Written with care for Doug Street

Senario:
Henrietta’s
Computer
Comp 6217 Hardware
Technology Assignment

Nathan Fitness

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Contents

Introduction....................................................................1
The Scenario...............................................................1
Embellishment........................................................1
Question One..................................................................2
The CPU’s....................................................................2
Intel Coffee Lake 8th Gen Desktop Core Lineup:.....2
Intel Coffee-lake Generation...................................3
Intel i7 – 8700 vs Intel i5 - 8600k.............................3
Recommendation....................................................4
Question Two..................................................................4
Question Three...............................................................6
Question Four.................................................................6
Question Five..................................................................7
Reverences.....................................................................7

Henrietta has obviously some knowledge about

computers to have chosen the CPU’s she has. And
specifically, INTEL.
And Henrietta must have had a reason to want only
ASUS or Gigabyte products
As for the memory, the options are vague due to
Coffee-Lake only supporting DDR4 memory, so
options are limited to speed, price, and brand.
As for display output, it depends on if Henrietta has a
monitor from a previous computer, or wants to use a
tv that might be in her room
And for the external hard drive, Why? Really, why
does she need one? To use as Backup? To store what
files? Does speed matter if she uses a spinning platter
hard drive, or is she using an external SSD or a M.2
SSD Stick Drive.
Introduction

The Scenario
Embellishment
So, my embellishment begins with:
Due to the overall scenario of Henrietta’s father
buying his daughter a computer is vague and Henrietta is currently completing a course in: New
incomplete, I see no point in limiting the Zealand Diploma in Screen Production
embellishment of the situation creating the scenario. Due to this she will require a computer that will help
her with storytelling, screen boarding, Video Capture
and Editing/Post production, Digital Effects,
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Advertising Graphics and imagery, Photography and TI Gaming OC 11Gb with 3 Display ports, 1x HDMI and
Graphic Design 1x dvi-d
She will be using the following Adobe products: She also has two Lacie Rugged Thunderbolt Drives,
Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere one for her storage, and the other for backup
Pro, After Effects, Dimension, and Story Plus
Now on the Questions….
She also has been given a Graphics Card as a
Christmas Present, it was a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080

Question One

The CPU’s

Henrietta has chosen two CPU’s. They are the Intel 17-8700, and the i5 8600k.
Which is the best option for her?
Let’s See…...
Intel Coffee Lake 8th Gen Desktop Core Lineup:
Intel Core i3- Intel Core i3- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i7- Intel Core i7-
CPU Name
8100 8350K 8400 8600K 8700 8700K

CPU Family Coffee Lake-S Coffee Lake-S Coffee Lake-S Coffee Lake-S Coffee Lake-S Coffee Lake-S

CPU Process 14nm 14nm 14nm 14nm 14nm 14nm

CPU Cores 4 4 6 6 6 6

CPU Threads 4 4 6 6 12 12

Base Clock 3.60 GHz 4.00 GHz 2.80 GHz 3.60 GHz 3.20 GHz 3.70 GHz

Boost Clock N/A N/A 4.00 GHz 4.30 GHz 4.60 GHz 4.70 GHz
(Max)

Boost Clock (6 N/A N/A 3.50 GHz 4.40 GHz 4.20 GHz 4.30 GHz
Core)

L2 Cache 1 MB (256 KB 1 MB (256 KB 1.5 MB (256 1.5 MB (256 1.5 MB (256 1.5 MB (256
per Core) per Core) KB per Core) KB per Core) KB per Core) KB per Core)

L3 Cache 6 MB 6 MB 9 MB 9 MB 12 MB 12 MB

Overclocking No Yes No Yes No Yes

Support

Socket Support LGA 1151 LGA 1151 LGA 1151 LGA 1151 LGA 1151 LGA 1151

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 Intel Core i3- Intel Core i3- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i5- Intel Core i7- Intel Core i7-
CPU Name
8100 8350K 8400 8600K 8700 8700K

PCH 300-Series 300-Series 300-Series 300-Series 300-Series 300-Series

TDP 65W 91W 65W 95W 65W 95W

Table 1
According to the Chart it looks like the CPU’s chosen are Coffee-Lake Generation
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Intel Coffee-lake Generation

Characteristics:
Both CPU’s are from Intel’s Coffee-Lake Generation of processor family.
With Coffee-Lake, Intel changed its line up with an increase of core counts from what each model was known for.
This means that the i5 and i7 chosen here, have increased from 4 cores to 6 cores.
Unfortunately, while doing so Intel broke existing compatibility with previous generations of motherboards and
chipsets with the LGA1151 socket.
All coffee lake CPU’s use a 14nanometer (nm) manufacturing process. Although this is the same process as the
previous three generations made by intel. The process has been improved upon and could be called 14 nanometer,
plus, plus (14nm++). This is due to the refinements made since Intel introduced 14nm with Broadwell and used
through Skylake and Kaby lake generations of processor. This means that even though it is still has the same distance
between transistors as the previous three generations, overall the performance and clock speeds have still increased
as the processor became more efficient.
The biggest increase is from intel adding cores to the generation so that the old i3 which was a dual core with
hyperthreading to run 4 threads in two cores (A quadcore similar to what was the old i5 processor).
The i5 is now 6 core, still with no hyper threading (and not a quad core i3 with hyperthreading either, aka the old i7)
The i7 has 6 cores with hyper threading
The i9 which was released the year before Coffee-lake, has 8 cores plus hyperthreading

Intel i7 – 8700 vs Intel i5 - 8600k

Performance:
The i7-8700 is not the top of the line i7, that place belongs to the 8700k version. Even though it is not the king of the
table it still delivers a lot of performance for gaming and other desktop rendering projects
Compared to the i5-8600K, the i7 cannot be overclocked by changing its multiplier to gain more speed. Although it
cannot be overclocked per say, it will overclock itself via its Turbo Boost feature.
The i7 also gains some performance over the i5 due to the i7 is able to process more threads per core.
Capacity:
Capacity in a CPU is how many processes the processor can handle in either 32 bit or 64 bit at a certain speed. So a
faster processor should in most cases win, unless it comes to threads processed per cycle.
Unless tested using various benchmarks and applications doing real work, comparing the i7 to the faster clocked i5 is
guesswork. In single threaded applications the i5 should be king but the i7 can outperform it in ideal temp settings
due to it having a higher Turbo Boost Limit despite the lower standard core clock.
But in multi-threaded applications the i7 should be king despite its lower clock speed in core clock rate and 6 core
turbo boost clock rate.
The other way of testing is by using an app that is multi process single threaded vs a single process multithread.
Under testing one needs to maintain the fastest possible feed to the processor otherwise the processor in
underutilized. But this is a challenge only for Programmers to tackle.
So, for gaming the i5 will be the best for Henrietta but for video editing or photoshop, the i7 will be the better and
wiser choice.
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Variations:
What are the variations in favor of the i7-8700? The i7 has larger thread count than a i5 and this advantage can only
be utilized by using programs that are optimized to use as many threads as possible.
Clock to clock compared, including Turbo Boost the i5 should beat the i7 as the i5 has an overall higher default clock
speed and a higher 6 core turbo boost clock rate.
The i5 has less cache memory than the i7 but it also doesn’t need to constantly need to feed Multiple threads
continuously, as the i7 must.
The next interesting variation is the fact that the i5 is a 95w TDP processor, where the i7 is only a 65w TDP. This
means that over an entire year of rendering, Henrietta will be saving some power using the i7 compared to using the
i5. What is unknown is if the i5 running at stock is “in reality” a true 95w processor or is a 65w that when
overclocked can go up to 95w.

Recommendation
I would personally recommend the i7 since hyper-threading helps relieve some slowdown over the years of use,
especially if Henrietta uses her web browser a lot. It has plenty of power for her studies and is power efficient to
boot.
The i5 is a tempting choice, but I am combining my choice with my experience on this one as the i5 is good but still
one can be left lacking and feeling “what if I got the i7? How different would my computer perform.”

VS
Question Two

Henrietta has chosen two Motherboard Manufacturer’s. They are the Asus, and Gigabyte.
Which is the best option for her?
ASUS and Gigabyte both have a good reputation. Personally, I am a Gigabyte fan, but I am not unaccustomed to
using ASUS, or any other branded board. As for what is the best option, it depends…..as for my scenario
embellishment I have Henrietta owning a Gigabyte 1080ti, but it is only a video card that in no way changes the
overall result.
What function, Components, and Bus Connections will she need?
What functions will Henrietta, need? It must be future resistant, able to grow and expand to fit her needs.
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In Henrietta’s case, all she needs is a small mATX motherboard. Most smaller mATX boards have all the features of
their bigger cousins, with a few exceptions.
As for components, all she needs is the onboard sound and networking features, along with the USB ports available.
As for bus connections, she will need a slot for her video card to fit in, and around 4 to 6 sata ports.
If there are
additional
video ports on
the
motherboard,
then she
could use
them to hook
up another
monitor or
connect her
computer to a
large screen
tv to get some
more desktop
space.
A good
chipset is a
must for
maintaining
speed overall
and so either a h370 or a q370 chipset is preferable, with the most common version the h370
There were
only two
choices:
The ASUS
Prime H370M-
Plus and the
Gigabyte
H370M-D3H
The
motherboard I
chose for her
computer is:
…. the
Gigabyte
H370M-D3H
This was due
to the board
having a Wi-Fi
card slot,

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extra USB ports on the back as well as 2x m.2 capable slots, 4 ddr4 slots for memory upgrading, in a small mATX size
board.

For Henrietta to learn is some various parts of a Motherboard:

CPU socket - the actual CPU is inserted into the socket. In this case it’s a LGA1151 socket
An ATX power connector- this to power the motherboards components.
A 4 or 8 pin CPU Power connector – this is to power the CPU
DIMM Slots for the system's RAM to be inserted into.
A main motherboard chip controls the input and output functions as in SATA, USB, sound, pci1x slots, bios etc. This
chip is directly connected to the CPU.
SATA Slots for one or more hard drives to store files. Or the newer M.2 Slots for faster SSD’s.
A read-only memory (ROM) chip, which contains the motherboards firmware, or startup instructions (POST) for the
computer system. This is also called the BIOS.
At least one 16x Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIE) Slot for a Graphics Card.
Various additional slots to connect extra hardware, if required (PCIE 1x slots).

Question Three

The Motherboard Needs Memory (RAM).

What options are available for her?
When it comes to computer ram unfortunately the differences are brand, speed and Size/capacity.
For Henrietta to future proof her computer I have chosen to have as a minimum 32gb of ram using two sticks of
16gb. This enables her to upgrade, if required, by just adding a stick or two to the board since the board has four ram
slots.
The memory used is nothing special. Just a two pack set of 16gb DDR4 G.Skill Sniper X Series 3000mhz ram.
The only thing to point out is the Coffee-Lake CPUs only run at max 2666Mhz for memory, but the higher speed
memory enables a minor tweak to the bios settings to get a faster Cache Latency (CL) setting.
This means the only upgrading possible is to add more memory.

Question Four

Graphics card connectors – HDMI vs DVI.

Henrietta has a selection of ports to choose from her Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TI comes with 3 Display ports, 1x
HDMI and 1x DVI-D and her board comes with D-sub, DVI-D and HDMI onboard.
In the battle between HDMI and DVI the video card handles what each output does. So if Henrietta, uses a monitor
for her computer then either one will work fine for her as both are digital outputs. The only reason HDMI becomes a
benefit is if Henrietta decides to plug her computer
into her TV. This is due to TV in general never used HDMI 1.3 DVI
DVI. Clock Speed 340 MHz 165 MHz
Bandwidth 10 Gbps 4.95 Gbps
Audio Yes No
Resolution 4196x2160px 3840x2160px
Connector Width 20.9mm 39.5mm
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HDMI is a more modern standard and is updated where DVI is not. Both use the same protocol which enables
compatibility.
A quick comparison is in the table on right:
Due to if Henrietta does not does not have a tv or a monitor. The Winner is HDMI due to it able to be converted back
to DVI if required. Do HDMI Wins due to Backwards Compatibility.

Question Five

What options are available for Henrietta to connect and external Storage?
Henrietta has two options she has chosen for external storage: eSATA and USB 3.x
Out of the two options. The most future proof one will have to be USB. The reason behind this is eSATA was only
popular for a few years due to a lack of speed available via USB 2.0. even though it was still faster than usb3.0, USB
ports are more common than eSATA. eSATA, when used in a motherboard, stole one port out of the mix and sent it
to the rear. This made a motherboard with 6 ports have 5 internal and 1 external SATA available. USB on the other
hand was built into the boards chipset alongside of the SATA, and therefore created two or four ports available. The
only stealing usb3.x did is used a 1x PCIE slot, which in most computers was unused anyway.
eSATA effectively started to disappear around the time Haswell based CPU’s and boards appeared as usb3 devices
were more common and considerably cheaper than their eSATA counterparts. If Henrietta wants to use eSATA based
products, she will be most likely relegated to the more enterprise class of equipment for mass storage. As eSATA can
be split up and used via raid. Usb3 was not designed for raid.
USB 3.0 is a newer connection based on a proven older one, therefore unlike eSATA, USB 3.0 devices are backwards
compatible with USB 2. So even if in a pinch Henrietta can still get her data to its destination. With eSATA, Henrietta
would have to have access to a cable that converts from eSATA type back to SATA and then connect her drive to an
internal port of a pc. Not really something Henrietta would want to really do.
So even though eSATA has a higher transfer rate with lower overhead than USB 3.0, USB 3.0 devices are more
common, cheaper, and are more accessible to purchase, than any decent eSATA device.
Another factor in the choice is that motherboards in general have dropped eSATA support. This is displayed in the
two motherboards I chose, the ASUS mother board had five USB 3.1 ports on the back with more for the front panel,
and the Gigabyte has six on the back with the same amount for front panel.
Therefore USB 3.x was chosen to be the best Choice for Henrietta’s Studies.

Reverences

[Table 1] Mujtaba, H. (2017, September 25). Intel Core i7-8700K Review Leaks Out - Beats The i7-7700K In Gaming. Retrieved from https://wccftech.com/intel-
core-i7-8700k-review/

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sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwispYTwvZ7dAhUSMt4KHRNzBU8Qjhx6BAgBEAM&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.treehugger.com%2Fnatural-sciences%2Ftrees-talk-each-other-and-recognize-their-offspring.html&psig=AOvVaw0S2X-
NC3E4dc3mh_2OS74q&ust=1536050677760049
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%20Film
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accent p/n: GV-N108TGAMING OC-11GD. (2018, March 9). Retrieved from https://www.pp.co.nz/products.php?pp_id=AA78427
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S%22_(14_nm)
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