Intel Haswell i4770K Review And Benchmarks

Haswell Desktop CPU Lineup 

Intel is releasing a vast variety of CPU products this launch to suit the needs of a broad spectrum of markets. There are 13 new models just in the desktop launch alone, not to mention the mobile, of which we will get into another day. The first thing to take note is that the LGA socket has changed for Haswell so gone is the LGA 1155 and welcome LGA 1150. The next is that the i3 nomenclature seems to be removed from the desktop lineup leaving only the i5 and i7 line still preceding into the near future. This really will have no bearing on their positioning, as there are 13 desktop contenders to make a choice from.

The lineup starts out with the Intel Core i5-4570 that has 4 cores and 4 threads has a base clock frequency of 3.2GHz and a Turbo speed of 3.6GHz. There a total of three different varieties in this series as you can see in the chart below. Two of them offer no Hyper-threading, but the i5-4570T has that feature, albeit that it has a clock speed of 2.9GHz and a Turbo speed of 3.6 and only has 4MB instead of 6MB of Level 3 Cache. The i5-4570T however is the only desktop i5 that does have Hyper-threading as all other models are seen with its absence.  All of these models also support Intel’s HD 4600 graphics with a maximum dynamic frequency of 1150MHz. The TDP is also pretty high on these SKUs with the i5-4570 having a TDP of 84W; the i64570S is at 65W and the 2 core 4 thread 4570T at 35W, which is much more like the mobile segment.

As we move up the chain the next series is the i5-4670 lineup all having no Hyper-threading technology enabled. The i5-4670T starts off this bunch of silicon and has a very low base clock frequency of 2.3GHZ and a Turbo speed of 3.3 and it seems as if the T series in either i5 or i7 flavor has the highest Turbo clocks on them as we will see as we move along. There are 4 total SKUs in the 4670 department, with one SKU being an unlocked K version, one version the vanilla 4670, on the T version and one the S version. All have the same HD-4600 graphics with up to a 1200MHz dynamic frequency and 6MB of level 3 Cache and other features with only the core and Turbo speeds separating them apart. These SKUs will find there way into a vast majority of OEM and system builder products due to their very mainstream pricing that hovers in the $200.00 range. Intel’s i5 CPUs have been known in the past to show amazing overclocking dexterity and it will be interesting to see how this generation performs in that area.

Last up is the i7 lineup that has the most features and is the high-end of mainstream CPUs in Intel’s latest release. The nomenclature changes a bit here as not all i7 CPUs are i7-4770 branded as the entry CPU here is the i7 4765T that has the lowest CPU base and Turbo speeds with the 4650 being clocked at 2.0GHz with Turbo at 3.0GHz, but it is priced the same as three other SKUs, the T, S and vanilla 4770K are all at $303.00. All models but the i7-4770R have 8MB of level 3 Cache while the R branded CPU has 6 in addition to it being the only desktop SKU to contain Intel’s Iris Pro HD-5200 Graphics adapter and Intel’s most powerful graphics solution this launch. All of the i7 lineup have 4 Cores and 4 threads and Hyper-threading and all SKUs have Intel’s HD-4600 graphics solution other than the R model as discussed earlier. Only one of these CPUS though comes unlocked and that is the i7-4770K that we are reviewing today as Intel always samples their highest end CPU to be evaluated on launch days.

The TDP also varies on model with the 4765 SKU at 35W, the 4770T at 45W, S and R at 65W, vanilla and K series 4770 at 84W. The CPU base frequencies are also different on each model and we stated earlier the 4765 come in at 2.0GHz with the highest clock being on the i7-4770K at 3.5GHz. 4 models have a Turbo frequency of 3.9GHz, the standard 4770; the S, the K and the R all share that speed. You can see in the pictures all the different aspects of the specs in their entirety down below. Many features such as Intel’s latest WiDi or Wireless display are a great idea, but unfortunately until monitors have that same technology built in it is very limited in its actual compatibility with other devices.

Continue Reading: Intel’s Z87 Chipset Features 

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