Rare Intel Core i7-8706G Kaby Lake-G processor is almost as fast as the Core i5-8300H

Latest Core i7-8706G Kaby Lake-G processor is almost as fast as the Core i5-8300H (Image source: Intel)

CineBench benchmarks show the quad-core Core i7-8706G to be just 9 percent behind the Core i5-8300H in the latest XPS 15 9570. This processor is currently not available on any mass market consumer laptop and can only be found on the Precision 5530 2-in-1 workstation for now.

Allen Ngo, 10/16/2018

Kaby Lake-G is so uncommon that we can literally count the number of widely available products currently shipping with the processor series with just our two hands. Thus, it's quite exciting whenever we get a new Kaby Lake-G system in our labs as we have almost no idea how it would perform when compared to the ubiquitous Kaby Lake-HQ or Coffee Lake-H series.

The newest Kaby Lake-G laptop of interest is the Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 workstation based on the XPS 15 9575 2-in-1 series which, perhaps unsurprisingly, also uses Kaby Lake-G processors. What makes the Precision so special, however, is its Core i7-8706G SoC as this particular quad-core processor can be found on no other mass market laptop we know of thus far. On paper, its core specifications are identical to the Core i7-8705G including its base clock rate (3.1 GHz), Turbo Boost clock rate (4.1 GHz), L3 cache (8 MiB), and TDP (65 W). The differentiating factor is that the i7-8706G supports vPro whereas the XPS 15 9575 series does not.

So, how does it perform when compared to the existing i5-8305G, i7-8705G, and i7-8809G Kaby Lake-G options? While the i7-8705G offers a very minor boost over the i5-8305G at best, the i7-8706G is about 10 percent faster than the i7-8705G to imply that it is better at maintaining Turbo Boost clock rates for longer. Raw CPU performance is consequently comparable to the Core i7-7700HQ as found on most last generation gaming laptops.

By running CineBench R15 Multi-Thread in a loop, we can observe how the i7-8706G performs over time when under continuous stress. Our graph below shows that it can maintain a small but healthy lead over the i5-8305G and i7-8705G found on the XPS 15 9575 series. The i7-8809G is the much stronger processor overall due largely to its higher thermal envelope of 100 W.

For even more benchmarks on the Core i5-8305G, i7-8705G. i7-8706G, and i7-8809G, see our dedicated pages on each processor and our reviews below.

Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G Vega M GL / 870, i7-8705G, SK hynix PC401 NVMe 500 GB: Ø677 (641.53-746.06)

Dell XPS 15 9575 i5-8305G Vega M GL / 870, i5-8305G, Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV256G: Ø666 (631.88-709.46)

Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK Vega M GH, i7-8809G, Intel Optane 120 GB SSDPEK1W120GA: Ø857 (853.53-862.44)

Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 WX Vega M GL, i7-8706G, SK Hynix PC401 512GB M.2 (HFS512GD9TNG): Ø748 (717.21-781.39)

Cinebench R15
CPU Single 64Bit
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK Intel Core i7-8809G	178 Points ∼65%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G Intel Core i7-8705G	174 Points ∼64%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 Intel Core i7-8706G	172 Points ∼63%
Dell XPS 15 2018 i5 FHD 97Wh Intel Core i5-8300H	167 Points ∼61%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i5-8305G Intel Core i5-8305G	157 Points ∼58%
CPU Multi 64Bit
Intel Hades Canyon NUC8i7HVK Intel Core i7-8809G	864 Points ∼19%
Dell XPS 15 2018 i5 FHD 97Wh Intel Core i5-8300H	840 Points ∼19%
Dell Precision 5530 2-in-1 Intel Core i7-8706G	781 Points ∼17%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i7-8705G Intel Core i7-8705G	746 Points ∼17%
Dell XPS 15 9575 i5-8305G Intel Core i5-8305G	710 Points ∼16%