Just the other day we published our review of Intel’s Core i9-7900X Skylake-X processor. It was our first review of a processor in Intel’s new Core X Series, and now today we have the Core i7-7740X Kaby Lake-X processor. This processor is based on a different micro-architecture than the other processors that sit above it in Intel’s X Series product stack. With the i7-7740X you have Kaby Lake cores and it is the first time we’ve seen Intel launch two generations of processors at the same time (Kaby Lake-X / Skylake-X). The i7-7740X is a quad-core processor with a base clock speed of 4.3 GHz, boosts up to 4.5 GHz, 8 MB of cache, 16 PCI-Express lanes, and a 112W TDP. Intel is pricing this processor at only $339, not a bad price to get into Intel’s HEDT platform. If you are building a new system should you be looking at the Core i7-7740X? Read on as we find out!
Special thanks to Intel for providing us with the Core i7-7740K Processor to review.
Below you can see a chart of the entire Core X Series processors. The bottom five processors will be available June 26th.
We’ve gone over much of the architectural details on the Core X series and the X299 chipset in an article we published back when everything was announced. Please be sure to check that out if you need any fine details on anything about these processors or the chipset.
Of course we received the processors directly from Intel so we don’t have any retail packaging to show you. If you check out the image below you can see what the boxes will look like. Which one do you like the best?
The Core i7-7740X is just as big as the i9-7900X, although the i9 has a little different heatspreader. Here are both processors with the i7-7740X being on the right.
Here are shots of the back of each processor as well.
To run the new Core X Series processors you’ll need a new X299 motherboard. This is because we have a new socket, which is the LGA2066. Slightly more pins than the old LGA2011v3, but it has the same mounts so all LGA2011v3 coolers should be compatible. Our NZXT Kraken X52 had no problem fitting.
