"It has to have socket compatibility [with Series 8 motherboards]. And, by the way, [we told our engineers] you can't take the cooling solution [from Haswell] either."
Intel did cite some percentage performance numbers in the presentation we saw, but they were comparing a three year-old Core i7 (the 2nd generation Core i72700K) with the new chip – which is 65 per cent faster for media and 34 per cent faster for productivity apps.
So, while that's interesting and all, we'll wait to see how it actually performs.
The new Series 9 Z97 and H97 chipsets features support for not only the Haswell Refresh, but also Broadwell, too. It also features some of the spoils from Intel's acquisition of McAfee in the form of Intel Device Protection Technology with Boot Guard.
Intel's Rapid Storage tech has also received an upgrade and is now – according to Intel's theoretical speeds – 67 per cent faster than the third generation of the SATA storage standard.
4K and all-in-ones
As you'd expect, the new chips have full commitment to 4K and Intel expects we'll soon start seeing 4K-capable all-in-ones (AIOs) for as little as $999 with 24—inch 4K displays falling to around the $399 mark. Take it from us – you want to be looking at bigger screens than that for 4K.
Intel says we're seeing around 50 per cent more system designs coming into the AIO market with cheaper price points. Intel also believes we will see an increase in alternative desktop PC form factors including Mini PCs like the Mac Mini and the Chromebox.
Intel says there are 2.5 times the designs appearing on the market than there were in 2012, though we're not convinced that means we'll suddenly see a flood of these units. We feel the same about AIOs – we've just never seen a massive take-up of these units, so why now?
Shipping this month
Intel has also confirmed that we will be seeing a completely unlocked 3.2GHz dual-core, two thread 20th Anniversary Pentium G3258 Haswell-generation chip that doesn't have Turbo Boost.
This is a nice story and all, but what Pentium tends to mean these days is a torrid user experience on laptops that are too cheap for their own good, so it's a bit bizarre that this chip for overclockers will see the light of day.
It's also compatible with the Series 8 or 9 chipset. The upcoming Broadwell will also use the Series 9 chipsets.
Expect the Devil's Canyon and the Pentium chips to ship this month. Motherboard manufacturers will be releasing updates for their Series 8 chipsets over the next month or two.
