A Product Change Notification (PCN) document has confirmed that Intel is discontinuing its 7000-series Skylake-X chips. The HEDT lineup debuted in June 2017.
“The entry-level Core i7-7800X hexa-core processor tended to the needs of users at the bottom of the spectrum while the the flagship i9-7980XE 18-core part was aimed at more demanding users. Skylake-X got its shine stolen by AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper 2 desktop processors, though, which came with higher core counts at much more accessible prices.”
There’s no indication of why this is happening, but some say it could be because of the competition’s increasingly impressive core counts.
“Intel’s decision to retire its Skylake-X processors might have something to do with AMD’s recently announced Ryzen 3000-series family, which arrives with models that span up to 12 cores. Or perhaps Intel just wanted to free up production capacity, since Skylake-X chips jump out of the 14nm+ griddle, and the chipmaker is still struggling to get out of its 14nm slump. Either way, Intel officially discounted Skylake-X yesterday. Customers can place their last orders for what’s left of the Skylake-X chips before December 27, with the final shipment going out on June 5, 2020.”