 1080 level are installed in the system at once. They are also well suited for the GeForce GTX Titan line.
At the moment, it doesn't make sense to buy flagship processors just for gaming. In modern games, an i5-8400 processor provides sufficient performance. Therefore, top solutions still remain the domain of professionals.

In general, the build allows you to play many games at high graphics settings. In the future, it is highly recommended to expand the RAM to 16 GB. You can reduce the cost of the assembly by eliminating the processor cooler, but the complete one will be somewhat noisy, and in the future it will not be possible to use it for overclocking the processor (if the processor is replaced with a processor with overclocking capabilities)

This build will allow you now, and in the near future, to play most games at maximum graphics settings in Full HD monitor resolution. It differs from the previous one in the increased amount of RAM and video memory. You can reduce the cost of the assembly by eliminating the processor cooler, but the complete one will be somewhat noisy, and in the future it will not be possible to use it for overclocking the processor (if the processor is replaced with a processor with overclocking capabilities)

2. Initial (budget) gaming level for 4-9 thousand rubles - AMD Ryzen 3 / Intel Core i3 Kaby Lake (i3-7XXX) and earlier / Pentium Kaby Lake (G4560, G4600, G4620). Budget processors are suitable for video cards of a similar class such as Radeon RX 560 or GeForce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti (read more about the classification of video cards here).

New details about budget coffee lake motherboards. Everything that is known now.

As you know, to work with eighth-generation Intel Core desktop processors, motherboards based on new logic sets will be required. Of course, it is possible that one of the manufacturers will make existing boards work with the new CPUs, but Intel does not officially provide for this.

Ready tinker with overclocking - take AMD. The performance of FX and Ryzen series processors can be significantly increased by overclocking. In addition, AMD processors are sensitive to the speed of the RAM, so it is necessary to overclock not only the processor itself, but also the memory subsystem. If you don't want to understand all the intricacies of overclocking, it's better to get an Intel processor.

Even though we are talking only about the modest Core i3-8350K, we managed to make it work on the MSI Z170A Xpower Titanium motherboard, and most likely the Core i7-8700K will also work. The latter is not a fact, since it may not have enough additional power pins missing on the Z170/270 boards. And in general, it’s too early to celebrate a victory, since enthusiasts who decide to return cross-compatibility to the LGA 1151 platform are faced with a lot of problems. Firstly, a serious modification of the BIOS was required, especially the section containing processor microcodes (a procedure well known to owners of inexpensive Xeon E5 v3). Secondly, the built-in graphics core is not yet available, and moreover, even the leading PCI Express x16 connector does not work. Further software modifications will likely resolve these issues. Moreover, there is evidence from an ASUS representative who stated that the ban on Coffee Lake support for the Z170/Z270 was imposed by Intel, although there are no physical or software reasons preventing such support.

To start, MSI will be introducing ten Z370 motherboards. Even the prices of some models in Canadian dollars are known. There is no information yet about the mini-ITX model. The flagship will be the Z370 Godlike Gaming, and the manufacturer will also reintroduce the Gaming Pro Carbon model.

Video review of budget motherboards Coffee Lake. All news.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oI_hx20pb3U Budget motherboards coffee lake

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.

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.

New processors from Intel have finally begun to appear on Russian shelves. Coffee Lake, unlike its predecessor, is not just a light update, but a full-fledged transition to a new era. Each of the three Core lines received two additional cores, and as a result, the classification of current “stones” from Intel became less confusing:

1. Celeron Kaby Lake - two cores and two threads (for office PCs),
2. Pentium Kaby Lake - two cores and four threads (for budget gaming PCs),
3. Core i3 Coffee Lake - four cores and four threads (for mid-range gaming PCs),
4. Core i5 Coffee Lake - six cores and six threads (for pre-top gaming PCs),
5. Core i7 Coffee Lake - six cores and twelve threads (for high-end gaming PCs or professional use).

More detailed official data from Intel

Until 2017, the same Pentiums were bought more likely for a budget media center or for working with texts, and Celerons were an even cheaper alternative. Then Kaby Lake made Core i3 and Pentium almost equivalent, strengthening the latter with virtual cores.

And now, as we see, for a powerful build you no longer even have to buy expensive i7s- new six-core i5 in games itself show on a par with the old eight-thread "sevens". Well, and new i3s now easily replace old i5s and are even suitable for use in tandem with some GeForce GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 580. True, there is a fly in the ointment: Coffee Lake is not backward compatible with previous processors or motherboards.

Next, we will assemble two of the most reasonable PC configurations: budgetary And powerful, but without unnecessary overpayments (optimal). I wonder how much a new gaming computer on a fresh “coffee” platform will cost?

Budget build on Coffee Lake

If it was easy to decide on the processor (they stupidly took the cheapest one), then with the video card it was difficult. In 2017, taking less than four gigabytes of video memory is stupid, so we immediately dismiss the GeForce GTX 1050. But the 1050 Ti will cost one and a half times more than a simple 1050 and than a Radeon RX 560 from Sapphire (AMD’s main partner) and with the required amount of memory. So, to save money, you can take Radeon, especially since in new games proprietary graphics technologies from NVIDIA are rare, and even those do not play a special role.

Unfortunately, inexpensive motherboards have not yet been delivered - we had to take the most economical version of the wasteful Z370, but from a reliable manufacturer (Asus). As for the B360 (mid-range) and H310 (budget) chipsets, they are promised to go on sale after the New Year holidays.

Otherwise, we selected a long-proven set of a cooler and case from DeepCool, RAM from Kingston, a relatively fast hard drive from Western Digital, and a reliable power supply from Fractal Design. Details in the table below:

CPU	Intel Core i3-8100 BOX (from RUR 8,300)
Cooler	DeepCool Gammaxx 300 (from 1100 rub.)
Mat. pay	Asus Z370-P (from 10,000 rub.)
RAM	Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 2133 MHz (2×4 GB) (from 5700 rub.)
Video card	Sapphire Radeon RX 560 Nitro+ 4G (4 GB) (from 7200 rub.)
HDD	Western Digital WD10EZEX 1TB (from 2600 rub.)
power unit	(from 4000 rub.)
Frame	DeepCool Kendomen (from 3100 rub.)
TOTAL	RUB 40,900

Optimal build on Coffee Lake

If a gaming PC based on Coffee Lake is required with a reserve, then the processor must be replaced with an i5-8400, the RAM taken twice as much (16 GB), a GeForce GTX 1070 (the best build in this generation from MSI) must be used for processing 3D graphics, and also add a proven SSD from Samsung with 256 gigabytes of fast new generation MLC memory.

Details again in the table below:

CPU	Intel Core i5-8400 (from RUB 18,700)
Cooler	DeepCool Gammaxx 300 (from 1100 rub.)
Mat. pay	Asus Z370-P (from 10,000 rub.)
RAM	Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4 2133 MHz (2×8 GB) (from 10,400 rub.)
Video card	MSI GTX 1070 Gaming X (8 GB) (from RUB 30,900)
SSD	Samsung 850 Pro (256 GB) (from RUB 7,700)
HDD	Western Digital WD10EZRZ 1TB (from 2700 rub.)
power unit	Fractal Design Integra M 450W (from 4000 rub.)
Frame	DeepCool Kendomen (from 3100 rub.)
TOTAL	RUB 87,600

What games will be played?

In the budget configuration, stable 30 frames in Full HD resolution (1920×1080) and at high settings it will be possible to obtain even in “graphic” projects like The Evil Within 2, Watch Dogs 2, Battlefield 1 or "The Witcher 3". And the optimal “coffee machine” will produce about a hundred FPS in all of the above games in Full HD and stable 60 in QHD (2560x1440).