The next version of Intel's processor microarchitecture is called Kaby Lake, which forms the successor to Skylake and chips using it are just now just starting to appear. Kaby Lake is a 14nm processor with very few changes to the CPU architecture compared to Skylake. It's best to view it as a refinement, promising faster CPU clock speed, higher Turbo frequencies, and a new graphics architecture allowing for better 3D and 4K performance.
A small improvement in performance across the board may not be enough to tempt those already running Skylake chips into an upgrade. However, Kaby Lake looks to have an ace up its sleeve: it's great for overclocking.
The highest performing Kaby Lake processor Intel currently plans to offer is the Core i7-7700K. It runs at a stock clock speed of 4.2GHz, with Turbo increasing that to 4.5GHz. That's impressive, but as HotHardware reports, Russian website OCLab (translated) managed to get hold of a 7700K and decided to see what it could really do.
Using liquid nitrogen cooling, they placed the Kaby Lake chip in a Z170 motherboard and started ramping up the speed. When they were done, the chip was running steady at 7022.96MHz, so 7GHz!
Intel Core i7-7700K Kaby Lake Processor Overclocked to 7GHz | News & Opinion | PCMag.com
Intel’s i7-7700k overclocked to a ridiculous 7GHz thanks to liquid nitrogen
