As time goes by technology improves as evidenced with Intel now releasing the "Kaby Lake" processors as part of their "Tick-Tock" release model. With new CPUs, new motherboards will follow and today I will be reviewing the MSI Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon paired with the latest Intel CPU ? the Intel I7-7700!

Using the aforementioned Intel release model, Kaby Lake would be considered a "Tick", but it is still manufactured on a 14 nm fabrication node. Kaby Lake is however built with design enhancements that Intel refers to as 14 nm+, intended to increase overall efficiency and allow for higher clock rates. The i7-7700 has a lower base clock but an equal turbo boost frequency compared to the prior-generation i7-6700K: with 3600 MHz vs 4000 MHz base core frequency, while both have 4000 MHz maximum turbo frequency with all four cores loaded, respectively.

The i7-7700K will be even faster than the i7-7700 that we have for testing. Kaby Lake's main benefit over Intel's older Sky Lake for desktops will be for overclocking. Many early reports show it should be fairly easy to reach up to 5 GHz with the i7-7700K when paired with a decent cooling solution such as an all-in-one liquid cooling kit. Integrated graphics performance was improved upon greatly as well, maintaining the prior GPU architecture but adding features such as VP9 codec and 4K playback support. Mobile and low-profile system users will enjoy this, but most gamers will not likely notice the improvements because of the widespread use of dedicated graphics cards.