Intel Core i7-6700K Review: Skylake arrives with the latest 'tock'

[BlueDrake]

Just a small nitpick on the article. You listed the i5-6600K, with the same specs as the i7-6700K on the first page. Don't want some confusion on someone thinking, you can get basically a similar i7 at a lower price.

 

[Steve]

Just a small nitpick on the article. You listed the i5-6600K, with the same specs as the i7-6700K on the first page. Don't want some confusion on someone thinking, you can get basically a similar i7 at a lower price.

Sorry about thank. Fixed now thanks.

 

[hrowder]

What... no love for the 5930? The 5960 crushes most of the new chips, but it's much higher priced. The 5930 is reasonably priced, uses DDR4 memory, has plenty of PCIe pathways, and runs applications faster than these new chips. I don't see any advantage to even the 6700k over the 5930 to say nothing of the 5960.

 

[Nobina]

Why is everyone dissapointed by the fact that they don't have to upgrade? It's like you just want to throw out money on a new CPU every couple of months. If your CPU from 2 generations ago is still working perfectly you should be glad not mad cause you don't have to upgrade.

 

[SuperVeloce]

I understand that new CPU arhitectures and instructions need some time to shine (new compilers and software) but what I dont understand is why are there reports of better performance on win10 compared to 8.1 or 7

 

[LNCPapa]

I don't think people are disappointed that they don't have to upgrade. I think people, myself included, are disappointed that there isn't a big enough jump to make me desire to upgrade now. I want the performance to move forward not just in efficiency but also speed. For the last few months I feel like I made a mistake by not jumping on the 4960/5960 train. With the lackluster releases that we've been seeing I think I might just pick up a 5930 to hold me over.

 

[madboyv1]

Those with a Sandy Bridge processor might be tempted, though we suspect 2500K owners will hold out for a more substantial upgrade.

It's as if you're telling me to hang on to my 2500k in my current computer... but I wanted to update to the new "new" stuff this yeeeeeear. Well, if anything hopefully I'll be able to buy a 4790k on the cheap or maybe go with a 5930K? Who knows...

 

[Forebode]

Sadly, never. Intel's vision of "consumer" is not the one using dedicated GPU... those are enthusiasts.
Consumer is office worker who plays minesweeper and solitaire when he has spare time from extensive excelling and powerpointing. And iGPU is quite enough for those.

fine, release an enthusiast chip. make a separate version of the 3 or 4 chips.. call them x3, x5, x7 and x whatever. remove the "I" from it. I don't want to buy a Xeon.

 

[wiyosaya]

My $0.02 - Looks like Intel pulled an AMD. I've been sitting on an i7-3820 for some time. Really nothing Intel has come up with since then has inspired me to want to build a new machine. I would get more bang for the buck by simply upgrading my GTX580.

That said, it seems like Intel has really done nothing innovative in the past few years except go to 14nm. They are clearly milking every cent they can out of the current base design. As I see it, this is creating an opening for AMD - not that I am holding my breath for AMD to release an Intel killer. But having worked for a former photography giant that became complacent and in that complacency evaporated to a shadow of its former self, I have to say to Intel, wake up guys. Being a leader is great, being complacent is just stupid.

you do know we are talking about the only company to be sued for selling old hardware as new right??? yeah intel has been over rated for years......its sad im still rocking a AMD 555 unlocked to a quad core and 3.8ghz (really a locked 955)......but I can still get 50 to 60 frames a second in GTA5 with this CPU on a 9 series motherboard with a 770 4gb......

Actually, I did not know that they were sued for selling old hardware. Interesting...

It is amazing just how good some old hardware is...

 

[wiyosaya]

The biggest scam of all was when Intel split their releases into consumer and enthusiast with their "E" versions... and then released "E" version AFTER the consumer ones!!

Honestly, if you are paying top dollar for an "E" CPU, you should be getting the latest chipset as well, not last year's (or 2 years ago)...

For instance - those of us sporting X99 (Haswell-E) are now a chipset behind - but there is nothing to upgrade to... Skylake-E should have come out first !!

For me, my "E" was a buy well considered. It does perform better on some types of workloads, and those workloads are what I am interested in. I am not primarily a gamer, but gamer sites do present information to me that is relevant.

Though I have an SB-E, I have yet to see an update that I consider worth the price except, as I mentioned previously, perhaps an upgrade to my GPU. I never update just for the sake of updating. For me, there is a value side of things.

 

[ScubaRhys]

Excellent review. Also I dont feel so bad about picking up a 4790k in April now!

 

[Darth Shiv]

Why is everyone dissapointed by the fact that they don't have to upgrade? It's like you just want to throw out money on a new CPU every couple of months. If your CPU from 2 generations ago is still working perfectly you should be glad not mad cause you don't have to upgrade.

No-one *has* to upgrade. You upgrade if it makes a difference to you. It's the next gen processor and they didn't really improve anything. Consumer enthusiasm is usually tied to buying the new chips if they are worthwhile getting.

 

[DAOWAce]

Wake me when the "E" line comes out.

Oh, no wait, don't, because they'll want us to buy a new motherboard again, when I just upgraded to a 5930K last month 'cause I was tired of waiting for Broadwell-E and sitting on an old Ivy Bridge chipset; now Skylake is out FFS.

Why has the mainstream platform still not gotten any higher than 4 cores?

I wish AMD never fell off.

 

[captaincranky]

Why is everyone dissapointed by the fact that they don't have to upgrade? It's like you just want to throw out money on a new CPU every couple of months. If your CPU from 2 generations ago is still working perfectly you should be glad not mad cause you don't have to upgrade.

Well, because they're hell bent on computer domination, they have way more money than brains, and their credit cards are burning holes in their pockets.

I mean really If I can get one more frame per second than you, I'll win. If I lose, it will be because Skylake won't outperform earlier platforms, and I can come to Techspot to whimper endlessly about it.

I honestly don't see a downside to this, do you?

Wake me when the "E" line comes out.

Tragically, there won't be a need. I'm sure you'll be whining in every Skylake thread that comes down the pike, and Techspot will send you a ton of email notifications about it! Besides, I can barely get myself out of bed anymore.

Oh, no wait, don't, because they'll want us to buy a new motherboard again, when I just upgraded to a 5930K last month 'cause I was tired of waiting for Broadwell-E and sitting on an old Ivy Bridge chipset; now Skylake is out FFS.

Poor baby. Quick question though, are you bragging or complaining about your recent purchase?

Oh well, that's what it's like when you're an addict. Ya just can't wait for that next bag of dope to get you off. Then it comes in, and it's no better than the last batch. And here you thought you were going to really get a legendary high, What happens in reality is, we have to listen to you jonesing from wherever you're coming down, all the way to Techspot.

Why has the mainstream platform still not gotten any higher than 4 cores?

Pick the answer you like, OK?

Because if it did, then it likely wouldn't be, "mainstream".

Or.....,The Execs at Intel obviously don't realize exactly who they're dealing with. Drop them a nasty email, let them know.

I wish AMD never fell off.

You and a lot of other people. I used to really.enjoy listening to the fanbois insult the good old P-4. I think they called it a "space heater". Have you read the TDP spec on that AMD junk recently? Seriously though, don't, You're liable to jump off a bridge.

I did see the last few out of work AMD CEOs. They had taken over the "tidy bowl man's" oars and were valiantly rowing away from the swirl of the toilet's drain....

 

[eazyryder]

Good to read some honest benchmark testing results on the I7 6700k, I have recently gone from an AMD 8150 to an I7 4790K, and was wondering after reading many other website reviews, whether I should have waited a little longer.
Really happy with my 4790k now, keep up the good work techspot.

 

[Peter Farkas]

Could the reason for these disappointing results be that Intel is focusing more on the mobile market competition? Perhaps they want to knock-out the ARM based chips and since they still have a distinct advantage on the desktop market they can actually do that.
I think we have been waiting for AMD to come up with an Intel killer chip for long-long years now. I don't have faith in AMD anymore. Intel can focus on the mobile market without considerable risk in my opinion.
This happens when you have a monopolistic market. It killed innovation and intel is under no pressure to blow our mind with anything new (except the pressure from us, but hey, we don't have any alternative honestly).

Sad....

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]....This happens when you have a monopolistic market. It killed innovation and intel is under no pressure to blow our mind with anything new (except the pressure from us, but hey, we don't have any alternative honestly).

Sad....

The biggest kick I get out of this forum, is all the "experts in microprocessor design", who are certain that Intel is sandbagging moving forward because they're ahead of AMD in certain areas.

I don't believe anyone who has weighed in on the topic has a clue how difficult of an undertaking it must be to do a die shrink at the sizes in use today.

Most often, "Moore's Law" is thought of as "an infallible law", when it should be thought of more in terms of, "Moore's Lucky Guesstimate", or perhaps, "Moore's Opinion".

And even if Intel isn't doing all it could in the desktop arena, it isn't me sucking up all the portable devices. Like they said Good Friday, "give us Barabbas". Well, you got him, and he's touch sensitive..

 

[Peter Farkas]

The biggest kick I get out of this forum, is all the "experts in microprocessor design", who are certain that Intel is sandbagging moving forward because they're ahead of AMD in certain areas.

I don't believe anyone who has weighed in on the topic has a clue how difficult of an undertaking it must be to do a die shrink at the sizes in use today.

Most often, "Moore's Law" is thought of as "an infallible law", when it should be thought of more in terms of, "Moore's Lucky Guesstimate", or perhaps, "Moore's Opinion".

And even if Intel isn't doing all it could in the desktop arena, it isn't me sucking up all the portable devices. Like they said Good Friday, "give us Barabbas". Well, you got him, and he's touch sensitive..

Well mate, look at the market share intel has against AMD for desktop CPUs, look at the profit they are making. It is a monopolistic market. AMD is just messing around...
And look at the performance of Intel's new lineup, no considerable improvement unfortunately. 6700K is on the market and it does not force you to upgrade from an "old" 2500K.
Noone claimed he/she is an "experts in microprocessor design", this is just common sense.

 

[captaincranky]

Well mate, look at the market share intel has against AMD for desktop CPUs, look at the profit they are making. It is a monopolistic market. AMD is just messing around...
And look at the performance of Intel's new lineup, no considerable improvement unfortunately. 6700K is on the market and it does not force you to upgrade from an "old" 2500K.
Noone claimed he/she is an "experts in microprocessor design", this is just common sense.

Well, Skylake's release date was pushed back, IIRC. I strenuously doubt that was caused by apathy on the part of Intel, but rather by difficulties associated with production of the 14nm process. AMD can't compete as they don't really have the equipment, (AFAIK), to shrink the dies comparably, hence more power consumption from older, larger, die sizes.
.
. AMD is at least doing something sensible by keeping their prices down. I've seen too many business fail completely, as when cash flow becomes a problem they raise prices to compensate, which only hastens the inevitable end.When nobody is buying your stuff, they absolutely won't buy it with the price jacked up.

OTOH, they seem to be going through executives at an unholy clip. I suppose that's couched in a fantasy that that special someone at the top can yap and bully the company, its workers to do more, but most of all its customers, to buy them back into solvency.

As for the experts here at TS, I going to stand by my assessment. Are you really than heartbroken you don't have to spend a couple of grand on a new PC this year? If that old one still does the job, the only thing really missing is a new machine you can boor everyone to death bragging about.

So many people here are certain of the path Intel should be on. And yet in spite of Intel's size, IIRC correctly, I believe they've had to close a couple of fabs. Maybe you could investigate that and get back to me.

The reality is, everybody bellyaching about performance at hobbyist sites cumulatively can't buy enough chips that suit them, to change the course, or profitability, of Intel's manufacturing or marketing strategy.

I think I read somewhere the memory controllers in Skylake chips are spectacular.. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket,. you could always build on the strength of that, and run benchmarks to your heat's content on that facet of performance.

But an overarching issue is this, "the point of diminishing returns" sets in at some point in virtually anything man undertakes. Are we at that point with microprocessors? Dunno, but we certainly could be starting to approach it.

.

 

[Squid Surprise]

Dude... you can't argue common sense with this guy... he's just slagging cause he can.... so cranky, where's YOUR evidence that Intel ISN'T sandbagging?

 

[captaincranky]

Dude... you can't argue common sense with this guy... he's just slagging cause he can...

When you start this crap badmouthing me, and trying to elicit sympathy from a 3rd party, it always reminds me of some 13 year old girl writing nasty things on somebody's Facebook page Or maybe some temp running their yap around the water cooler..

so cranky, where's YOUR evidence that Intel ISN'T sandbagging?

I guess it's tucked away with your paranoid fantasy that Intel is sandbagging you. So, you have no proof that they are. To me, the issue comes down to what some suit in charge of hype at Intel fantasizes can be done, not having his delusions of grandeur met by the people tasked to actually doing an almost impossible job.

Then there's the whole issue of perceived self entitlement on your part. No matter what you're given, you always think you should have been given more..Wha, wha, boo, hoo, this piece of crap won't run Crysis any faster than last years model....And so it goes.

BTW, when do you plan on starting the name calling this time?

 

[slamscaper]

Well this does make me feel a lot better about my current Z97 build running on a slightly OC'ed 4790K. Despite the better chipset, this is disappointing indeed. But I'm glad because I can't afford a new build!

 

[captaincranky]

But I'm glad because I can't afford a new build!

You're not alone! There's a lot of that going around.....

 

[That Dude There]

At least I now know that my Z77/Core i7 3770 platform is still viable next to Skylake and the Z100 series chipset. I had a feeling that it'd be like this for those of us running Ivy Bridge and Haswell setups but anyone with an older platform should make the jump.

That's me. I think the world economy will collapse before we see the worthy upgrade.

 

[That Dude There]

Still Rocking my SandyBridge i7-2700K and I see no reason to upgrade anytime soon. And by anytime soon I mean the next 5 years.

No worries, your CPU won't last that long. I have an 2600k and I'm sure I can't motivate a replacement before it breaks either. I need at least double the performance of my old CPU before I can consider it.

I used to have parts die on me, until I got tired of it and bought a Cooler Master HalfX case and filled it with the largest fans I could. No more dead parts so far in 3 years.