In today’s application-centric technology world, speed, efficiency and cost effectiveness drive decision making. From the endpoint to the server delivering content, a small form factor, low power consumption and a competitive price point are an absolute must. And that makes it an ideal time for Intel (News - Alert) to unveil the sixth generation of their CPUs, the Skylake range.
A recent article published by Alphr discusses some of the highlights of the Skylake range, as well as why it’s a good fit for today’s application-centric computing and increasing number of wireless devices and peripherals.
An improved CPU core is of course the main selling point for Skylake and the architecture is geared toward improving overall performance. It includes a new “Speed Shift” system that enables the CPU to manage its own power state so it can more effectively meet demand instead of following the lead of the OS. The result was a 17 percent faster performance when Alphr tested the Core i5-6600K Skylake desktop chip against the Haswell-based Core i5-4670K.
The new range also includes a dedicated H.264 encoder, which can drive wireless displays without taxing graphics hardware, as well as support for the H.265 codec. Skylake also includes hardware features for processing raw camera images along with support for superfast DDR4 memory in the chipset. That means a new webcam controller promises to deliver zero-shutter lag for sensors up to 13 megapixels, while offering features like face detection and burst mode.
Another interesting feature is WiGig capabilities, which enable wireless peripherals to be connected quickly and efficiently. Wireless charging was also slated to be included in this release, but does not appear to be on the agenda as of now.
The desktop chips 4GHz Core i7-6700K and 3.5GHz Core i5-6600K Skylake CPUs are currently available, geared toward high performance computing. Intel plans to roll out a full range of Core products for both desktop and mobile use some time later this year, geared toward supporting cheap and lightweight devices like Intel’s Compute Stick and the Apple (News - Alert) MacBook.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson