Intel Core i7-4790K in the test

With the Haswell refresh, Intel has once again mixed up the classic desktop area in terms of processors and made new CPUs of the Core 4000 series available to users. We want to see how big the leap with the refresh really is and what this means in practice and take a look at this using the Core i7-4790K.

Intro

Picture: Intel Core i7-4790K in the test
Intel has named the refreshment of the LGA1150 socket "Haswell Refresh" and is thus sending new models onto the desktop market, which above all raise the performance data somewhat. However, only small things have changed under the hood, which is why the question arises to what extent something has really improved here compared to the old models.

Because you will look for real changes almost in vain and the new chipset Z97 is what is really mentioned here. This offers at least the support of the M.2 interface and thus allows the connection of fast data carriers.

So should the Haswell refresh be understood more as a light summer breeze or does it really provide a fresh breeze? We will illuminate this on the following pages.

Test environment

Hardware: Intel systems

Intel socket LGA-1150

  • Intel Core i7-4770K:
    Haswell architecture, C0 stepping, 3,5 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, HTT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • Intel Core i7-4770:
    Haswell architecture, C0 stepping, 3,5 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, HTT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • Intel Core i5-4670K:
    Haswell architecture, C0 stepping, 3,4 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • Intel Core i5-4670:
    Haswell architecture, C0 stepping, 3,4 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, 4 x DDR3-1600

The new Haswell processors are operated on the MSI mainboard Z87-G43. We imported the latest beta BIOS V1.2B1 and activated all energy-saving mechanisms in the BIOS. The memory modules used come from G.Skill. It is a 4 x 4 GByte kit of the Ripjaws Z DDR3-1600 with the latencies CL9-9-9-24.

Intel socket LGA-1155

  • Core i7 3770K:
    IB architecture, E1 stepping, 3,5 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, HTT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • Intel Core i5-3570K:
    IB architecture, E1 stepping, 3,4 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • Intel Core i7-2700K:
    Self-service architecture, D2 stepping, 3,5 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, HTT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • Core i7 2600K:
    Self-service architecture, D2 stepping, 3,4 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, HTT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • Core i5 2500K:
    SB architecture, D2 stepping, 3,3 GHz, 4 cores, turbo mode active, 4 x DDR3-1333

For Intel's “Sandy Bridge” and “Ivy Bridge” processors for the LGA-1155 socket, 4 x 4 GB G.Skill Ripjaws Z DDR3-1600 are used, operated on DDR3-1333. The memories are operated with the CL9-9-9-24 2T latencies. That comes as a mainboard MSI Z77A-GD65* used with BIOS version 7751vP0. All energy saving mechanisms are activated in the BIOS.

 

MSI Z87-G43
Intel socket LGA-2011 and LGA-2011-3

  • Core i7-5960X
    R2 stepping, 3,0 GHz, 8 cores, turbo mode active, HTT active, 4 x DDR4-2133
  • Core i7-4960X
    S1 stepping, 3,6 GHz, 6 cores, turbo mode active, HTT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • Core i7-3960X
    C2 stepping, 3,3 GHz, 6 cores, turbo mode active, HTT active, 4 x DDR3-1600

For the processors of the LGA-2011 socket, 4 x 4 GB G.Skill Ripjaws Z DDR3-1600 and an ASUS Rampage IV Gene with BIOS 4901 are used. The socket LGA-2011-3 is measured with 4 x 4 GByte Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-2666, operated with DDR4-2133 and timings of 15-15-15-36. An MSI X99S Gaming 7 with BIOS V17.4 is used as the mainboard.

Hardware: AMD systems

AMD Socket FM2 +

  • A10-7850K
    Steamroller architecture, A1 stepping, 3,7 GHz, 4 modules, turbo mode active, CMT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • A8-7600
    Steamroller architecture, A1 stepping, 3,3 GHz, 4 modules, turbo mode active, CMT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • A10-6800K
    Piledriver architecture, A1 stepping, 4,1 GHz, 4 modules, turbo mode active, CMT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • A10-6700
    Piledriver architecture, A1 stepping, 3,7 GHz, 4 modules, turbo mode active, CMT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • A10-6500T
    Piledriver architecture, A1 stepping, 2,1 GHz, 4 modules, turbo mode active, CMT active, 4 x DDR3-1600

The processors for FM2 and FM2 + were measured on the MSI A85XA-G65. The Kaveri models and the A10-6800K also on the MSI A88XM-E45.

AMD Socket AM3 +

  • FX-8370E:
    Piledriver architecture, C0 stepping, 3,3 GHz, 4 modules, turbo mode active, CMT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • FX-8350:
    Piledriver architecture, C0 stepping, 4,0 GHz, 4 modules, turbo mode active, CMT active, 4 x DDR3-1600
  • FX-8150:
    Bulldozer architecture, B2 stepping, 3,6 GHz, 4 modules, turbo mode active, CMT active, 4 x DDR3-1600

The same G.Skill modules are used for AMD's Bulldozer processors for the AM3 + socket as on the Intel systems. That comes as a mainboard ASUS Crosshair V Formula* (990FX chipset) used with BIOS 1703. All energy saving mechanisms are activated in the BIOS.

 

ASUS Sabertooth 990FX
Due to the lack of support for the new processor from our ASUS Crosshair V Formula test board, we had to change the board. The measurement results for the AM3 + socket were therefore completely created on the new ASUS Sabertooth 990FX.

AMD Socket FM2

 

  • A10-5800K

 

 

    Trinity architecture, A1 stepping, 3,8 GHz, 4 cores, 4 x DDR3-1600

The G.Skill DDR3 memory mentioned above works here as well. The Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 with BIOS F4 is used as the mainboard. All energy saving mechanisms are activated in the BIOS.

More hardware

Graphic card:

  • MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning
  • AMD Radeon HD 3450 (DDR3):
    only for measurements of power consumption

Memory:

  • 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) G.Skill Ripjaws Z DDR3-1600
    SPD operation: DDR3-1600, 9-9-9-24 at 1,5 volts

Power adapter:

  • be quiet! Dark Power 550W R10

Hard disk:

  • Seagate ST2000VX000

Cooler:

Measurement:

Software and benchmarks

Operating system and driver

CPU benchmarks

  • Synthetic benchmarks
  • Audio editing
  • image editing
  • video editing
  • Packer
  • Rendering
  • Games
  • Encryption
      • 7-Zip

    TrueCrypt 7.1a

      • WinZip
      SiSoft Sandra 2013.05.19.44

    Overall, we tried to focus strongly on real applications with the benchmarks and to distance ourselves from synthetic tests. Whenever possible, we also used the 64-bit version.

    A special remark should be made about LAME: By default, LAME is created with an Intel C ++ compiler. In the past, this has repeatedly caused irritation, which is why we also use a version in our new benchmark course that we created ourselves with the help of Visual Studio 2010 from Microsoft. In terms of performance, however, it does no difference.

    Other tools

    Test methodology

    Apart from the remarks already made on this and on the previous page regarding our test philosophy, we want to briefly summarize the essential points again. Unless otherwise stated in the direct test description, the following points always apply:

    • All available energy saving mechanisms are activated.
    • If the CPU has a turbo mode, this is activated.
    • If the CPU supports hyperthreading / core multithreading (CMT), this is activated.
    • If not mentioned otherwise, always comes MSI Radeon HD 7970 Lightning for use.

    Technology

    Changes only marginal

    The Haswell refresh has basically not brought any real innovations on the processor side. Neither the stepping was changed, nor were essential functions or command sets added. So far, there are only two models in this refresh series: the Core i7-4790K and the Core i5-4690K.

    Basically, all that remains is the increase in clock speed, but that's what it takes. With a base clock of 4,0 GHz, the i7-4790K, which is codenamed Devil's Canyon, has 500 MHz more than its predecessor. This advantage is also maintained in the Turbo, where you now have up to 4,4 GHz. The Core i5-4690K is significantly less powerful than its predecessor. We only have an increase of 100 MHz for the base and turbo clocks.

    The performance boost, however, is not entirely without compromises, and so Intel had to redefine the TDP (Thermal Design Power). Here you are now at 88 watts, which means a plus of 4 watts - relatively low.

    Picture: Intel Core i7-4790K in the test
    Intel has given the new Devil's Canyon CPUs more capacitors on the bottom. There is also talk of Intel making changes to the thermal paste used between the CPU DIE and the heat spreader. Virtually all changes to the refresh models have thus already been clarified.

    Incidentally, there are also “non-K models” of both processors on the market. The Core i7-4790 and the Core i5-4690 are not codenamed Devil's Canyon. In addition to the multiplier that cannot be freely changed, the i7-4790 also offers a significantly lower CPU clock compared to its K variant: 3,6 GHz basic and 4,0 GHz turbo clock. The i5-4690, on the other hand, shows absolutely identical clock rates compared to the K version.

    Tabular comparison

    Key data Core i7-4790K Core i7-4770K Core i5-4690K Core i5-4670K
    Production 22 nm 22 nm 22 nm 22 nm
    Plinth LGA1150 LGA1150 LGA1150 LGA1150
    Shell size 37,5 x 37,5 mm 37,5 x 37,5 mm 37,5 x 37,5 mm 37,5 x 37,5 mm
    Cores / threads 4/8 4/8 4/4 4/4
    Clock / turbo 4,0 / 4,4 GHz 3,5 / 3,9 GHz 3,5 / 3,9 GHz 3,4 / 3,8 GHz
    Intel SmartCache 8 MB 8 MB 6 MB 6 MB
    Befehlssätz to SSE 4.1 / 4.2, AVX 2.0 SSE 4.1 / 4.2, AVX 2.0
    TDP 88 watts, 84 watts, 88 watts, 84 watts,
    Storage types DDR3-1333 / 1600 DDR3-1333 / 1600 DDR3-1333 / 1600 DDR3-1333 / 1600
    memory channels 2 2 2 2
    maximum memory size 32 GB 32 GB 32 GB 32 GB
    PCIe version 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
    maximum number of PCIe lanes 16 16 16 16
    Techniken Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 Intel Turbo Boost 2.0
    Intel Hyper-Threading Intel Hyper-Threading Intel Hyper-Threading Intel Hyper-Threading
    Intel VT-x Intel VT-x Intel VT-x Intel VT-x
    Intel VT-d Intel VT-d Intel VT-d Intel VT-d
    Intel EPT Intel EPT Intel EPT Intel EPT
    Intel Speed ​​Step Intel Speed ​​Step Intel Speed ​​Step Intel Speed ​​Step
    Intel Identity Protection Intel Identity Protection Intel Identity Protection Intel Identity Protection
    Intel AES NI Intel AES NI Intel AES NI Intel AES NI
    Execute Disable Bit Execute Disable Bit Execute Disable Bit Execute Disable Bit
    graphics unit HD Graphics 4600 HD Graphics 4600 HD Graphics 4600 HD Graphics 4600
    GPU clock / turbo 350 MHz / 1,25 GHz 350 MHz / 1,25 GHz 350 MHz / 1,20 GHz 350 MHz / 1,20 GHz

    Practice

    input

    In the following, we determine the average consumption of the entire system without a monitor. A standard energy cost meter is used here, in our case an Energy Check 300. Over a period of 20 minutes, we record the course and, of course, state the average value in watts. We use Core2MaxPerf for all processors as a full load scenario.

    input

    Idle

    Intel Core i7-3960X

    85
    Intel Core i7-4960X

    81
    Intel Core i7-5960X

    66
    AMD FX-8350

    59
    AMD FX-8370E

    58
    AMD FX-8150

    57
    AMD A10-6800K

    39
    AMD A10-7850K

    38
    AMD A10-7800

    38
    AMD A8-7600

    37
    Intel Core i7-2700K

    33
    Intel Core i7-2600K

    33
    Intel Core i5-3570K

    33
    Intel Core i5-2500K

    33
    Intel Core i7-4770K

    33
    Intel Core i7-4790K

    33
    Intel Core i3-2120

    31
    Intel Celeron G1620

    30
    Intel Core i7-3770K

    30
    Intel Core i5-4670K

    30
    AMD A10-6700

    30
    Intel Core i3-3220

    30
    Intel Core i5-2300

    30
    Intel Core i5-2400

    30
    AMD A8-6500T

    30
    Watt
    input

    Last

    Intel Core i7-3960X

    236
    AMD FX-8350

    199
    Intel Core i7-4960X

    196
    AMD FX-8150

    173
    Intel Core i7-5960X

    172
    AMD FX-8370E

    141
    AMD A10-7850K

    126
    Intel Core i7-4790K

    115
    AMD A10-6800K

    114
    AMD A8-7600

    113
    AMD A10-7800

    103
    Intel Core i7-2700K

    96
    Intel Core i7-2600K

    96
    Intel Core i7-4770K

    95
    Intel Core i5-2500K

    90
    Intel Core i5-2400

    90
    AMD A10-6700

    87
    Intel Core i7-3770K

    84
    Intel Core i5-2300

    81
    Intel Core i5-4670K

    80
    Intel Core i5-3570K

    75
    AMD A8-6500T

    73
    Intel Core i3-2120

    57
    Intel Core i3-3220

    48
    Intel Celeron G1620

    39
    Watt

    Today's test candidate stays on the same level as its predecessor in idle. On the other hand, the power consumption of the entire system under load reveals a plus of 20 watts.

    This is certainly not due to Intel's TDP specification, because it is just 4 watts above the Core i7-4770K. The measurement inaccuracy is mainly due to the fact that the load tool used does not achieve an absolute full load on the computing units and so the 500 MHz higher clock rate of today's test candidate is the tip of the balance.

    overclocking

    The K in the Core i7-4790K stands for a free multiplier and only means that the user can experiment here. It is enough for the simple user to get a few MHz more out of the chip, just for the feeling.

    The enthusiast, on the other hand, uses the broad portfolio of options and does not simply turn the clock screw, but uses options such as water coolers or other extras to get the clock even faster. For our OC test, however, we are satisfied with the classic air cooling from Noctua.

    Basically, we don't have high expectations of the test candidate in this test chapter. With the refresh from Haswell there is no new CPU stepping, which might make you believe in better options when overclocking, and the i7-4790K is the top model of the series anyway, with a very high base clock. Therefore, the leeway should probably be small. The additionally installed capacitors and the improved thermal paste could perhaps be the icing on the cake.

    In practice, we were then able to raise the base clock to 4,5 GHz and thus increase it by around 500 MHz. However, this is not only reflected in the performance, but also in the power consumption. The total system power consumption rose by around 35 watts from 115 to 150 watts.

    Picture: Intel Core i7-4790K in the test

    Benchmarks: Synthetic

    PCMark 05

    Information on the benchmark

    As the name suggests, PCMark 05 dates from 2005 and is therefore already several years under its belt. Nevertheless, the benchmark suite from the Finnish company Futuremark is still very well suited to classifying the computing power of processors and their memory performance. We only use the CPU and memory suite, so that conclusions can only be drawn for these components. The CPU suite is based on eight different tests from the fields of packing / unpacking, encryption, and audio and video processing, and thus allows an overview of the everyday performance of the processors. The CPU suite benefits equally from high clock frequencies and from multiple cores. In the memory suite that is also used, however, factors such as cache rate, cache size and memory bandwidth play a role, since the tests essentially consist of reading, copying and writing data of different sizes to the memory.

    PCMark05

    CPU suite

    Intel Core i7-4790K

    16499,00
    Intel Core i5-4670K

    14607,00
    Intel Core i7-4770K

    14361,33
    Intel Core i7-3770K

    13926,66
    Intel Core i5-3570K

    13870,66
    Intel Core i7-4960X

    13592,00
    Intel Core i7-3960X

    13247,00
    Intel Core i7-5960X

    13120,00
    Intel Core i7-2700K

    12709,66
    Intel Core i5-2500K

    12384,66
    Intel Core i7-2600K

    12214,33
    Intel Core i5-2400

    11534,33
    AMD A10-7850K

    11064,00
    AMD FX-8350

    10752,00
    AMD A10-7800

    10740,00
    AMD A10-6800K

    10667,00
    AMD A8-7600

    10517,00
    Intel Core i5-2300

    10487,67
    AMD A10-6700

    10418,00
    Intel Core i3-3220

    10348,00
    AMD FX-8370E

    9941,00
    Intel Core i3-2120

    9901,00
    AMD FX-8150

    9703,00
    Intel Celeron G1620

    7895,50
    AMD A8-6500T

    6933,00
    Points [more is better]
    PCMark05

    Memory suite

    Intel Core i7-4790K

    13621,00
    Intel Core i7-5960X

    12733,00
    Intel Core i7-4770K

    12672,33
    Intel Core i7-3770K

    11537,00
    Intel Core i5-4670K

    11414,33
    Intel Core i7-3960X

    10731,00
    Intel Core i5-3570K

    10475,33
    Intel Core i7-4960X

    10342,00
    Intel Core i7-2700K

    9717,33
    Intel Core i7-2600K

    9492,66
    Intel Core i3-3220

    8854,00
    Intel Core i5-2500K

    8447,33
    Intel Core i5-2400

    8040,00
    Intel Core i3-2120

    7780,00
    AMD FX-8350

    7654,00
    AMD FX-8370E

    7583,00
    Intel Core i5-2300

    7564,33
    AMD FX-8150

    7234,00
    Intel Celeron G1620

    7080,50
    AMD A10-6700

    6540,00
    AMD A10-6800K

    6488,00
    AMD A10-7850K

    6222,00
    AMD A10-7800

    6088,00
    AMD A8-7600

    5892,00
    AMD A8-6500T

    5117,00
    Points [more is better]

    PCMark 7

    Information on the benchmark

Euler3d benchmark

Essentially, it is a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) application that simulates the flow around and in a certain object. For such applications it is quite common that large caches and many CPU cores can result in a significant increase in performance. More information on the Euler3d benchmark Is there ... here.

Euler3D benchmark

Score

Intel Core i7-3960X

29,51
Intel Core i7-4960X

27,50
Intel Core i7-5960X

26,40
Intel Core i7-4790K

6,44
Intel Core i7-4770K

5,92
Intel Core i7-3770K

5,47
Intel Core i5-4670K

5,23
Intel Core i7-2700K

4,75
Intel Core i7-2600K

4,73
Intel Core i5-3570K

4,69
AMD FX-8350

4,38
AMD FX-8370E

4,38
Intel Core i5-2500K

4,06
Intel Core i5-2400

3,94
Intel Core i5-2300

3,75
AMD FX-8150

3,67
Intel Core i3-3220

2,87
Intel Core i3-2120

2,60
AMD A10-6800K

2,28
AMD A10-6700

2,23
Intel Celeron G1620

2,17
AMD A10-7850K

2,12
AMD A10-7800

2,05
AMD A8-7600

2,00
AMD A8-6500T

1,51
Points (higher values ​​are better)
Euler3D benchmark

Time

AMD A8-6500T

132,49
AMD A8-7600

100,10
AMD A10-7800

97,50
AMD A10-7850K

94,50
Intel Celeron G1620

92,11
AMD A10-6700

89,82
AMD A10-6800K

87,86
Intel Core i3-2120

76,85
Intel Core i3-3220

69,81
AMD FX-8150

54,41
Intel Core i5-2300

53,39
Intel Core i5-2400

50,78
Intel Core i5-2500K

49,30
AMD FX-8350

45,65
AMD FX-8370E

45,65
Intel Core i5-3570K

42,66
Intel Core i7-2600K

42,29
Intel Core i7-2700K

41,79
Intel Core i5-4670K

38,22
Intel Core i7-3770K

36,55
Intel Core i7-4770K

33,82
Intel Core i7-4790K

31,08
Intel Core i7-5960X

7,72
Intel Core i7-4960X

7,27
Intel Core i7-3960X

6,77
Seconds (smaller values ​​are better)

Benchmarks: Audio Editing

Now we come to the “correct” everyday applications. We want to start with music editing software. All tests are based on a wave file of around 710 MB, which we convert to MP3 files with the help of iTunes, LAME and the Nero AAC encoder. A conversion to the Ogg Vorbis format is also used. All programs are strictly single-threaded, so they only make use of one core.

iTunes

Information on the benchmark

iTunes is a multimedia program from Apple that allows you to play, convert, organize and buy all kinds of music. The first version of the very successful software came on the market in 2001. There is now the ninth revision. We are currently using this with version number 9.1.2.5. However, this version does not yet make use of multi-core processors either. The SSE units are used very often for this.

ITunes

Wave to MP3 conversion

Intel Core i7-4790K

39
Intel Core i7-4770K

43
Intel Core i5-4670K

44
Intel Core i7-3770K

44
Intel Core i5-3570K

46
Intel Core i7-2700K

47
Intel Core i7-2600K

49
Intel Core i7-5960X

50
Intel Core i5-2500K

50
Intel Core i7-3960X

50
Intel Core i7-4960X

52
Intel Core i3-3220

52
Intel Core i5-2400

54
Intel Core i3-2120

55
Intel Core i5-2300

59
Intel Celeron G1620

64
AMD A10-6700

65
AMD A10-6800K

65
AMD FX-8350

66
AMD FX-8370E

69
AMD A10-7850K

71
AMD A10-7800

72
AMD A8-7600

75
AMD FX-8150

82
AMD A8-6500T

92
Seconds [less is better]

Nero AAC

Information about the benchmark

The Nero AAC encoder is a freely available encoder that is called from the command line and is used in Nero 10, for example. We are using the latest version 1.5.1, which, like iTunes, is not yet multithreaded. High-performance SSE units are therefore the most important criterion for high performance.

Nero AAC encoder

Wave to MP3 conversion

Intel Core i7-4790K

35
Intel Core i7-4770K

40
Intel Core i7-3770K

40
Intel Core i5-4670K

41
Intel Core i5-3570K

41
Intel Core i7-4960X

41
Intel Core i7-2700K

43
Intel Core i7-3960X

44
Intel Core i7-2600K

45
Intel Core i7-5960X

46
Intel Core i5-2500K

46
Intel Core i3-3220

48
Intel Core i5-2400

50
Intel Core i3-2120

51
Intel Core i5-2300

55
AMD A10-6800K

57
Intel Celeron G1620

58
AMD A10-6700

59
AMD FX-8350

60
AMD A10-7850K

61
AMD FX-8370E

61
AMD A10-7800

63
AMD FX-8150

63
AMD A8-7600

64
AMD A8-6500T

83
Seconds [less is better]

LAME

Information on the benchmark

LAME is an open source encoder for converting audio files into MP3 format. The big difference to the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's MP3 encoder is that LAME is free. This is why LAME is also used in a large number of software products. We are using the latest version 3.98.4 from March 2010, which does not yet support multi-threading. However, we do not use the fully compiled package but only the source code and create our own program package with the help of VisualStudio 2008 and the integrated C ++ compiler from Microsoft. Normally, however, LAME uses an Intel compiler. In order to avoid any differences, we have created our own version.

ITunes

Wave to MP3 conversion

Intel Core i7-4790K

39
Intel Core i7-4770K

43
Intel Core i5-4670K

44
Intel Core i7-3770K

44
Intel Core i5-3570K

46
Intel Core i7-2700K

47
Intel Core i7-2600K

49
Intel Core i7-5960X

50
Intel Core i5-2500K

50
Intel Core i7-3960X

50
Intel Core i7-4960X

52
Intel Core i3-3220

52
Intel Core i5-2400

54
Intel Core i3-2120

55
Intel Core i5-2300

59
Intel Celeron G1620

64
AMD A10-6700

65
AMD A10-6800K

65
AMD FX-8350

66
AMD FX-8370E

69
AMD A10-7850K

71
AMD A10-7800

72
AMD A8-7600

75
AMD FX-8150

82
AMD A8-6500T

92
Seconds [less is better]

OggEnc

Information about the benchmark

OggEnc is again a free audio encoder. It converts audio files into the Ogg container format. The structure and structure of Ogg are similar to the MPEG-4 file format MP4. We use version 2.87 of OggEnc and, like the other three programs mentioned, does not support multi-threading.

OggEnc

Wave to OggVorbis conversion

Intel Core i7-4790K

29
Intel Core i5-4670K

33
Intel Core i7-4770K

33
Intel Core i7-3770K

35
Intel Core i7-5960X

36
Intel Core i5-3570K

36
Intel Core i7-3960X

36
Intel Core i7-4960X

37
Intel Core i7-2700K

37
Intel Core i7-2600K

38
Intel Core i5-2500K

39
Intel Core i3-3220

40
Intel Core i5-2400

41
Intel Core i3-2120

42
Intel Core i5-2300

46
Intel Celeron G1620

50
AMD A10-7850K

54
AMD A10-7800

55
AMD FX-8350

55
AMD A10-6700

57
AMD A8-7600

57
AMD A10-6800K

57
AMD FX-8370E

59
AMD FX-8150

65
AMD A8-6500T

81
Seconds [less is better]

Benchmarks: image editing

When it comes to image processing, we rely on the free programs GIMP and IrfanView. Both programs make very weak use of multiple cores, but are more likely to be classified as single-threaded.

GIMP

Information on the benchmark

GIMP is a free and free image manipulation program under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Similar to the paid Adobe Photoshop, GIMP offers numerous filters and allows intensive image processing. The biggest advantage of the GIMP, besides the fact that it is free, is the platform independence. So GIMP can be used under Windows, Linux and OS X.

A 9000 × 9000 pixel JPEG image is used as a test scenario, on which we first apply a blur filter, then a Gaussian soft focus and finally a red-eye filter. All three filters make little use of multiple cores in version 2.6 we are using.

GIMP

Image processing of a 70 MPixel image

Intel Core i7-4790K

24,00
AMD A10-7850K

27,00
AMD A10-7800

27,00
Intel Core i7-3770K

28,33
Intel Core i7-4770K

28,33
AMD A8-7600

29,00
Intel Core i5-3570K

29,33
Intel Core i5-4670K

29,33
Intel Core i7-2700K

29,67
Intel Core i7-2600K

30,33
Intel Core i5-2500K

31,00
Intel Core i5-2400

33,67
Intel Core i3-3220

34,00
AMD FX-8350

35,00
Intel Core i3-2120

35,00
AMD A10-6800K

36,00
AMD A10-6700

36,00
Intel Core i5-2300

36,67
AMD FX-8370E

37,00
AMD FX-8150

38,00
Intel Core i7-5960X

38,00
Intel Core i7-4960X

38,00
Intel Core i7-3960X

42,00
Intel Celeron G1620

43,00
AMD A8-6500T

50,00
Seconds [less is better]

IrfanView

Information about the benchmark

In contrast to GIMP, IrfanView is more of an image viewer than an image editing program. Nevertheless, this free software also offers some welcome additional functions, such as something for scaling multiple images.

We use precisely this function to scale down an image pool with a total of 256 Mbytes of JPEG images to a size of 256 × 156 pixels each. We trust the Irfanview version 4.27, which does not yet handle extensive multithreading.

IrfanView

image editing

Intel Core i7-4790K

10,09
Intel Core i7-3960X

13,01
Intel Core i7-4960X

13,06
Intel Core i7-5960X

13,08
Intel Core i7-3770K

13,25
Intel Core i7-4770K

13,97
Intel Core i7-2700K

15,25
Intel Core i5-2500K

15,43
Intel Core i7-2600K

15,55
Intel Core i5-4670K

15,59
Intel Core i5-3570K

16,82
AMD FX-8350

17,49
AMD FX-8370E

18,69
AMD A10-6800K

18,74
AMD A10-7850K

19,20
Intel Core i5-2400

19,25
Intel Core i5-2300

19,28
AMD FX-8150

19,72
AMD A10-7800

20,03
AMD A10-6700

20,25
AMD A8-7600

20,30
Intel Core i3-3220

21,23
Intel Core i3-2120

23,26
Intel Celeron G1620

23,54
AMD A8-6500T

25,85
Seconds [less is better]

Benchmarks: Video Editing

When it comes to video editing, Handbrake and MainConcept are used, which use different codecs with different quality settings. The source file is always a 380 MB HD video. While software that has not made use of multiple cores has primarily been used up to now, MainConcept and Handbrake are two prime examples of parallelization. Even six cores are optimally used.

Handbrake x264

Information on the benchmark

HandBrake is a software for converting video files. Originally developed for BeOS, the free program is now available for OS X, Windows and Linux. We are using Handbrake version 0.9.5, which makes massive use of several cores as well as SSE commands up to SSE 4.2. However, AVX is not yet supported. H.264 is used as the codec.

We pass two benchmarks with Handbrake. In the first, we convert the above video into an iPod-compatible format of 320 × 176 pixels. In the second, however, we rely on a Full HD resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels.

Handbrake x264

Preset: iPod 320 × 176

Intel Core i7-4790K

16
Intel Core i7-3960X

16
Intel Core i7-4960X

16
Intel Core i5-4670K

18
Intel Core i5-3570K

18
Intel Core i7-5960X

18
Intel Core i7-4770K

19
Intel Core i7-3770K

20
Intel Core i7-2700K

20
Intel Core i5-2500K

21
Intel Core i5-2400

21
AMD FX-8350

22
Intel Core i5-2300

23
AMD FX-8150

25
AMD FX-8370E

25
AMD A10-6800K

26
AMD A10-6700

27
AMD A10-7850K

27
AMD A10-7800

28
Intel Core i3-3220

29
AMD A8-7600

29
Intel Core i3-2120

30
Intel Core i7-2600K

38
AMD A8-6500T

40
Intel Celeron G1620

41
Seconds [less is better]
Handbrake x264

Preset: High Profile 1920 × 1080

Intel Core i7-5960X

101
Intel Core i7-4960X

124
Intel Core i7-3960X

133
Intel Core i7-4790K

151
Intel Core i7-4770K

178
AMD FX-8350

180
Intel Core i7-3770K

197
Intel Core i5-4670K

210
AMD FX-8150

211
Intel Core i7-2700K

213
AMD FX-8370E

219
Intel Core i7-2600K

220
Intel Core i5-3570K

238
Intel Core i5-2500K

268
Intel Core i5-2400

284
Intel Core i5-2300

312
AMD A10-7850K

329
AMD A10-7800

345
AMD A10-6800K

352
AMD A8-7600

355
AMD A10-6700

375
Intel Core i3-3220

443
Intel Core i3-2120

467
AMD A8-6500T

626
Intel Celeron G1620

656
Seconds [less is better]

Avisynth & x264 encoder

Information on the benchmark

The x264 encoder is a cross-platform encoder for the video format H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC) and is published under the GNU General Public License. The special thing about it is that the source code can be viewed, so that you can always understand what the encoder is doing. By default, the x264 encoder does not have a GUI for operation, because this is done exclusively via the console with the help of AviSynth scripts. We are currently using the x264 encoder in revision r2053, which already includes initial support for the AVX vector extension. In addition, the encoder also makes massive use of several cores and SSE commands up to SSE 4.2.

With the encoder we convert a 720p video into the H.264 format. We use a 2-pass conversion which we complete four times. Then we determine both the mean value for the conversion time and the mean frame rates for each of the two runs.

x264 encoder

Time

Intel Core i7-5960X

23
Intel Core i7-4960X

26
Intel Core i7-3960X

29
Intel Core i7-4790K

29
Intel Core i7-4770K

34
AMD FX-8350

38
Intel Core i7-3770K

39
Intel Core i5-4670K

40
Intel Core i7-2700K

43
AMD FX-8150

44
Intel Core i7-2600K

44
AMD FX-8370E

45
Intel Core i5-3570K

46
Intel Core i5-2500K

54
Intel Core i5-2400

57
Intel Core i5-2300

62
AMD A10-7850K

65
AMD A10-7800

67
AMD A10-6800K

69
AMD A8-7600

69
AMD A10-6700

72
Intel Core i3-3220

81
Intel Core i3-2120

89
AMD A8-6500T

118
Intel Celeron G1620

122
Seconds [less is better]
x264 encoder

passport 1

Intel Celeron G1620

72
AMD A8-6500T

72
Intel Core i3-2120

97
Intel Core i3-3220

106
AMD A10-6700

111
AMD A8-7600

113
AMD A10-6800K

116
AMD A10-7800

116
AMD A10-7850K

120
Intel Core i5-2300

134
AMD FX-8370E

143
AMD FX-8150

145
Intel Core i5-2400

146
Intel Core i5-2500K

153
Intel Core i7-2600K

159
Intel Core i7-2700K

164
AMD FX-8350

165
Intel Core i5-3570K

177
Intel Core i7-3770K

180
Intel Core i7-4770K

193
Intel Core i5-4670K

195
Intel Core i7-3960X

210
Intel Core i7-5960X

211
Intel Core i7-4960X

224
Intel Core i7-4790K

225
Frames per Second [more is better]
x264 encoder

passport 2

Intel Celeron G1620

14
AMD A8-6500T

15
Intel Core i3-2120

20
Intel Core i3-3220

21
AMD A10-6700

25
AMD A8-7600

26
AMD A10-6800K

26
AMD A10-7800

27
AMD A10-7850K

28
Intel Core i5-2300

28
Intel Core i5-2400

31
Intel Core i5-2500K

33
Intel Core i5-3570K

38
Intel Core i7-2600K

41
AMD FX-8370E

42
Intel Core i7-2700K

43
AMD FX-8150

43
Intel Core i5-4670K

45
Intel Core i7-3770K

47
AMD FX-8350

50
Intel Core i7-4770K

55
Intel Core i7-4790K

65
Intel Core i7-3960X

68
Intel Core i7-4960X

75
Intel Core i7-5960X

92
Frames per Second [more is better]

Benchmarks: Packers

We use 7-Zip, WinRAR and WinZip as packing programs, whereby WinZip and 7-Zip are used both once with AES encryption and once without this feature. In both cases, the highest compression level (Ultra) is selected.

7-Zip

Information on the benchmark

7-Zip is a free packing program that was launched by the Russian programmer Igor Pavlov in 1999 and is still intensively maintained today. It represents the reference implementation of the Lempel-Ziv-Markow algorithm (LZMA) that he developed.

We use version 9.20 in the 64-bit variant. LZMA2 is used as the compression method. This supports unrestricted multithreading. 7-Zip is of course used as the archive type.

7 Zip

without AES

Intel Core i7-4790K

52
Intel Core i7-3770K

55
Intel Core i5-3570K

56
Intel Core i7-3960X

56
Intel Core i7-4770K

57
Intel Core i5-4670K

57
Intel Core i7-4960X

58
Intel Core i7-5960X

67
AMD FX-8350

67
Intel Core i7-2700K

68
Intel Core i7-2600K

70
AMD FX-8370E

71
Intel Core i5-2500K

72
Intel Core i5-2400

74
AMD FX-8150

75
Intel Core i5-2300

79
Intel Core i3-3220

81
AMD A10-6700

88
AMD A10-6800K

93
Intel Core i3-2120

98
AMD A10-7850K

106
AMD A8-6500T

109
AMD A10-7800

109
AMD A8-7600

113
Intel Celeron G1620

125
Seconds [less is better]

WinRAR

Information on the benchmark

WinRAR is different from 7-Zip shareware. Nevertheless, you can use it almost without restriction for free. Similar to 7-Zip, it supports various archive formats, including the RAR format that gives it its name and is used by us. We use version 4.01 in the 64-bit variant. This is fully multi-threaded and makes optimal use of all existing cores. However, like us, you have to create a real archive and not use the integrated benchmark, because it only supports a few cores.

WinRAR

highest compression rate

Intel Core i7-4790K

13
Intel Core i7-4770K

15
Intel Core i7-3770K

16
Intel Core i5-4670K

17
Intel Core i7-4960X

17
Intel Core i7-3960X

18
Intel Core i5-3570K

18
Intel Core i7-2700K

18
Intel Core i7-2600K

19
Intel Core i7-5960X

19
Intel Core i5-2500K

20
Intel Core i5-2400

22
Intel Core i3-3220

23
Intel Core i5-2300

23
AMD FX-8350

23
AMD FX-8150

25
Intel Core i3-2120

26
AMD FX-8370E

26
Intel Celeron G1620

28
AMD A10-6700

30
AMD A10-7850K

31
AMD A10-6800K

31
AMD A10-7800

31
AMD A8-7600

32
AMD A8-6500T

39
Seconds [less is better]

WinZip

Information on the benchmark

WinZip isn't a free program either, but the shareware version offers enough functionality and can run without restrictions. In the version 14.5 we use, WinZip supports AES encryption, which is supported, for example, by "Sandy Bridge" but also by some processors from the first Core i generation. In terms of multithreading, the same applies as with 7-Zip. A maximum of four cores are used optimally only here. The eponymous zip format is used as the archive format.

WinZip

Encryption: none

Intel Core i7-4790K

39
Intel Core i7-4770K

44
Intel Core i5-4670K

45
Intel Core i7-3770K

49
Intel Core i7-2700K

50
Intel Core i5-3570K

51
Intel Core i7-5960X

51
Intel Core i7-2600K

52
Intel Core i5-2500K

53
Intel Core i7-3960X

54
Intel Core i7-4960X

54
Intel Core i5-2400

58
AMD FX-8350

59
Intel Core i3-3220

59
AMD FX-8370E

60
Intel Core i3-2120

61
AMD A10-6700

61
AMD A10-6800K

61
AMD FX-8150

62
AMD A10-7850K

62
Intel Core i5-2300

65
AMD A10-7800

68
AMD A8-7600

69
Intel Celeron G1620

75
AMD A8-6500T

84
Seconds [less is better]

Benchmarks: rendering

In the rendering segment we trust Blender, Cinebench version 11.5 and POV-Ray. All three programs make massive use of multi-core processors, so each additional core saves real time.

Blender

Information on the benchmark

Blender is a 3D graphics software designed completely for multi-threading, which contains functions to model, texture, animate and render three-dimensional bodies. Originally, Blender was an in-house program for the Dutch animation studio NeoGeo. The chief developer Ton Roosendaal founded the company Not a Number Technologies (NaN) in 1998 to further develop and sell blenders. After the company went bankrupt, however, the creditors agreed to put Blender under the free software license GNU General Public License (GPL) for an amount of 100.000 euros. Thus, Blender is now freely available and expandable. We use Blender as a 64-bit offshoot in version 2.59.

Blender

FlyingSquirrel

Intel Core i7-4790K

19
Intel Core i5-4670K

23
Intel Core i7-4770K

23
Intel Core i7-3770K

24
Intel Core i5-3570K

24
Intel Core i7-5960X

24
Intel Core i7-4960X

25
Intel Core i7-3960X

25
Intel Core i7-2700K

27
Intel Core i3-3220

28
Intel Core i7-2600K

28
Intel Core i5-2500K

29
Intel Core i5-2400

30
Intel Core i3-2120

30
AMD A10-6800K

33
Intel Core i5-2300

33
AMD FX-8350

34
AMD A10-7850K

34
AMD A10-6700

35
Intel Celeron G1620

35
AMD A10-7800

35
AMD FX-8150

36
AMD A8-7600

36
AMD FX-8370E

37
AMD A8-6500T

45
Seconds [less is better]

POV Ray

Information on the benchmark

POV-Ray is a free graphics program which, like Blender, makes heavy use of multithreading. With POV-Ray, not only 2D but also 3D scenes can be created. The software has been developed for over 20 years and new functions are constantly being added. An integrated test is used as a benchmark. As with Blender, we rely on a 64-bit offshoot of version 3.7 Beta 38 for the program version. This version supports both SSE2 and SSE4 extensions to increase performance. The new AVX commands are not yet integrated.

POV Ray 3.7

Rendering

Intel Core i7-5960X

96
Intel Core i7-4960X

120
Intel Core i7-3960X

130
Intel Core i7-4790K

142
Intel Core i7-4770K

168
AMD FX-8350

175
Intel Core i7-3770K

191
Intel Core i5-4670K

193
AMD FX-8150

202
Intel Core i7-2700K

207
AMD FX-8370E

210
Intel Core i7-2600K

214
Intel Core i5-3570K

230
Intel Core i5-2500K

261
Intel Core i5-2400

278
Intel Core i5-2300

307
AMD A10-7850K

322
AMD A10-6800K

331
AMD A10-7800

335
AMD A8-7600

340
AMD A10-6700

358
Intel Core i3-3220

427
Intel Core i3-2120

452
AMD A8-6500T

604
Intel Celeron G1620

625
Seconds [less is better]

Cinebench 11.5

Information about the benchmark

We tested Maxon's Cinema4D rendering software from Germany using Cinebench 11.5, which is available for both Mac and Windows. Maxon uses the underlying Cinema4D engine not only in Cinebench, but also in commercial products that were involved in the development of the movie “Spider Man”, for example. The engine uses massive multithreading to reduce runtime. As usual with Cinebench, we present both the result of just one core and that of using all cores or threads.

Cinebench

CPU - all cores

Intel Core i7-5960X

14,29
Intel Core i7-4960X

12,16
Intel Core i7-3960X

11,44
Intel Core i7-4790K

9,66
Intel Core i7-4770K

8,11
Intel Core i7-3770K

7,53
Intel Core i7-2700K

7,00
AMD FX-8350

6,92
Intel Core i7-2600K

6,79
Intel Core i5-4670K

6,18
Intel Core i5-3570K

6,01
AMD FX-8150

5,96
AMD FX-8370E

5,63
Intel Core i5-2500K

5,39
Intel Core i5-2400

5,08
Intel Core i5-2300

4,62
AMD A10-7850K

3,58
AMD A10-6800K

3,52
AMD A10-7800

3,39
AMD A8-7600

3,36
AMD A10-6700

3,34
Intel Core i3-3220

3,32
Intel Core i3-2120

3,18
Intel Celeron G1620

2,17
AMD A8-6500T

2,01
Points [more is better]

Benchmarks: encryption

Truecrypt

Information about the benchmark

TrueCrypt is encryption software with which entire data carriers or individual files can be encrypted. The program is freely available and can be used under Windows as well as Mac OS X and Linux. AES, Twofish and Serpent and combinations of these three can be used as encryption algorithms. If you rely on AES encryption and use a processor with the AES instruction set extension, the encryption or decryption can be greatly accelerated with the aid of the extension.
We use version 7.0a. This supports both the AES extension and multithreading. We use the integrated benchmark with a buffer size of 1000 Mbytes.

TrueCrypt
[AES]
Intel Core i7-3960X

5700,00
Intel Core i7-5960X

5200,00
Intel Core i7-4790K

5200,00
Intel Core i7-4960X

5000,00
Intel Core i7-4770K

4505,60
Intel Core i7-3770K

3788,80
AMD FX-8350

3700,00
Intel Core i7-2700K

3584,00
Intel Core i7-2600K

3481,60
AMD FX-8150

3300,00
Intel Core i5-4670K

3174,40
AMD FX-8370E

3100,00
Intel Core i5-3570K

2867,10
Intel Core i5-2500K

2662,40
Intel Core i5-2400

2457,60
AMD A10-7850K

2252,80
Intel Core i5-2300

2218,70
AMD A10-7800

2100,00
AMD A8-7600

2058,00
AMD A10-6800K

2013,90
AMD A10-6700

1945,60
AMD A8-6500T

1331,20
Intel Core i3-3220

330,00
Intel Core i3-2120

308,50
Intel Celeron G1620

233,50
MByte / s [more is better]
TrueCrypt
[serpent]
Intel Core i7-4960X

630,00
Intel Core i7-5960X

618,00
Intel Core i7-3960X

546,00
Intel Core i7-4790K

473,00
AMD FX-8350

432,00
Intel Core i7-4770K

398,00
Intel Core i7-3770K

387,00
AMD FX-8150

383,00
AMD FX-8370E

360,00
Intel Core i7-2700K

330,66
Intel Core i7-2600K

325,00
Intel Core i5-4670K

304,00
Intel Core i5-3570K

289,67
AMD A10-7850K

273,00
AMD A10-7800

267,00
AMD A8-7600

260,00
Intel Core i5-2500K

229,00
AMD A10-6800K

225,00
AMD A10-6700

219,67
Intel Core i5-2400

215,67
Intel Core i5-2300

195,67
Intel Core i3-3220

172,00
Intel Core i3-2120

153,00
AMD A8-6500T

147,00
Intel Celeron G1620

107,00
MByte / s [more is better]
TrueCrypt
[Twofish]
Intel Core i7-5960X

1100,00
Intel Core i7-4960X

1000,00
Intel Core i7-3960X

942,00
Intel Core i7-4790K

806,00
AMD FX-8350

710,00
Intel Core i7-4770K

683,66
Intel Core i7-3770K

648,00
AMD FX-8150

610,00
AMD FX-8370E

584,00
Intel Core i7-2700K

576,00
Intel Core i7-2600K

560,67
Intel Core i5-4670K

458,33
Intel Core i5-3570K

445,33
AMD A10-7850K

413,00
AMD A10-7800

398,00
Intel Core i5-2500K

393,66
AMD A8-7600

390,00
AMD A10-6800K

378,00
Intel Core i5-2400

376,00
AMD A10-6700

365,33
Intel Core i5-2300

340,67
Intel Core i3-3220

285,00
Intel Core i3-2120

264,00
AMD A8-6500T

245,00
Intel Celeron G1620

165,00
MByte / s [more is better]

7-Zip: AES

Information on the benchmark

7-Zip is a free packing program that was launched by the Russian programmer Igor Pavlov in 1999 and is still intensively maintained today. It represents the reference implementation of the Lempel-Ziv-Markow algorithm (LZMA) that he developed.

We use version 9.20 in the 64-bit variant. LZMA2 is used as the compression method. This supports unrestricted multithreading. 7-Zip is of course used as the archive type.

7 Zip

with AES

Intel Core i7-4790K

51
Intel Core i7-3770K

55
Intel Core i7-3960X

56
Intel Core i5-4670K

56
Intel Core i5-3570K

56
Intel Core i7-4770K

57
Intel Core i7-4960X

57
Intel Core i7-5960X

65
AMD FX-8350

67
Intel Core i7-2700K

68
Intel Core i7-2600K

70
AMD FX-8370E

71
Intel Core i5-2500K

73
AMD FX-8150

75
Intel Core i5-2400

75
Intel Core i5-2300

78
Intel Core i3-3220

80
AMD A10-6700

89
AMD A10-6800K

93
Intel Core i3-2120

100
AMD A10-7850K

106
AMD A10-7800

108
AMD A8-6500T

109
AMD A8-7600

113
Intel Celeron G1620

128
Seconds [less is better]

WinZip: AES

Information about the benchmark

WinZip isn't a free program either, but the shareware version offers enough functionality and can run without restrictions. In the version 14.5 we use, WinZip supports AES encryption, which is supported, for example, by "Sandy Bridge" but also by some processors from the first Core i generation. In terms of multithreading, the same applies as with 7-Zip. A maximum of four cores are used optimally only here. The eponymous zip format is used as the archive format.

WinZip

Encryption: AES 256 bit

Intel Core i7-4790K

39
Intel Core i7-4770K

44
Intel Core i5-4670K

45
Intel Core i7-3770K

49
Intel Core i7-2700K

50
Intel Core i5-3570K

51
Intel Core i7-5960X

51
Intel Core i7-3960X

52
Intel Core i7-2600K

52
Intel Core i5-2500K

54
Intel Core i5-2400

58
AMD FX-8350

59
Intel Core i7-4960X

59
Intel Core i3-3220

59
AMD FX-8370E

61
Intel Core i3-2120

61
AMD A10-6800K

61
AMD A10-6700

61
AMD FX-8150

62
AMD A10-7850K

63
Intel Core i5-2300

64
AMD A8-7600

69
AMD A10-7800

70
Intel Celeron G1620

75
AMD A8-6500T

84
Seconds [less is better]

Benchmarks: Games [dGPU]

We use two resolutions below. We show benchmarks with 1366 x 768 pixels on the one hand, and benchmarks with a resolution of 1680 x 1050 on the other. We show medium detail levels for the latter resolution; for the first resolution we manually lowered the detail levels from medium a little bit come close to “notebook quality” with an integrated GPU.

The scenes used are not identical to our usual graphics card benchmarks. At this point, of course, we tried to choose game sequences that had a CPU rather than a GPU limit.

Assassin's Creed III

Game Assassin's Creed III
Developer Ubisoft
Publisher Ubisoft
publication November 2012
Genre Action adventure
Age rating 16 years
Graphics engine AnvilNext and Havok Physics
DirectX path DirectX 9, 11
Benchmark measurement Fraps / savegame
Test area Boston City - Sequence III Main Mission
Runtime benchmark 10 seconds
Benchmark settings see the following table
Find on Amazon*

Image: Haswell: Intel's new Core i7-4770 and i5-4670 processors in the test
In-game test scene

Quality settings 1366 x 768 1680 x 1050
Environmental quality Normal Very high
Texture quality Normal High
Shadow quality Normal Very high
Anti-aliasing FXAA FXAA
Assassins Creed III

1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4790K

109,68
Intel Core i7-4770K

102,43
Intel Core i7-3960X

97,94
Intel Core i7-4960X

96,50
Intel Core i5-3570K

93,11
Intel Core i5-4670K

92,02
Intel Core i7-5960X

90,41
Intel Core i7-3770K

82,22
Intel Core i5-2500K

77,97
Intel Core i5-2400

75,25
Intel Core i5-2300

73,66
Intel Core i7-2700K

72,55
Intel Core i7-2600K

71,16
AMD FX-8350

63,41
Intel Core i3-3220

62,31
AMD FX-8370E

57,38
Intel Core i3-2120

57,12
AMD A10-6800K

55,28
AMD A10-7850K

53,13
AMD A10-7800

50,33
AMD FX-8150

49,36
AMD A10-6700

49,14
AMD A8-7600

47,90
Intel Celeron G1620

41,87
AMD A8-6500T

36,76
Frames per Second [more is better]
Assassins Creed III

1680 x 1050 [No AA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4790K

80,37
Intel Core i7-4770K

73,26
Intel Core i7-3960X

72,33
Intel Core i7-4960X

70,33
Intel Core i5-4670K

69,19
Intel Core i5-3570K

65,19
Intel Core i7-3770K

61,81
Intel Core i7-5960X

60,44
Intel Core i5-2500K

57,84
Intel Core i5-2400

54,44
Intel Core i7-2700K

54,36
Intel Core i7-2600K

52,87
Intel Core i5-2300

52,85
Intel Core i3-3220

46,16
AMD FX-8350

45,28
AMD FX-8370E

41,02
Intel Core i3-2120

40,94
AMD A10-6800K

39,37
AMD A10-7850K

38,40
AMD FX-8150

36,21
AMD A10-6700

35,82
AMD A10-7800

35,77
AMD A8-7600

35,22
Intel Celeron G1620

29,16
AMD A8-6500T

27,45
Frames per Second [more is better]

Crysis 3

Game Crysis 3
Developer Crytek
Publisher Electronic Arts
publication 21 February 2013
Genre Ego shooter
Graphics engine CryENGINE 3
DirectX path DirectX 9, 11
Age rating USK 18 years
Benchmark measurement Fraps / savegame
Test area Mission 4: Swamp
Runtime benchmark 10 seconds
Benchmark settings see the following table
Order from Amazon*

Image: Haswell: Intel's new Core i7-4770 and i5-4670 processors in the test
In-game test scene

Quality settings 1366 x 768 1680 x 1050
System setting Medium High
Texture resolution Medium High
Anisotropic filter 16x 16x
Anti-aliasing 1 FXAA
Crysis 3

1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4790K

170,38
Intel Core i7-4960X

162,96
Intel Core i7-5960X

162,87
Intel Core i7-3960X

154,31
Intel Core i7-4770K

153,08
Intel Core i7-3770K

135,78
Intel Core i5-4670K

133,14
Intel Core i7-2700K

125,41
Intel Core i7-2600K

121,92
Intel Core i5-3570K

121,32
AMD FX-8350

109,47
Intel Core i5-2500K

107,80
Intel Core i5-2400

102,79
AMD FX-8370E

95,21
Intel Core i5-2300

94,36
AMD FX-8150

86,38
Intel Core i3-3220

76,03
Intel Core i3-2120

71,24
AMD A10-6800K

64,95
AMD A10-6700

64,15
AMD A10-7850K

62,51
AMD A10-7800

57,06
AMD A8-7600

48,93
AMD A8-6500T

42,14
Intel Celeron G1620

40,46
Frames per Second [more is better]
Crysis 3

1680 x 1050 [FXAA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4790K

106,67
Intel Core i7-5960X

101,05
Intel Core i7-4770K

100,92
Intel Core i7-4960X

100,65
Intel Core i7-3770K

99,59
Intel Core i7-3960X

99,47
Intel Core i5-4670K

95,43
Intel Core i7-2700K

92,74
Intel Core i7-2600K

91,87
Intel Core i5-3570K

89,72
Intel Core i5-2500K

80,68
AMD FX-8350

77,08
Intel Core i5-2400

76,62
Intel Core i5-2300

69,69
AMD FX-8370E

66,49
AMD FX-8150

61,76
Intel Core i3-3220

55,07
Intel Core i3-2120

51,54
AMD A10-6800K

49,32
AMD A10-6700

49,21
AMD A10-7850K

47,97
AMD A10-7800

45,74
AMD A8-7600

43,43
AMD A8-6500T

30,46
Intel Celeron G1620

29,06
Frames per Second [more is better]

Serious Sam 3

Game Serious Sam 3 - SFOE
Developer Croteam
Publisher Devolver Digital
publication 23 April 2012
Genre Ego shooter
Graphics engine Serious Engine v3.5
DirectX path DirectX 9
Age rating USK 18 years
Benchmark measurement Fraps / savegame
Test area In the web of the spider
Runtime benchmark 10 seconds
Benchmark settings see the following table
Order from Amazon*

Image: Haswell: Intel's new Core i7-4770 and i5-4670 processors in the test
In-game test scene

Quality settings 1366 x 768 1680 x 1050
CPU speed Medium Incredibly
GPU speed Medium Incredibly
GPU memory Medium Incredibly
Anti-aliasing 1 1
SSAA From From
Anisotropic filter 16x 16x
Serious Sam 3

1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4790K

101,59
Intel Core i7-4770K

88,39
Intel Core i5-4670K

85,05
Intel Core i7-5960X

84,61
Intel Core i7-3770K

67,28
Intel Core i5-3570K

64,01
Intel Core i7-2700K

62,61
Intel Core i7-2600K

61,72
AMD FX-8350

60,39
Intel Core i7-4960X

58,59
Intel Core i5-2500K

58,54
Intel Core i7-3960X

58,45
Intel Core i3-3220

56,53
Intel Core i5-2400

55,96
AMD FX-8370E

54,89
AMD A10-6800K

54,69
AMD A10-6700

52,87
Intel Core i3-2120

52,64
Intel Core i5-2300

50,15
AMD A10-7850K

44,73
Intel Celeron G1620

43,89
AMD A10-7800

42,80
AMD FX-8150

42,20
AMD A8-7600

41,19
AMD A8-6500T

32,05
Frames per Second [more is better]
Serious Sam 3

1680 x 1050 [No AA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4790K

84,51
Intel Core i7-4770K

72,86
Intel Core i5-4670K

69,87
Intel Core i7-5960X

68,45
Intel Core i7-4960X

57,56
Intel Core i7-3770K

56,04
Intel Core i7-3960X

55,67
Intel Core i5-3570K

53,75
Intel Core i7-2700K

52,96
Intel Core i7-2600K

51,36
AMD FX-8350

50,17
Intel Core i5-2500K

49,29
Intel Core i3-3220

48,05
Intel Core i5-2400

47,11
AMD FX-8370E

45,01
Intel Core i3-2120

44,85
AMD A10-6700

44,43
AMD A10-6800K

44,03
Intel Core i5-2300

43,33
AMD A10-7850K

42,71
AMD A10-7800

41,16
AMD A8-7600

40,35
AMD FX-8150

39,77
Intel Celeron G1620

37,42
AMD A8-6500T

31,66
Frames per Second [more is better]

TES V: Skyrim

Game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Developer Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher Bethesda Softworks
publication March 2012
Genre role playing game
Age rating 16 years
Graphics engine Creation Engine
DirectX path DirectX 9
Benchmark measurement Fraps / savegame
Test area Riften
Runtime benchmark 10 seconds
Benchmark settings See the table below
Order from Amazon*

Image: Haswell: Intel's new Core i7-4770 and i5-4670 processors in the test
In-game test scene

Quality settings 1366 x 768 1680 x 1050
Details Medium High
High-res textures From From
Anti-aliasing 1 4x and FXAA
Anisotropic filter 16x 16x
TES V: Skyrim

1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4790K

100%
Intel Core i7-4960X

89%
Intel Core i7-3960X

89%
Intel Core i7-4770K

81%
Intel Core i7-5960X

77%
Intel Core i5-4670K

76%
Intel Core i7-3770K

74%
Intel Core i5-3570K

71%
Intel Core i7-2700K

68%
Intel Core i7-2600K

68%
Intel Core i5-2500K

64%
Intel Core i5-2400

62%
Intel Core i5-2300

57%
Intel Core i3-3220

56%
Intel Core i3-2120

55%
AMD FX-8350

52%
AMD FX-8370E

47%
Intel Celeron G1620

45%
AMD FX-8150

45%
AMD A10-6800K

44%
AMD A10-6700

42%
AMD A10-7850K

42%
AMD A10-7800

40%
AMD A8-7600

39%
AMD A8-6500T

32%
Frames per Second [more is better]
TES V: Skyrim

1680 x 1050 [4xAA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4960X

75,37
Intel Core i7-3960X

70,63
Intel Core i7-4770K

66,89
Intel Core i5-4670K

64,60
Intel Core i7-5960X

63,60
Intel Core i7-3770K

63,51
Intel Core i5-3570K

60,02
Intel Core i7-2700K

58,94
Intel Core i7-2600K

57,73
Intel Core i5-2500K

54,25
Intel Core i7-4790K

53,53
Intel Core i5-2400

51,74
Intel Core i3-3220

50,35
Intel Core i5-2300

48,50
Intel Core i3-2120

46,71
AMD FX-8350

46,20
AMD FX-8370E

42,51
AMD FX-8150

39,77
Intel Celeron G1620

38,72
AMD A10-6800K

38,44
AMD A10-7850K

36,56
AMD A10-6700

35,61
AMD A10-7800

35,21
AMD A8-7600

34,28
AMD A8-6500T

28,39
Frames per Second [more is better]

Tomb Raider (2013)

Game tomb raider
Developer Crystal Dynamics & Eidos Montreal
Publisher Square Enix
publication March 5, 2013
Genre Action-Adventure
Graphics engine Crystal engine
DirectX path DirectX 9, 11
Age rating USK 18 years
Benchmark measurement Fraps / savegame
Test area Barrack town
Runtime benchmark 10 seconds
Benchmark settings see the following table
HT4U-Test Order from Amazon*

Image: Haswell: Intel's new Core i7-4770 and i5-4670 processors in the test
In-game test scene

Quality settings 1366 x 768 1680 x 1050
Quality Normal Highest
Hair quality Normal TressFX
Shadow Normal Incredibly
Tessellation From The
Anti-aliasing 1 FXAA
Anisotropic filter 16x 16x
tomb raider

1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-3960X

110,99
Intel Core i7-4790K

109,19
Intel Core i7-4960X

106,14
Intel Core i7-4770K

89,19
Intel Core i7-3770K

85,51
Intel Core i5-4670K

84,28
Intel Core i7-5960X

83,39
AMD FX-8350

80,65
Intel Core i5-3570K

79,55
Intel Core i7-2600K

76,85
Intel Core i7-2700K

76,33
Intel Core i5-2500K

72,17
AMD FX-8370E

69,36
Intel Core i5-2400

69,06
AMD FX-8150

68,26
Intel Core i5-2300

64,30
Intel Core i3-3220

58,14
Intel Core i3-2120

53,65
AMD A10-6700

50,43
AMD A10-6800K

47,03
AMD A10-7850K

46,24
AMD A10-7800

44,68
Intel Celeron G1620

42,83
AMD A8-7600

42,51
AMD A8-6500T

34,62
Frames per Second [more is better]
tomb raider

1680 x 1050 [Post AA / 16xAF]

Intel Core i7-4790K

57,84
Intel Core i7-3960X

52,81
Intel Core i7-4960X

51,84
AMD FX-8350

46,07
Intel Core i7-4770K

45,93
Intel Core i7-5960X

45,27
Intel Core i5-4670K

42,93
Intel Core i7-3770K

42,47
Intel Core i5-3570K

40,71
AMD FX-8370E

39,96
Intel Core i7-2700K

39,26
Intel Core i7-2600K

39,12
AMD FX-8150

38,64
Intel Core i5-2500K

36,43
Intel Core i5-2400

35,58
Intel Core i5-2300

33,00
Intel Core i3-3220

31,55
Intel Core i3-2120

29,46
AMD A10-6700

25,76
AMD A10-6800K

23,95
AMD A10-7850K

23,72
Intel Celeron G1620

23,26
AMD A8-7600

21,93
AMD A10-7800

18,65
AMD A8-6500T

16,45
Frames per Second [more is better]

Processor comparison

Choice of products



    Intel Core i7-4770K Intel Core i7-4790K
    Assassins Creed III
    1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]
    102,4 109,7 (+7,1% )
    Assassins Creed III
    1680 x 1050 [No AA / 16xAF]
    73,3 80,4 (+9,7% )
    Crysis 3
    1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]
    153,1 170,4 (+11,3% )
    Crysis 3
    1680 x 1050 [FXAA / 16xAF]
    100,9 106,7 (+5,7% )
    Serious Sam 3
    1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]
    88,4 101,6 (+14,9% )
    Serious Sam 3
    1680 x 1050 [No AA / 16xAF]
    72,9 84,5 (+16,0% )
    TES V: Skyrim
    1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]
    97,4 120,5 (+23,7% )
    TES V: Skyrim
    1680 x 1050 [4xAA / 16xAF]
    66,9 53,5 (-20,0% )
    tomb raider
    1366 x 768 [No AA / 16xAF]
    89,2 109,2 (+22,4% )
    tomb raider
    1680 x 1050 [Post AA / 16xAF]
    45,9 57,8 (+25,9% )
    Euler3D benchmark
    Score [points (higher values ​​are better)]
    5,9 6,4 (+8,8% )
    Euler3D benchmark
    Time [seconds (smaller values ​​are better)]
    33,8 31,1 (-8,1% )
    PCMark05
    CPU suite [points [more is better]]
    14 361,3 16 (+14,9% )
    PCMark05
    Memory suite [points [more is better]]
    12 672,3 13 (+7,5% )
    PCMark 7
    Computation Suite [points [more is better]]
    8 091,7 8 (+7,3% )
    GIMP
    Image processing of a 70 MPixel image [seconds [less is better]]
    28,3 24,0 (+18,1% )
    IrfanView
    Image processing [seconds [less is better]]
    14,0 10,1 (+38,4% )
    ITunes
    Wave to MP3 conversion [seconds [less is better]]
    42,8 38,7 (+10,5% )
    Blades
    Wave to MP3 conversion (created with VisualStudio) [seconds [less is better]]
    40,9 36,0 (+13,4% )
    Nero AAC encoder
    Wave to MP3 conversion [seconds [less is better]]
    39,9 35,1 (+13,5% )
    OggEnc
    Wave to OggVorbis conversion [seconds [less is better]]
    33,2 28,9 (+15,1% )
    x264 encoder
    Time [seconds [less is better]]
    34,1 29,0 (+17,4% )
    x264 encoder
    Pass 1 [frames per second [more is better]]
    193,2 224,8 (-14,1% )
    x264 encoder
    Pass 2 [frames per second [more is better]]
    55,4 65,4 (-15,4% )
    Handbrake x264
    Preset: iPod 320 × 176 [seconds [less is better]]
    19,1 16,1 (+18,6% )
    Handbrake x264
    Preset: High Profile 1920 × 1080 [seconds [less is better]]
    177,6 150,6 (+18,0% )
    Blender
    FlyingSquirrel [seconds [less is better]]
    23,2 18,6 (+24,6% )
    POV Ray 3.7
    Rendering [seconds [less is better]]
    168,4 142,3 (+18,4% )
    Cinebench
    CPU - all cores [points [more is better]]
    8,11 9,66 (+19,1% )
    7 Zip
    without AES [seconds [less is better]]
    56,8 52,4 (+8,3% )
    7 Zip
    with AES [seconds [less is better]]
    57,3 50,9 (+12,5% )
    WinRAR
    highest compression rate [seconds [less is better]]
    15,4 13,4 (+14,7% )
    WinZip
    Encryption: None [seconds [less is better]]
    43,8 38,8 (+12,7% )
    WinZip
    Encryption: AES 256 bit [seconds [less is better]]
    43,9 38,7 (+13,3% )
    TrueCrypt
    [AES] [MByte / s [more is better]]
    4 505,6 5 (+15,4% )
    TrueCrypt
    [Serpent] [MByte / s [more is better]]
    398,0 473,0 (+18,8% )
    TrueCrypt
    [Twofish] [MByte / s [more is better]]
    683,7 806,0 (+17,9% )

    Performance index [CPU]

    The HT4U.net performance index represents the complete benchmark course of the previous article in a simple overview. The results of the individual models in this index are based on an averaging of the individual results from the various benchmarks in this article. The settings used to calculate the index can be found in the legend of the diagrams.

    For those who are interested in the mathematical relationship, a brief explanation of how the values ​​are calculated follows. For this purpose, each individual benchmark is first standardized to a reference product. This is necessary so that, at the end of the day, every benchmark is included equally in the overall index and benchmarks with higher values ​​are not weighted more heavily than those with lower ones. Finally, the mean value is calculated using the geometric mean, in which the normalized individual values ​​are multiplied and the nth root is then taken from the product determined.

    The following indices can therefore only give a first rough overview of how the processors sort themselves as a complete product with all their functions in terms of performance. A generalization to all applications or even to the underlying architecture of the respective processors is therefore not possible. In order to make such statements, it is inevitable to consult the associated articles and individual benchmarks. A discrete model was always used as the graphics card and not the integrated solution - if available.

    Games [dGPU]

    Performance index
    Games
    Intel Core i7-4790K

    111
    Intel Core i7-4770K

    100
    Intel Core i7-4960X

    98
    Intel Core i7-3960X

    98
    Intel Core i7-5960X

    95
    Intel Core i5-4670K

    94
    Intel Core i7-3770K

    88
    Intel Core i5-3570K

    85
    Intel Core i7-2700K

    80
    Intel Core i7-2600K

    79
    Intel Core i5-2500K

    76
    Intel Core i5-2400

    73
    AMD FX-8350

    72
    Intel Core i5-2300

    68
    AMD FX-8370E

    64
    Intel Core i3-3220

    63
    Intel Core i3-2120

    59
    AMD FX-8150

    58
    AMD A10-6800K

    54
    AMD A10-6700

    52
    AMD A10-7850K

    51
    AMD A10-7800

    48
    AMD A8-7600

    46
    Intel Celeron G1620

    44
    AMD A8-6500T

    36
    percent
    Show / hide benchmark overview

    Applications

    Performance index
    All tests (excluding games)
    Intel Core i7-4790K

    112
    Intel Core i7-5960X

    103
    Intel Core i7-4960X

    101
    Intel Core i7-3960X

    101
    Intel Core i7-4770K

    100
    Intel Core i7-3770K

    97
    Intel Core i5-4670K

    93
    Intel Core i7-2700K

    90
    Intel Core i5-3570K

    89
    Intel Core i7-2600K

    86
    AMD FX-8350

    82
    Intel Core i5-2500K

    81
    Intel Core i5-2400

    77
    AMD FX-8370E

    76
    AMD FX-8150

    75
    Intel Core i5-2300

    73
    AMD A10-7850K

    69
    AMD A10-6800K

    69
    AMD A10-6700

    68
    AMD A10-7800

    67
    Intel Core i3-3220

    67
    AMD A8-7600

    66
    Intel Core i3-2120

    63
    Intel Celeron G1620

    53
    AMD A8-6500T

    52
    percent
    Show / hide benchmark overview

    Complete index

    Performance index
    All tests
    Intel Core i7-4790K

    112
    Intel Core i7-5960X

    101
    Intel Core i7-4960X

    101
    Intel Core i7-3960X

    100
    Intel Core i7-4770K

    100
    Intel Core i7-3770K

    94
    Intel Core i5-4670K

    91
    Intel Core i7-2700K

    86
    Intel Core i5-3570K

    85
    Intel Core i7-2600K

    83
    AMD FX-8350

    80
    Intel Core i5-2500K

    78
    Intel Core i5-2400

    76
    AMD FX-8370E

    73
    AMD FX-8150

    71
    Intel Core i5-2300

    71
    Intel Core i3-3220

    66
    AMD A10-7850K

    63
    AMD A10-6800K

    62
    Intel Core i3-2120

    62
    AMD A10-7800

    61
    AMD A10-6700

    61
    AMD A8-7600

    59
    AMD A8-6500T

    45
    Intel Celeron G1620

    42
    percent
    Show / hide benchmark overview

    Conclusion

    With Devil's Canyon, Intel is sending new processors to the desktop market, raising the bar in the field of CPUs even higher. The principle behind it is basically quite simple, because the manufacturer sacrifices a little TDP for significantly more clock, and you have a new top model.

    Intel then proceeds according to the same principle in the other rows and brings numerous new models here, which essentially deliver a little or a little more clock. In the end it is not more, but this is exactly enough to bring movement to the market again with new models.

    There are two reasons for this, because depending on the model - and we're particularly looking at the top product in the form of the Core i7-4790K - the new clock rate is significantly higher than that of the predecessor. The result is almost logical, because with - here 500 MHz - more clock speed increases the performance, and this can be measured.

    In addition, there is Intel's pricing, which, depending on the processor and, above all, the platform, tends to cause discussions. In the existing system, however, Intel hardly lets any discussions arise, but rather sets the newcomers at the same price as the predecessors. A look at the current exact prices in search engines shows that Core i7-4790K at starting prices from around 322 euros, the last leader Core i7-4770K with prices starting at around 304 euros. With the i5 models, however, the price point is reversed. This is how the new one starts Core i5-4690K at prices from around 220 euros, whereas the Core i5-4670K costs around 232 euros. Of course: Due to the exchange rates and the currently stronger dollar, the pricing fluctuates relatively strongly anyway and you need a watchful eye when making a comparison. As a result, everything speaks in favor of a Haswell refresh at the moment.

    [dk], February 01, 2015

    About David Maul

    David Maul is a qualified business IT specialist with a passion for hardware