Is it worth even building an SFF right now?

[TheTinyDesktop]

Given that 8th Generation Chips are not due out until later, and require a new mobo?

Should we all wait.

For ex: The Skull Canyon has been leaked out due to a new upgrade to an 8th generation Chip.
If it is an i7 with 6 cores, even if toned down to T class, it would be a massive improvement.

And after two years, Intel has had to have worked out whatever bugs it had with heat and fan noise with the present Skull Canyon.

 

[TinyAudio]

Have you got a link to the new skull canyon?

 

[confusis]

The next generation is always around the corner; no matter when you buy, a new generation of Intel or AMD CPU will be 6 months away, or nVdia/AMD GPU, or storage technology, or case...

 

[TheTinyDesktop]

Have you got a link to the new skull canyon?

Here is the rumored source.

It’s the time of the year when we start to expect the next NUC leaks coming from FanlessTech – and here they are!

Q2/2018 will bring three NUCs with 28W Coffee Lake CPUs:

– Coffee Lake-U Core i3 with 4 cores (no hyperthreading), 28W TDP
– Coffee Lake-U Core i5 with 4 cores with hyperthreading (8T), 28W TDP
– Coffee Lake-U Core i7 with 4 cores with hyperthreading (8T), 28W TDP

Additional cores are always welcome, but I certainly hope that there are significant changes to the standard cooling solution that we’ve seen with the previous 28W NUCs. Keeping a 28-watt CPU cool and quiet in a tiny box has been a challenge in the past. - Source: NUCblog

Using what we know of Kaby Lake Refresh chips, we have these three options:

Both of these possible i7 options are 4C/8T

Now if it is an i7-8550u, it is 15W and the speeds are 1.8 GHz base and 4.0 (Turbo).
Now if it is an i7-8650u, it is 15W and the speeds are 1.9 GHz base and 4.2 (Turbo).

Both have: Intel® UHD Graphics 620
Both are Kaby Lake Refreshes. Click to see all 4 options (All are four cores)

Intel has lowered the base operating speed, but increased the Turbo.

This may resolve some of the heat issues that are on the present 6th Generation i7-6770HQ CPU in the present Skull Canyon.

However, there is the issue of iGPU. The present Skull Canyon has a very good iGPU, so to equal it, Intel may release an i7-8770HQ. If so, I do not have the specs.

Fanless Tech however insists that the CPUs will not be Kaby Lake refresh, but 28 W newer CPUs.

Just when we thought that Intel was gearing up for lower NUC TDP, Chipzilla might try to reinvent the NUC as a legit desktop replacement with powerful 28W chips. We're hearing that three "Coffee Lake U" models are in the works for Q2 2018.

✓ *th Generation C*re i3 Processor (CFL-U) 4c/4t 28W TDP
✓ *th Generation C*re i5 Processor (CFL-U) 4c/8t 28W TDP
✓ *th Generation C*re i7 Processor (CFL-U) 4c/8t 28W TDP

Additionally, the popular Skull Canyon gaming NUC is finally getting an eDRAM-laden sequel.

Update: We can confirm that there will be no "Kaby Lake Refresh" NUC.

So we may have a completely done over and improved CPU, particularly since the present i7-6770HQ is 45 W and Fanless Tech says the new CPUs will be 28 W. This will knock down a lot of heat issues with the present Skull Canyon.

 

[Kmpkt]

A 4C/8T could make for a really compelling build with 1 M.2 SSD and an M.2 to PCIe x 4 adapter.

 

[TheTinyDesktop]

The next generation is always around the corner; no matter when you buy, a new generation of Intel or AMD CPU will be 6 months away, or nVdia/AMD GPU, or storage technology, or case...

Absolutely true, but not at these rates of improvements.

 

[TheHig]

I'm certainly not alone in this but taking your current build and miniaturizing is a nice cost effective way to get into the glory of SFF without having to build from scratch. Also you could sell of some of your now unused ATX sized components to offset cost or even get the seed money started for the next platform that is ever looming.

 

[IntoxicatedPuma]

If you're building Intel it's not worth it IMO, because others are saying 8C/16T mainstream CPU's are coming end of next year and only supported on Z390 platform, which means even you wait a few months and get the Z370 you will be wanting to upgrade again next year. If you go AMD then I'd say why not, since AMD said AM4 will be supported for quite some time.

 

[Shahmatt]

I am personally waiting to see what AMD's Raven Ridge APU's might look like. I'm looking at miniature builds without a dGPU so any progress on the integrated front would be worth the wait.

Stuffing it all into a fanless case is an attractive prospect but given AMD's history on hotter TDPs I don't know if that would be possible.