The heart of your next smartphone has been unveiled at CES 2017 today, and you may have missed it because it’s incredibly small.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 chipset is the first-ever 10nm chipset and despite its diminutive size, it’s poised to power large-scale entertainment experiences.
It’s about to take everyone’s ambitious dreams for virtual reality to the next level with proper capabilities for VR and AR head-mounted displays.
You’re also going to find the Snapdragon 835 chipset in security cameras, mobile PCs and even Windows 10 devices in addition to Android handsets.
The Snapdragon 835 specs outclass the recent Snapdragon 821 chipset found in the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL thanks to a whole new class of sensors.
It combines the power of Qualcomm’s Kryo 280 CPU and Hexagon 682 DSP, and uses a new and all-important Qualcomm Adreno 540 GPU to power 3D graphics and much more intensive VR features.
It also debuts Bluetooth 5 and has a X16 LTE modem that includes 802.11ad for Multi-gigabit connectivity, allowing for Gigabit Class LTE connectivity.
Qualcomm is also pinning hopes on more phone makers taking advantage of dual camera systems, touting the Spectra 180 image sensor in the chipset.
The Snapdragon 835 sounds powerful on paper, but what does it mean for you and your next smartphone?
In addition to having a handset that doesn’t slow down over time, you’re going to get a VR-capable phone that’s ready to dive into more 3D graphics and even augmented reality.
The smaller processor is also more power efficient, so battery life will be less of an issue in next-generation smartphone due out in 2017.
It also has the added benefit of Qualcomm’s QuickCharge 4.0 , which is supposed to be able to charge your phone 20% faster in 2017.
All of the Snapdragon 835 power would mean little if it wasn’t for phone makers creating new handsets for 2017. Thankfully, we’re expecting them to do just that.
This is the true sequel to the incredibly popular Snapdragon 820, found in over 200 Android phones around the world. There’s a good chance your favorite phone from 2016 is due for an upgrade in 2017.
We’re fully expecting the curved Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 to include the Snapdragon 835 chip early this year, likely debuting at MWC 2017 .
Further out, we could see follow-ups to the HTC 10, Moto Z, ZTE Axon 7 considering all of them included the Snapdragon 820 chipset.
For now, Qualcomm’s ongoing press conference is demoing prototyped devices running the Snapdragon 835, and we’re there testing them out right now.

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The death of Intel’s ‘Tick-Tock’ means that Kaby Lake is Intel’s third crack at their 14nm process. 14nm started with Broadwell (5 th Gen, tick), introduced a new microarchitecture with Skylake (6 th Gen, tock), and now is in the ‘optimization’ stage with Kaby Lake (7 th Gen). This means an improved ‘14nm Plus’, offering better power efficiency and higher frequencies through a less strained transistor floorplan. Intel is launching a myriad of SKUs under Kaby Lake, ranging from mobile KBL-U at 15W and 28W through mobile KBL-H at 45W and desktop-class KBL-S at 35W to 91W. This includes three overclocking SKUs for desktop, including an i3 variant. Here’s the front page of AnandTech’s Kaby Lake launch coverage.
Despite what has been released elsewhere on the internet, today marks the second official launch of Kaby Lake, the first being back in September with six mobile processors which currently feature in the premium notebook and mini-PC categories. As a ‘trial run’, these six processors have shown promise and as a result another 25+ are coming to the wider market.
The main features for Kaby Lake includes support for Optane Memory, a range of new 200-series chipsets to support the processors, an update to the Gen9 graphics featuring Main10 support and other lower power hardware accelerated video playback, as well as adjustments to the underlying silicon to afford a better voltage frequency curve.
Intel’s ‘Tick-Tock’ cadence has disappeared, as we’ve reported on several times previously, and Kaby Lake is the first wave of Intel’s ‘Optimization’ step in their ‘Process, Architecture, Optimization’ release structure. The goal of the first two steps in that trio have been well documented over the last decade or so of Intel releases: a process change means a shrink in the minimum feature size of the silicon (and arguably represents the main business focus of Intel’s R&D), such as from 90nm to 65nm or 22nm to 14nm, and ‘architecture’ indicates an improvement to the underlying microarchitecture, typically taking advantage of the new process in the previous step. Both of these steps, barring a significant paradigm shift in the microarchitecture, have yielded 5-15% performance jumps each iteration. Also, based on yield, typically the smaller chips are the ones to come to market first.
The Optimization step is a relative unknown, as the term is somewhat definable in many different contexts when it comes to semiconductor design. Optimization could be an adjustment to the base microarchitecture giving it more support, or an adjustment in the silicon manufacturing process giving better efficiency, or it could be a different set of SKUs for a changing market, or it could be an updated internal graphics implementation. There are many ways in which Intel could play the optimization card, and for the launch of their 7 th generation processors, it comes across as a number of features.
At this point I should mention the Devil’s Canyon launch of the i5-4690K and i7-4790K, which were out-of-cycle launches of new overclocking products. While Intel marketed this as an ‘optimization’ of the current design, it technically wasn’t part of the PAO cadence. Most of the Devil’s Canyon optimization was around heat management rather than any other significant shift, whereas the ‘Optimization’ label for Kaby Lake is an actual physical change to the silicon.
The first one to make note of though, to which our readers are probably most interested, is that while there is a change to the silicon, there is no underlying change to the microarchitecture. As a result, Intel are not promoting any performance difference with the previous generation (Skylake, 6 th Gen, SKL) at a given frequency. They are however promoting better efficiency, which means that it should do the same at lower power, or offer better points in the voltage frequency curve. The motto should be ‘do more with less’.
As we’ll explain in this piece, similar to the six processors launched back in September, the main benefits for Kaby Lake over previous generations of Intel CPUs will be in the feature set, and to liven things up, what SKUs are on offer.
Intel defines its processor product lines in terms of segments: Y, U, H and S, which we’ll associate via KBL-Y, KBL-U, KBL-H and KBL-S. Recent changes in Intel’s processor naming scheme have made it harder to determine which segment a processor might be from without looking directly at the TDP or the core arrangement, but here’s a slide to show the base layout:
The Y series, using the Core m3, Core i5/i7 and Core i5/i7 vPro nomenclature, are the 4.5W dual-core processors with HyperThreading that are focused on small and light mobile PCs, such as 2-in-1s or premium lightweight laptops, or Compute Stick-like devices. The reason they get so low in power is often due to their super low base frequency, and with such a low TDP rating this enables these processors to be placed in laptops and have a good chunk of battery removed to save weight but still offer decent battery life.
The U series are at the 15W and 28W mark, still offering two cores with hyperthreading, but with a much higher base clock. These are often cheaper than the Y-series as their voltage/frequency profile does not need to hit such a stringent set of requirements, and these are the parts users will likely see in cheaper designs, or premium gaming notebooks that are not so thick. Some of the U series parts will use an additional on-package chip called eDRAM, either 64 MB or 128 MB, which will act like a transparent DRAM buffer to main memory. This mostly affects graphics performance, and these parts will fall under the Iris Plus branding. The eDRAM use model, as we’ll re-explain in a bit, is different to previous generations of Intel’s eDRAM.
(Astute users will note that this is Iris Plus, rather than just plain Iris or Iris Pro as in previous generations. Intel made clear in our pre-briefings that there will be no Iris Pro products at this launch (which isn’t to say there will not be in the future), however as things stand Iris Plus will be the branding on KBL-U series products that use eDRAM. No exact reason was given for the change, except that it will help differentiate between Skylake parts with Iris grade graphics, but whether this is enough of a reason to adjust the branding remains to be seen).
The H series processors are mobile soldered (BGA) parts that tip the TDP scales at 45W, and the goal of these parts is to provide the top performance to mobile devices that require it. Intel is keen to promote the H-series under its new ‘VR Ready’ branding, indicating that these processors in the right devices will have enough grunt for virtual reality systems that have suitable graphics. The H-series will be wide ranging in parts and performance, as well as bringing in mobile workstation-class Xeon processors.
The S series are the socketable parts for desktops. Just a reminder, that’s ‘S for deSktop’. For users following the desktop line of processors, there is nothing particularly out of the ordinary here to start. Three i7 parts with four cores and hyperthreading, one of which is unlocked and one is low power, followed by a few i5 quad-core parts that have the same trend of unlock and low power, as well as some dual-core with hyperthreading i3 parts.
Two things stand out from the new KBL-S release segments. First is a new part of the stack that comes unlocked and is therefore overclockable: the Core i3-7350K. This is a dual core CPU with hyperthreading, a 60W TDP, comes with a 4.2 GHz base frequency (there’s no turbo on an i3), and the multiplier is adjustable. Certain segments of the enthusiast community have been asking for an unlocked Core i3, to bring overclocking back into having its original meaning of boosting a low-end CPU into performing like a high-end CPU, and this Core i3 will finally answer that question. We have a full review of the Core i3 as part of our Kaby Lake launch series, even though the formal sale date for the i3-7350K is early February.
The second stand-out part is the lack of desktop Xeons being announced, what would be the E3-1200 v6 line of CPUs, as well as the lack of dual-core Pentiums or Celeron parts for the super low-cost segment in the market. The v6 parts, assuming the strategy would follow from the v5 parts, would require a new Xeon-specific chipset for motherboards and no C-series desktop chipset is being announced today. I highly suspect that the Xeon CPUs will be announced later in Q1, given that the target market for these is a little different to standard desktop processors.
For a launch day piece, we managed to secure a sizeable chunk of hardware for analysis. As a result, rather than the usual method of shoving it all into one review and somehow getting some key analysis lost, we will be posting several pieces today to cover the main topics of the hardware at hand. Links to all the other pieces are as follows:
Intel Launches 7 th Generation Kaby Lake (Overview and Core Improvements)
The Intel Core i7-7700K Review: The New Out-of-the-box Performance Champion
The Intel Core i5-7600K Review: The More Amenable Mainstream Performer
Upcoming (we’re at CES and didn’t have time to finish these yet):
Calculating Generational IPC Changes from Sandy Bridge to Kaby Lake
The Intel Core i3-7350K Review: When a Core i3 Nearly Matches the Core i7-2600K
Intel Core i7-7700K, i5-7600K and i3-7350K Overclocking: Hitting 5.0 GHz on AIR
Intel Launches 200-Series Chipset Breakdown: Z270, H270, B250, Q250, C232
Intel Z270 Motherboard Preview: A Quick Look at 80+ Motherboards

© Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/10959/intel-launches-7th-generation-kaby-lake-i7-7700k-i5-7600k-i3-7350k
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There’s something to be said for a desktop PC that doesn’t take over the top of your desk. Just in time for CES this year, ECS is introducing two new Liva mini-PCs. These tiny barebones PCs pack Intel processors into kits that can purportedly handle 4K video and light gaming in the right configuration.
The showcase model is the updated Liva Z Plus , a machine that ECS plans to debut at CES. Powered by Intel’s latest Kaby Lake processors , the Liva Z Plus packs a good amount of muscle into a diminutive frame. The company’s internal numbers indicate that Kaby Lake gives the Liva Z Plus about 11% more performance than its previous Skylake-powered models. Users can slot two DDR4 SO-DIMMs in the machine.
About the size of the palm of your hand, the Liva XE is the smallest of ECS’s lineup of mini-PCs. It runs one of Intel’s low-power Braswell SoCs. The company’s press release is a little confusing—we’re going to go out on a limb and say that this device isn’t 45″ long—but we expect this little guy to measure in similarly to its predecessor, the 5.3″ by 3.3″ by 1.6″ (13.5 cm x 8.3 cm x 4 cm) Liva X .
ECS hasn’t announced pricing or availability yet, but plans to display the Liva Z Plus and Liva X machines at CES, along with the Liva Z and Liva ZE models from earlier this year.

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Lenovo’s announcement today of a new generation of ThinkPads based on Intel’s Kaby Lake platform includes brief but tantalizing mention of Optane, Intel’s brand for devices using the 3D XPoint non-volatile memory technology they co-developed with Micron. Lenovo’s new ThinkPads and competing high-end Kaby Lake systems will likely be the first appearance of 3D XPoint memory in the consumer PC market.
Several of Lenovo’s newly announced ThinkPads will offer 16GB Optane SSDs in M.2 2242 form factor paired with hard drives as an alternative to a using a single NVMe SSD with NAND flash memory (usually TLC NAND, with a portion used as SLC cache). The new Intel Optane devices mentioned by Lenovo are most likely the codenamed Stony Beach NVMe PCIe 3 x2 drives that were featured in roadmap leaked back in July. More recent leaks have indicated that these will be branded as the Intel Optane Memory 8000p series, with a 32GB capacity in addition to the 16GB Lenovo will be using. Since Intel’s 3D XPoint memory is being manufactured as a two-layer 128Gb (16GB) die, these Optane products will require just one or two dies and will have no trouble fitting on to a short M.2 2242 card alongside a controller chip.
The new generation of ThinkPads will be hitting the market in January and February 2017, but Lenovo and Intel haven’t indicated when the configurations with Optane will be available. Other sources in the industry are telling us that Optane is still suffering from delays, so while we hope to see a working demo at CES, the Optane-equipped notebooks may not actually launch until much later in the year. We also expect the bulk of the initial supply of 3D XPoint memory to go to the enterprise market, just like virtually all of Intel and Micron’s 3D MLC NAND output has been used for enterprise SSDs so far.
Support for Intel Optane branded devices based on 3D XPoint memory technology has long been bandied about as a new feature of the Kaby Lake generation of CPUs and chipsets, but Intel has not officially clarified what that means. The plan of record has always been for the first Optane products to be NVMe SSDs, but NVMe is already thoroughly supported by current platforms and software. Because Optane SSDs will have a significantly higher price per GB than NAND flash based SSDs, the natural role for Optane SSDs is to act as a small cache device for larger and slower storage devices. The „Optane support“ that Kaby Lake brings is almost certainly just the addition of the ability to use NVMe SSDs (including Optane SSDs) as cache devices.
At a high level, using Optane SSDs as a cache for hard drives is no different from the SSD caching Intel first introduced in 2011 with the Z68 chipset for Sandy Bridge processors and the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) driver version 10.5. Branded by Intel as Smart Response Technology (SRT), their SSD caching implementation built on the existing RAID capabilities of RST to use a SSD as a block-level cache of a hard drive, operating as a write-back or write-through cache depending on the user’s preference. For SATA devices, no hardware features were required but booting from RST RAID or cache volumes requires support in the motherboard firmware, and Intel’s drivers have used RAID and SRT SSD caching to provide product segmentation between different chipsets.
With the release of Skylake processors and the 100-series chipsets , Intel brought support for NVMe RAID to RST version 15. This was not as straightforward to implement as RAID and SRT for SATA drives, owing to the fact that the SATA drives in a RST RAID or SRT volume are all conveniently connected through Intel’s own SATA controller and managed by the same driver. NVMe SSDs by contrast each connect to the system through general-purpose PCIe lanes and can use either the operating system’s NVMe driver or a driver provided by the SSD manufacturer. In order to bring NVMe devices under the purview of Intel’s RST driver, 100-series chipsets have an unusual trick: when the SATA controller is put in RAID mode instead of plain AHCI mode, NVMe devices that are connected to the PCH have their PCI registers re-mapped to appear within the AHCI controller’s register space and the NVMe devices are no longer detectable as PCIe devices in their own right. This makes the NVMe SSDs inaccessible to any driver other than Intel’s RST. Intel has provided very little public documentation of this feature and its operation is usually very poorly described by the UEFI configuration interfaces on supporting machines. This has caused quite a few tech support headaches for machines that enable this feature by default as it is seldom obvious how to put the machine back into a mode where standard NVMe drivers can be used. Worse, some machines such as the Lenovo Yoga 900 and IdeaPad 710 shipped with the chipset locked in RAID mode despite only having a single SSD. After public outcry from would-be Linux users, Lenovo released firmware updates that added the option of using the standard AHCI mode that leaves NVMe devices alone.
(excerpt from Intel 100-series chipset datasheet)
In spite of the limitations and rough edges, Intel’s solution does ensure reliable operation in RAID mode, free of interference from third-party drivers. It’s certainly less work than the alternative of writing a more general-purpose software RAID and caching system for Windows that can handle a variety of underlying drivers. It also lays the groundwork for adding support for NVMe cache devices to Intel’s SRT caching system. Intel’s SRT already has caching algorithms tuned for 16GB to 64GB caches in front of hard drives, so now that they have a solution for mediating access to NVMe SSDs it is simple to enable using both features simultaneously. The changes do need to be added to both the RST driver and to the motherboard firmware if booting from a cached volume is to be supported. Backporting and deploying the firmware changes to Skylake motherboards should be possible but is unlikely to happen.
In the years since Intel introduced SRT caching, another form of tiered storage has taken over: TLC NAND SSDs with SLC caching. NAND flash suffers from write times that are much longer than read times, and storing multiple bits per cell requires multiple passes of writes. To alleviate this, most TLC NAND-based SSDs for client PC usage treat a portion of their flash as SLC, storing just one bit per cell instead of three. This SLC is used as a cache to absorb bursts of writes, which are consolidated into TLC NAND when the drive is idle (or when the SLC cache fills up). Even TLC NAND has reasonably high read performance, so there is little need to use SLC to cache read operations. By contrast, Intel’s Smart Response Technology has to cache access to hard drives, where both read and write latencies are painfully high. This means SRT has to balance keeping frequently-read data in the cache against making room for a burst of writes. Having a lot of static data hanging around on the cache device will cause significant write amplification to result from any wear leveling, but SRT already reduces the write load by having sequential writes bypass the cache. Taking into account that 3D XPoint memory can handle millions of write operations per cell, even a small 16GB cache device should have no trouble with endurance.

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