Agreed. Apparently Intel measures TDP from the base clock, which is cheating IMO... What I'm curious about is the 8700 stock heatsink. It should be able to handle the 8700's boost clock, otherwise Intel wouldn't have bundled it with it. And the L9i is better than the stock heatsink, yet there are reports that the L9i can't handle the 8700. I can't find much testing on this online.
I think the 8400 should be fine with the L9i. Pretty low clocks, only 4GHz turbo on 1 core, and 3.8 on 6 cores. And very good value. Perhaps the best choice for this case.
I can confirm the following:
1. The stock heat sink is the same basic stock heat sink they've used for a while design wise. Not sure if the fan spins faster, but it's nothing special.
2. The L9i is a better cooler than the stock Intel.
3. Intel has allowed the power to spike in the 110-120 watt range for short times to get those 8700 turbo specs. Then it powers down to 65 watts. Here the L9i will maintain the base clock of 3.2ghz. Anything above is bonus.
4. Intel is now taking the NVIDIA approach to turbo in that it's become an "up to" number that doesn't mean it's fixed. They only gurentee the base clock.
5. I've been adjusting the power settings on the mainboard allowing the CPU to go up to 75 watts on long term. This puts me at about 4ghz turbo, while staying nearly silent.
6. If you want to avoid this headache or fun depending on your perspective, wait for the T series to launch.
7. Obvious thing is obvious... bigger cooler will allow for more wattage. The 8700 is a 100+ watt CPU at full turbo. If you want it to boost that high all the time, you'll need a bigger cooler than stock or L9i
8. Cases like the Dan or 3.5 with back to back style mounting are limited by the coolers available. Until Dan comes out with his own, or vendors increase the width of the CPU compartment, high speed fans will probably be the only choice.
9. I'm all for CPU delidding, but I don't have the time/patience for it.
10.... and let's bring this thread back to the 3.5. If you plan to use an L9i on the 8700/8700K in the Custom Mod case, seriously consider delid and liquid metal mod, or accept your turbo will be lower.