Haswell Debuts: Intel Core i7-4770K Review

[Julio Franco]

Read the full article at:
[newwindow=https://www.techspot.com/review/679-intel-haswell-core-i7-4770k/]https://www.techspot.com/review/679-intel-haswell-core-i7-4770k/[/newwindow]

Please leave your feedback here.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I thought Haswell wasnt until June 4? Wow. Great.

What I dont get though, is why Intel changed the socket if they arent focusing on the desktop anymore... I may go ahead and buy a 3570K instead since the performance increase seems very, very minimal. Intel over-hyped Haswell for nothing. Haswell has to redeem itself in the mobile sector to be considered a improvement.

I see this as a opportunity for AMD to give Intel a run for their money. I think AMD will be the new performance king since they are focusing on the desktop more.

 

[VitalyT]

It feels like the last generation of processors before the market takes on a new shape, under the pressure from ARM and tablets. Customer feedback from the new Galaxy Tab 3 with Atom will be an important sign for the changes to come.

Maybe the benchmark should use the latest leaked version of Windows 8.1, which claims to have optimizations for Haswell, to measure the power consumption and battery life...

 

[VitalyT]

Intel over-hyped Haswell for nothing. Haswell has to redeem itself in the mobile sector to be considered a improvement.

Haswell's main focus is in power saving, something this article didn't even touch. It is not over-hyped for nothing, not till we see all the right tests for it.

 

[Lionvibez]

Overall I was impressed by the improvement in encoding apps everything else not so much.

I would like to see overclocking numbers in a follow up article.

I also wasn't expecting to see this on a Sat morning so thank you for your hard work.

 

[Steve]

Intel over-hyped Haswell for nothing. Haswell has to redeem itself in the mobile sector to be considered a improvement.

Haswell's main focus is in power saving, something this article didn't even touch. It is not over-hyped for nothing, not till we see all the right tests for it.

What are the right tests? We did test power consumption but maybe you can suggest some other tests for us to try.

Maybe the benchmark should use the latest leaked version of Windows 8.1, which claims to have optimizations for Haswell, to measure the power consumption and battery life...

Hmm :S Did you read the review? We didn't exactly have the luxury of time.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Haswell's main focus is in power saving, something this article didn't even touch. It is not over-hyped for nothing, not till we see all the right tests for it.

I think you should add temperatures Steve, IB had a increased temperature over SB, so Haswell can change that. But seriously, give Steve and the TS team credit though, they worked their butts off to get this out in time.

 

[VitalyT]

What are the right tests? We did test power consumption but maybe you can suggest some other tests for us to try.

Power consumption and power saving aren't the same thing. The second one reflects how quickly and efficiently the CPU can adjust power consumption under the current load. It is this testing that will ultimately indicate how much of improvement Haswell will be for laptops.

EDITED: Such test would also include power consumption in each sleep mode that Haswell supports.

 

[VitalyT]

Hmm :S Did you read the review? We didn't exactly have the luxury of time.

I did read it, good job, so sleep it off, have a beer, because on Monday this article will be chewed up - you'll spend the day reading through...

 

[GhostRyder]

Good article, I'm surprised at the performance of this chip because it seems to only really shine in the memory bandwidth and power consumption at idle.
Under load it drains more power and does not show much of a gain in that respect. Although still a nice chip.

 

[VitalyT]

Under load it drains more power...

Note - that's only under peak load. On average it is way better than Ivy Bridge

 

[LinkedKube]

Good article. I"m going to read it again...

 

[Burty117]

Nice, this was a bit of a shock to see on a Saturday! Good work getting this out so quickly!

Anyway, Haswell's performance isn't anything special, Still going to get one since I'm building a rig from scratch, but still a little underwhelming all the same, I wonder if it will overclock relatively well? And how come Asus didn't send you any motherboards

I wonder if in the future, when games start to really use more threads and get more complex, if this processor will be considerably better than Ivy/Sandy for games? I know you didn't have much time to really get into it but it would be good to see how this processor fairs against the others in more CPU intensive games don't take that as a criticism against the review though! to get this up so quick must have been some work! I'm sure I'll find out how it scales in the next couple of months!

 

[EEatGDL]

VitalyT, how can you be so biased? Do you have a platform with it and can stand for what you're saying about power consumption and temperature? I don't know where you get "on average", but I'm not to start a fight, just asking.

I think graphics was very hyped, or at least I had that impression, and actually it didn't deliver on that side as usual. Only time will tell when compilers include TSX (for the multi-threading synchronization part) and AVX2 (for the fused multiply-add on integer vectors -taking for the operation 5 cycles from the previous gen's 8 cycles) instructions and see them implemented in new software to see what this can truly achieve.

On the other hand, it is truly appreciated your hard work [I was greatly surprised to see the review on saturday] and it just gets explained in the final thoughts. Overall it is well done, I think the temperatures would be useful, but is a good job anyway.

 

[Guest]

Any chance you can test quicksync in tmpgec video masterwork 5.x? I wonder if the extra graphic units improve performance. Thanks.

 

[SexyMan]

This is good for Laptop and other portable devices because of the power saving features...

but for Desktop or gaming solution it is.. YAWN... ZZZzzZZZ

Looks like I will still keep my 2600K Sandy Bridge at 5Ghz for another Generation.


On the other note: The AMD A10-5800k performed actually good on the benchmark considering its price is cheap dirt.

Still.. YAWN>... people.. there's nothing to see here..

 

[Jad Chaar]

AMD has the opportunity to kick Intels ***, let us see if they screw it up.

 

[Hammayon]

Desktop Users - With discrete graphic cards so damn cheap, any decent desktop will have a discrete graphics card 3-4x the performance of HD4600 IGP solution. The question is, is this processor faster than the newest 3770K with discrete graphics? Not by much at all. The performance gains with discrete graphics for games was insignificant. Still, being at the same price point as the previous IVY bridge it would be the choice for new users, only if it overclocks well. For old users who just want to upgrade their computer, they would have to buy a new motherboard socket, a big con. I agree with the staff that this is the biggest drawback, with virtually very little gain.

As for onboard graphics for laptops, they did improve it, but even laptops have mobile discrete graphics now, liek the new HD8970M and the Nvidia 780M solutions. Great performance at large decrease in price! I'm looking forward to the mobile H8970M performance review against the 780M. I think I may just buy a new laptop now since it should be able to play the latest games on the highest settings with playable framerates at an affordable price (less than $2000)

I agree with Techspot staff reviews and comments. Very well done. Thanks for a great read on a Saturday morning!

 

[Hammayon]

I am running an i7-2600K sandy bridge overclocked from 3.4 Ghz to 4.8 Ghz. I figure it's as fast the latest 6 core IVY/HASWELL base clocked processor. I used Corsair's Hydro Series H90 and my motherboard had a built in preconfigured overclocking feature so it was the easiest overclock ever. I'm using the Asrock Extreme4. I have to Nvidia 480's in SLI and get 60 fps in all my games with V sync on. The 480's are so cheap now on ebay, Though if I was building a new system I would buy two 660 ti or two 7950's in SLI/crossfire for a total price tag of $500 off ebay.

 

[slh28]

Great work on the review, nothing too surprising in the results then.

Under load it drains more power...

Note - that's only under peak load. On average it is way better than Ivy Bridge

"On average" the few watts saved in idle/sleep states won't matter much in the grand scheme of things on desktops, the savings in the electricity bill will be minimal. What's more interesting is how the Haswell power saving features perform on mobile platforms.

 

[dividebyzero]

I wonder if it will overclock relatively well?

4.5 -4.9G staying within Intel's VID guideline seems to be the consensus so far - on air/AIO watercooling that is. OC'ing seems between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge. HardOCP have an initial overclocking section in their review along with some easy setup BIOS settings.

And how come Asus didn't send you any motherboards

From a benchmarking point of view, Asus aren't the best indicators of a representative performance since their UEFI implements an "all core turbo" by default. The Intel specification is to enable max turbo on one core, and drop one multiplier for every successive core coming into turbo state. This is the primary reason that Asus motherboards generally top the performance charts (stock clocks) against their competitors - SATA third party controllers excepted.

I wonder if in the future, when games start to really use more threads and get more complex, if this processor will be considerably better than Ivy/Sandy for games?

Don't bank on it. Game developers are pretty lazy as a rule. For any fundamental change in game coding you need hardware vendor funding/support. Games are inherently loaded toward GPU+vRAM operation, with the CPU and PCI-E bus really only being extensively used for physics and other post-process facets (AI routines being one of the most noticeable)

I see this as a opportunity for AMD to give Intel a run for their money. I think AMD will be the new performance king since they are focusing on the desktop more.

I've heard this after every Intel launch since the X6800 and E6700. Substitute desktop for APU and you're closer to the mark I think. AMD have a long, long way to go before they become the "performance king", considering Intel could pretty much rebrand fully enabled eight-core Xeons E5's into the consumer market at the drop of a hat.

 

[Guest]

PCper already did one of the MOST important tests of all price versus performance --

The winners were AMD FX-8350 and the AMD A10-5800 over the $350 Intel Haswell.

Intel spend billions on improving Haswell over the last generation and still came up short in price for performance that everyone cares about from cars to computers.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I am running an i7-2600K sandy bridge overclocked from 3.4 Ghz to 4.8 Ghz. I figure it's as fast the latest 6 core IVY/HASWELL base clocked processor. I used Corsair's Hydro Series H90 and my motherboard had a built in preconfigured overclocking feature so it was the easiest overclock ever. I'm using the Asrock Extreme4. I have to Nvidia 480's in SLI and get 60 fps in all my games with V sync on. The 480's are so cheap now on ebay, Though if I was building a new system I would buy two 660 ti or two 7950's in SLI/crossfire for a total price tag of $500 off ebay.

Unfortunately, Intel is moving away from the desktop, and that has become apparent. I Think the old overclocking days are gone. Overclocking with Haswell is worse than IB according to Toms Hardware.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I've heard this after every Intel launch since the X6800 and E6700. Substitute desktop for APU and you're closer to the mark I think. AMD have a long, long way to go before they become the "performance king", considering Intel could pretty much rebrand fully enabled eight-core Xeons E5's into the consumer market at the drop of a hat.

Unfortunately man. AMD is now rumored to be releasing a 5GHz CPU. They have to focus on architecture, not clock speeds. That is their issue. They need to snatch more Intel guys. That wont be hard with the money they just got from Xbox and Sony console deals.

 

[dividebyzero]

Unfortunately man. AMD is now rumored to be releasing a 5GHz CPU.

A couple of points:
1. AMD is always rumoured to releasing something.
2. A 5GHz Piledriver based chip made in limited quantities for the LN2 crowd wouldn't impact the market at all. AMD already has 8+ GHz chips in the record books, and it hasn't exactly improved AMD's outlook.
3. The mythological FX-9000 (there's a hint in that name) is supposedly a 220 Watt part. Just for the sake of putting the oddball rumour to rest, there are plenty on analysis on the net to why this isn't feasible on the 32nm process using in-place hardware.

They have to focus on architecture, not clock speeds. That is their issue.

Well, that seems at odds with launching 5GHz / 220W monster golden sample doesn't it ?

They need to snatch more Intel guys. That wont be hard with the money they just got from Xbox and Sony console deals.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.................................sorry.
Intel will spend over sixty percent more on R&D in this quarter than AMD's total financial cap is valued at
($4.7 billion in R&D versus AMD's market cap of $2.86 billion)

Unfortunately, Intel is moving away from the desktop, and that has become apparent.

Well, no they aren't, and no it isn't.
Intel clarified that HEDT remains a socketed solution for the foreseeable future - hardly surprising since the CPUs share commonality with workstation and server chipsets. As for mainstream, Skylake (2015-16) is still LGA (Flip Chip-Land Grid Array) which means a socketed CPU

You're probably thinking of the hoo-hah regarding Intel's supposed shift to embedded (BGA) processors. Intel pretty much cleared up the issue saying that certain SKU's would be embedded only. A prime example would be the 4570R and 4670R because of the embedded DRAM on package.
FWIW, you'll find that there is a distinct lack of socketed processors made that feature eDRAM- mostly because the complexity of pin-outs and criticality of contact required between pins and mainboard.