The Haswell Review: Intel Core i7-4770K & i5-4670K Tested
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 1, 2013 10:00 AM ESTThe Launch Lineup: Quad Cores For All
As was the case with the launch of Ivy Bridge last year, Intel is initially launching with their high-end quad core parts, and as the year passes on will progressively rollout dual cores, low voltage parts, and other lower-end parts. That means the bigger notebooks and naturally the performance desktops will arrive first, followed by the ultraportables, Ultrabooks and more affordable desktops. One change however is that Intel will be launching their first BGA (non-socketed) Haswell part right away, the Iris Pro equipped i7-4770R.
Intel 4th Gen Core i7 Desktop Processors | ||||||
Model | Core i7-4770K | Core i7-4770 | Core i7-4770S | Core i7-4770T | Core i7-4770R | Core i7-4765T |
Cores/Threads | 4/8 | 4/8 | 4/8 | 4/8 | 4/8 | 4/8 |
CPU Base Freq | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2.0 |
Max Turbo | 3.9 (Unlocked) | 3.9 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 3.0 |
Test TDP | 84W | 84W | 65W | 45W | 65W | 35W |
HD Graphics | 4600 | 4600 | 4600 | 4600 | Iris Pro 5200 | 4600 |
GPU Max Clock | 1250 | 1200 | 1200 | 1200 | 1300 | 1200 |
L3 Cache | 8MB | 8MB | 8MB | 8MB | 6MB | 8MB |
DDR3 Support | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 |
vPro/TXT/VT-d/SIPP | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Package | LGA-1150 | LGA-1150 | LGA-1150 | LGA-1150 | BGA | LGA-1150 |
Price | $339 | $303 | $303 | $303 | OEM | $303 |
Starting at the top of the product and performance stack, we have the desktop Core i7 parts. All of these CPUs feature Hyper-Threading Technology, so they’re the same quad-core with four virtual cores that we’ve seen since Bloomfield hit the scene. The fastest chip for most purposes remains the K-series 4770K, with its unlocked multiplier and slightly higher base clock speed. Base core clocks as well as maximum Turbo Boost clocks are basically dictated by the TDP, with the 4770S being less likely to maintain maximum turbo most likely, and the 4770T and 4765T giving up quite a bit more in clock speed in order to hit substantially lower power targets.
It’s worth pointing out that the highest “Test TDP” values are up slightly relative to the last generation Ivy Bridge equivalents—84W instead of 77W. Mobile TDPs are a different matter, and as we’ll discuss elsewhere they’re all 2W higher, but that is further offset by the improved idle power consumption Haswell brings.
Nearly all of these are GT2 graphics configurations (20 EUs), so they should be slightly faster than the last generation HD 4000 in graphics workloads. The one exception is the i7-4770R, which is also the only chip that comes in a BGA package. The reasoning here is simple if perhaps flawed: if you want the fastest iGPU configuration (GT3e with 40 EUs and embedded DRAM), you’re probably not going to have a discrete GPU and will most likely be purchasing an OEM desktop. Interestingly, the 4770R also drops the L3 cache down to 6MB, and it’s not clear whether this is due to it having no real benefit (i.e. the eDRAM functions as an even larger L4 cache), or if it’s to reduce power use slightly, or Intel may have a separate die for this particular configuration. Then again, maybe Intel is just busily creating a bit of extra market segmentation.
Not included in the above table are all the common features to the entire Core i7 line: AVX2 instructions, Quick Sync, AES-NI, PCIe 3.0, and Intel Virtualization Technology. As we’ve seen in the past, the K-series parts (and now the R-series as well) omit support for vPro, TXT, VT-d, and SIPP from the list. The 4770K is an enthusiast part with overclocking support, so that makes some sense, but the 4770R doesn’t really have the same qualification. Presumably it’s intended for the consumer market, as businesses are less likely to need the Iris Pro graphics.
Intel 4th Gen Core i5 Desktop Processors | ||||||
Model | Core i5-4670K | Core i5-4670 | Core i5-4670S | Core i5-4670T | Core i5-4570 | Core i5-4570S |
Cores/Threads | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 |
CPU Base Freq | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
Max Turbo | 3.8 (Unlocked) | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
Test TDP | 84W | 84W | 65W | 45W | 84W | 65W |
HD Graphics | 4600 | 4600 | 4600 | 4600 | 4600 | 4600 |
GPU Max Clock | 1200 | 1200 | 1200 | 1200 | 1150 | 1150 |
L3 Cache | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB | 6MB |
DDR3 Support | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 | 1333/1600 |
vPro/TXT/VT-d/SIPP | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Package | LGA-1150 | LGA-1150 | LGA-1150 | LGA-1150 | LGA-1150 | LGA-1150 |
Price | $242 | $213 | $213 | $213 | $192 | $192 |
The Core i5 lineup basically rehashes the above story, only now without Hyper-Threading. For many users, Core i5 is the sweet spot of price and performance, delivering nearly all the performance of the i7 models at 2/3 the price. There aren’t any Iris or Iris Pro Core i5 desktop parts, at least not yet, and all of the above CPUs are using the GT2 graphics configuration. As above, the K-series part also lacks vPro/TXT/VT-d support but comes with an unlocked multiplier.
Obviously we’re still missing all of the Core i3 parts, which are likely to be dual-core once more, along with some dual-core i5 parts as well. These are probably going to come in another quarter, or at least a month or two out, as there’s no real need for Intel to launch their lower cost parts right now. Similarly, we don’t have any Celeron or Pentium Haswell derivatives launching yet, and judging by the Ivy Bridge rollout I suspect it may be a couple quarters before Intel pushes out ultra-budget Haswell chips. For now, the Ivy Bridge Celeron/Pentium parts are likely as low as Intel wants to go down the food chain for their “big core” architectures.
For those interested in the mobile side of things, we’ve broken out those parts into a separate Pipeline article.
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JDG1980 - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
Those tests you linked are purely synthetic benchmarks. Has anyone found a significant real-world application where Haswell is slower than SB/IB at the same clock speed?krumme - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
Has anyone found a significal real-world application where Haswell matter?smilingcrow - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
Has anyone found a significant real-world comment from you that matters?rupert3k - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
*high fives*Aditya211935 - Sunday, June 2, 2013 - link
http://www.techoftomorrow.com/2013/pc/intel-haswel...This One is pretty nice.
Altough the list of games given there is a bit shallow but still it gives you a general idea.
jeffkibuule - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
Haswell isn't just about the CPU, it's about the entire platform of chips, even the tiny ones on the motherboard no one really cares about. And I'm not sure what you were expecting in terms of performance gains, as there isn't any competition in the desktop arena for it to be worth pushing out 20-25% gains (and certainly not on a yearly basis).As far as active power goes, the entire point of a modern CPU architecture is to "hurry up and go to sleep (HUGS)". Faster you go to idle and the better idle performance you have, the better battery life you get because lets face it, unless you're encoding a video or playing a game, your CPU spends most of its idling doing nothing.
B3an - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
You're right. If anyone is to be blamed for the slight performance increase of Haswell, it's AMD. If AMD could actually compete on performance we would be seeing more gains with Haswell, and maybe FINALLY more than 4 cores on mainstream Intel platforms.DeadlyRicochet - Tuesday, June 4, 2013 - link
And I wonder how successful AMD would have been if Intel never stole their revenue (when AMD chips were faster than Intel, around 2006) by making under the table deals with OEMs to use Intel only CPUs.deepblue08 - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
I disagree somewhat. Especially with the fact that you think idle power consumption is unimportant. Keep in mind, that at least half of the time, when you are working, browsing the net, your cpu is in fact idle. So an improvement in idle performance consumption is a big deal imo.Hector2 - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
You've got it all wrong. Haswell won't be going up against ARM in tablets. Don't look for it in smartphones either ! LOL A Haswell i7 is serious overkill for those markets. ARM won't be getting into the serious laptop & PC market soon either --- they just can't compete well with Intel there. Intel is targeting their smaller & less power-hungry Atoms for the phone & tablet markets (surely you know this ?) that are driven by low power requirements. The press just leaked that Samsung's new Galaxy Tab 3 will have dual core Clover Trail+ Atoms