Did Intel timed the retail launch of its Core i7+ and Core i5+ processors to coincide with the preorder availability of AMD’s second-generation Ryzen lineup? It is up to you to decide. Moving past that, the new SKUs are here, and they come bundled with 16GB Optane Memory modules.
Disk acceleration is something that Intel and AMD are both pushing.
The inclusion of Optane Memory in the box is all that makes the Core i7+ and Core i5+ SKUs different than the non-plus variants. Sans the Optane Memory, you’re getting the exact same processor.
There are three SKUs available.
- Intel Core i7+ 8700 (BO80684I78700)—$340
- Intel Core i5+ 8500 (BO80684I58500)—$240
- Intel Core i5+ 8400 (BO80684I58400)—$215
Optane Memory works as drive caching for your primary storage device to speed up performance. It makes the most sense to pair them with a mechanical hard drive drive—Intel’s pitch is that you can have the responsiveness of an SSD with the price and capacity advantages of an HDD.
Please note that Core i5+ and i7+ doesn’t specifically require Optane Memory. Any system with an Intel Optane drive, including the Optane 900P and Optane 800P, can also get the plus. Basically, the plus means you’re using some form of Optane drive with an Intel processor.
