MSI is teasing what looks like an X299 motherboard, ahead of Computex at the end of the month. It can be expected that many Skylake-X/Kaby Lake-X motherboards will be on display at the show. And then later on likely an Intel launch later in June.
The teaser screenshot doesn't show much other then a number of M.2 SSD slots the unit is utilizing, three of them. Well, that enad LEDs of course. It will use the upcoming LGA 2066 socket, gets MSI's own Audio Boost VI technology and MSI will reportedly be implementing a 6-pin PCIe power connector above the first PCIe x16 slot to assist multi-GPU configurations.
X299 will be the platform for four core Kaby Lake-X CPUs rather or later on mega-core Skylake-X processors. Why release both Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X at the same time and what is the difference? Simple, Skylake-X can offer 10, 8 and 6 core processors, the other (Kaby lake-X) remains to be a quad-core part. Skylake-X are the extreme edition like the 6950X series currently on Skylake-X. The i7 7740K is a quad-core, eight-thread CPU with a 4.2GHz base clockspeed and a 4.5GHz Turbo. Kaby Lake-X specs:
| Core i7 7740K | Core i7 7700K | Core i5 7640K | Core i5 7600K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture | Kaby Lake-X | Kaby Lake | Kaby Lake-X | Kaby Lake |
| CPU cores | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Threads | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Base clockspeed | 4.2GHz | 4.2GHz | 4GHz | 3.8GHz |
| Turbo | 4.5GHz | 4.5GHz | >4GHz | 4.2GHz |
| Cache | 8MB L3 | 8MB L3 | 6MB L3 | 6MB L3 |
| Integrated graphics | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| TDP | 112W | 91W | 112W | 91W |
| Socket | LGA 2066 | LGA 1151 | LGA 2066 | LGA 1151 |
| Chipset | KBL PCH-X | KBL PCH-H | KBL PCH-X | KBL PCH-H |
| Memory support | Dual channel DDR4 | Dual channel DDR4 | Dual channel DDR4 | Dual channel DDR4 |
The X299 chipset will be compatible with Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X Intel Core X series processors. Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X, will include 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4 core products.
| Kaby Lake | Broadwell-E | Kaby Lake-X | Skylake-X | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU cores | 4 | 6, 8, 10 | 4 | 6, 8, 10, 12 |
| Cache | 8MB | Up to 25MB | 8MB | 13.75MB |
| PCIe support | PCIe 3.0 (16 lanes) | PCIe 3.0 (40/28 lanes) | PCIe 3.0 (16 lanes) | PCIe 3.0 (44/28 lanes) |
| Integrated graphics | Yes | No | No | No |
| TDP | 95W | 140W | 112W | 140W |
| Socket | LGA 1151 | LGA 2011-v3 | LGA 2066 | LGA 2066 |
| Chipset | KBL PCH-H | X99 | KBL PCH-X | KBL PCH-X |
| Memory support | Dual-channel DDR4 | Quad-channel DDR4 | Dual-channel DDR4 | Quad-channel DDR4 |
The X299 will bring quad-channel DDR4 support to compatible 14nm processors and 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes with Skylake-X procs. Kaby Lake-X procs will support dual-channel DDR4 and 24 PCIe 3.0 Lanes. Before you ask, why release both Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X at the same time and what is the difference? Well, Skylake-X thus can offer 12, 10, 8 and 6 core processors, the other (Kaby lake-X) remains to be a quad-core part. Skylake-X are the extreme edition like the 6950X series currently on Skylake-X. These processors will get a 140 Watt TDP, the quad-core Kaby Lake-X is rumored to be a 112 Watt part.
