The Core i7-4770K Review: Haswell Is Faster; Desktop Enthusiasts Yawn

[StephenWA]

I hope it drives the Ivy Bridge MB & CPU prices down over the next month. Late July for my next build. But seeing these results I am not expecting much. Maybe 7% MB drop and 15& CPU, but that is nothing but a wild guess. I wont pay more than $50 extra total to up to the new chip/board over i7-3770 and Asrock Z77 Extreme4 and 16GB 1600 no OCing.

For Painter 12 primarily and Photoshop secondary I don't think I would see a difference even with huge files with the i7-4770. Feel free to comment, anyone at all.

This is a very helpful review, thank you reviewers.

 

[tnagy]

I have i7 920 OC to 3.8 should I upgrade?

 

[gsxrme]

ya the 920s don't even compete because of the low memory controller and How can you compare an 920 to any of the 2000s, 3000s and soon to be 4000s. from an 920 stand point this is an upgrade but anyone with at least a sandy, this is sure as hell not an upgrade. Gamers won't see shit

 

[dajens72]

New 1150 mobo and cpu...upwards of 500 dollars US.....keeping Ivy 3570K with existing hardware...priceless.

 

[ojas]

In AIDA64, Atom meets or beats Kabini. I don't think that's anything to go by. Check this out:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ivy-bridge-wolfdale-yorkfield-comparison,3487.html

I have a Q8400, i know i'll be upgrading to Haswell. Whether i5/i7 is unclear.[citation]

[nom]cangelini[/nom]PSU was picked specifically for Haswell and used across all platforms. Motherboard: all C-states enabled in firmware.[/citation]
Thanks...I'm frankly a bit disappointed, then...i mean, usually i go like, 10% more perf over the last gen is fine as long as you're more efficient, but that's not the case here...plus overclocking...what happened to people hitting 5.5 with engineering samples on air? 7 on LN2 with all 4 cores?

 

[ojas]

Chris, what about temperatures? Are they using solder or paste? Don't think it matters, anyway... :|

 

[ojas]

Anand says that Haswell with Iris Pro can use the eDRAM as a CPU cache with discrete graphics, would like to see a test of that someday...

BTW Chris, what about TSX? How does it impact performance? Or is it a software function?

 

[bryonhowley]

I think this should have been obvious as the performance numbers started coming in at 10-15% difference. And even at that my FX-8120 and FX-8350 rigs with the right GPU's can and do play all of my games at a very excellent frame rate I also have a i5 3570 rig and all three perform very well.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]ojas[/nom]Anand says that Haswell with Iris Pro can use the eDRAM as a CPU cache with discrete graphics, would like to see a test of that someday...BTW Chris, what about TSX? How does it impact performance? Or is it a software function?[/citation]
Remember that Intel disables TSX with the K-series SKUs. Another terrible example of differentiation for no good reason. I was particularly disappointed at this one.

 

[hannibal]

[citation][nom]ingtar33[/nom]i'd wait 'till steamrollerThe rumors coming out of AMD is a 20%-40% increase in per core performance over Piledriver. [/citation]

20-40% sounds a lot... 10% sound more plausible. The AMD needs some support/manufacturing company that can match Intel in production technology and production node. If AMD could get someone who can produce Steamroller in 22nm or even smaller it would have a fighting chance... Now it is hard to see that happen. But AMD definitely has a chance to get a little bit closer to Intel and with good price it will be a good product for normal users.

 

[Novuake]

Now the waiting game starts... Waiting for what the new console gen does to gaming. Since Intel is intent on sticking to four cores in the mainstream market, I may actually consider Streamroller IF THE CONSOLE market changes core optimization to a larger extent. But PLEASE AMD, do not make me buy a 1000W PSU for a decent OC and dual-GPUs AND a 600W custom loop...

 

[hannibal]

[citation][nom]ojas[/nom]Surprising, rumours (and CPU-z validation screenshots) pointed to i7s hitting 5GHz on 0.9v.[/citation]

Heh! A very good cherry picked 4770 can get near, but that seems to be a lottery. As it has been said. Some of those Intell sent ones CPUs did get even 4.9GHz, but when most other normal channel versions seems to be capped at 4.3 GHz you have to have some very good friends in Intell manufacturing plants the get your hands those few cherry picked ones... I am guite sure that it will get a little bit better and in next year most hasvell cpu can get even to 4.5 GHz because more mature manufacturing proses. One interesting thing is how much this is about the heat and how much more complex CPU design...

 

[csf60]

[citation][nom]ingtar33[/nom]the need a 30%-40% boost over piledriver to match IB/HW. That's a huge jump, and i'm not sure we'll see it.[/citation]

AMD promises around 15% improvements each gen, and they managed to achieve that with bulldozer>piledriver. If Intel keeps the 5% increases... well, you see my point.

 

[tom31337]

I don't understand why the top end Intel $320 4770k is being compared to the budget $100 AMD A10-5800K in the benchmarks here and on other sites?

 

[Novuake]

I don't understand why the top end Intel $320 4770k is being compared to the budget $100 AMD A10-5800K in the benchmarks here and on other sites?

HD4600 Iris Pro comparison VS AMD GCN APUs... That should be obvious to you...

 

[Quadacon]

will they ever make an i9?

 

[kennai]

[citation][nom]Novuake[/nom]HD4600 Iris Pro comparison VS AMD GCN APUs... That should be obvious to you...[/citation]
The APU isn't GCN, it's VLIW4, GCN comes out later this year like, Kaveri, Septemberish IIRC and what I'm recalling was accurate.

 

[chrisafp07]

I can't believe they used the 3770k's cores with only imc improvements. I think many Intel gaming enthusiasts will be disappointed this won't be worth upgrading to from the 3770k or the 3570k...

 

[InvalidError]

AMD promises around 15% improvements each gen, and they managed to achieve that with bulldozer>piledriver. If Intel keeps the 5% increases... well, you see my point.

Except AMD is so far behind on IPC that it will take them years to close the gap at ~10%/year assuming they can actually sustain that (my bet is they won't since incremental gains often come at the expense of exponential complexity) and AMD burns up 30-50W more power in the process which does not make it particularly appealing - whatever you save on the CPU up-front you will spend on power and cooling over the system's lifespan.

Intel is so far ahead on IPC that they can afford spending resources elsewhere that yields much greater benefits to a much broader market cross-section: the 90+% of PC end-users who are not gamers/enthusiasts.

 

[Sakkura]

I can't believe they used the 3770k's cores with only imc improvements. I think many Intel gaming enthusiasts will be disappointed this won't be worth upgrading to from the 3770k or the 3570k...

Upgrading after one year is almost never worth it. So I'm not disappointed about that. However, for people who skipped Sandy and Ivy Bridge, this is a kick in the nuts.

 

[InvalidError]

Remember that Intel disables TSX with the K-series SKUs. Another terrible example of differentiation for no good reason. I was particularly disappointed at this one.

There may be a perfectly reasonable engineering reason behind this: TSX likely adds a fair amount of logic along critical cache/memory paths so Intel may be disabling it on K-chips to improve timing margins.

 

[tadej petric]

So no non integrated bences for games to show that 1%. Like anyone is going to buy i7 without GPU...
Im dissappointed about that HW anyway.

 

[chrisafp07]

I can't believe they used the 3770k's cores with only imc improvements. I think many Intel gaming enthusiasts will be disappointed this won't be worth upgrading to from the 3770k or the 3570k...

Upgrading after one year is almost never worth it. So I'm not disappointed about that. However, for people who skipped Sandy and Ivy Bridge, this is a kick in the nuts.

Yea, me, I've been waiting to build a Haswell rig for awhile. I have all of the money saved up and now I'm debating my decision.

 

[tom31337]

[citation][nom]Novuake[/nom]HD4600 Iris Pro comparison VS AMD GCN APUs... That should be obvious to you...[/citation]

HD4600 is not Iris Pro: Iris Pro is HD5200. Ok, I suppose it is interesting that the $100 AMD chip beats the $350 Intel chip in GPU performance. I guess that is why Microsoft and Sony have chosen AMD for their next gaming platforms. But it still seems an odd comparison given the huge price difference, is A10-5800k really an enthusiasts part? At that price, it seems like it competes against i3, so let's see Haswell-i3 versus A10-5800k.

 

[Novuake]

will they ever make an i9?

[citation][nom]Novuake[/nom]HD4600 Iris Pro comparison VS AMD GCN APUs... That should be obvious to you...[/citation]

HD4600 is not Iris Pro: Iris Pro is HD5200. Ok, I suppose it is interesting that the $100 AMD chip beats the $350 Intel chip in GPU performance. I guess that is why Microsoft and Sony have chosen AMD for their next gaming platforms. But it still seems an odd comparison given the huge price difference, is A10-5800k really an enthusiasts part? At that price, it seems like it competes against i3, so let's see Haswell-i3 versus A10-5800k.

Ah yes, Iris then. Iris Pro is BGA platform only. LOL

I do not find it odd at all. This allows people to SEE that 5800K is not a good buy for any performance orientated build.
So many people in the forums seem to say "but its a 4.2GHz Quad Core"(in a whiney voice I always imagine), while they are wondering why their HD79xx cards are not performing as they should....