Mid range and low voltage Skylake release?

[IT Troll]

Does anyone know when the mid range and low voltage Skylake processors are due to be released? I'm after something for an HTPC build.

I believe the mid range H170 motherboards are due to be released next week.

 

[IT Troll]

Do you know if that includes the mITX boards, assuming that's what you're planning for your HTPC?

No I'm going for a mATX. No sign of mITX yet.

 

[IT Troll]

Thanks for the link, good info. Do the 35W models have the same graphics capability as the 65W models?

 

[IT Troll]

Well yesterday was indeed announcement day for the remaining Skylake CPU and chipset line ups. Hopefully they will start appearing soon.

http://wccftech.com/intel-announces...mily-skylake-y-skylake-h-skylake-s-skylake-u/

The T-series do look nice. Intel HD 530 Graphics with 2 or 4 cores running under 35W.

 

[IT Troll]

Skylake has hardware decoding of H.265/HEVC and so is the better choice for pure HTPC usage. But if you are wanting gaming too then you are going to need something else.

Unfortunately all the motherboards I've seen have gone for HDMI 1.4. However some of the full ATX boards have DisplayPort which can take an HDMI 2.0 adapter (AKA the AMD method).

 

[IT Troll]

Yes these are designed with 4K media in mind. The iGPU has hardware decoding and is capable of outputting 4K @ 60Hz. The snag is that most of the motherboards only have HDMI 1.4 and so will only do 4K @ 24Hz.

However you can get the full 60Hz if you get a motherboard with a DisplayPort. Which can then be used with an HDMI 2.0 adapter if you require.
Alternatively some of the high-end Z170 "gaming" motherboards do come with an HDMI 2.0 port; e.g. GA-Z170X-Gaming G1. But then these are rather overkill for a HTPC, where a small H170 board would be a better match.

 

[IT Troll]

September 27th according to this:
Skylake CPU availability

Hope so as this is last missing piece of my my HTPC puzzle.

 

[IT Troll]

Very early listings for the standard mid range without any product shots.

Not seen anything for the T-series yet.

 

[IT Troll]

Looks like the mid range Skylakes are now available to purchase. I've not seen any of the low voltage T models yet.

 

[IT Troll]

Ah yes I found those too now. Price is a little high, they should be the same price as the non-T models. So around ~£170 for the i5-6600T.

 

[IT Troll]

The Intel list price is the same for the 65W and 35W models. So there shouldn't be any premium once the prices settle.

Not sure if this can be believed (probably just a calculated guess). But 86% - 90% of the performance for nearly a third of the power would be nice.

http://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-intel_core_i5_6600t-522-vs-intel_core_i5_6600k-521

 

[IT Troll]

Availability of the T-series models is still very sketchy in the UK. So I have ordered the i5-6500T from OcUKs parent company who have stock of all the models at sensible prices.