To illustrate Haswell’s thermal performance
we performed a quick comparison between Core i7-4770K and Core i7-3770K working
in their nominal mode and tested with the same NZXT Havik 140 cooler:
The temperature of the Haswell’s CPU is
excessively higher than the predecessor’s CPUs.And even though our everyday
uses will not raise the CPU’s temperature too high, we still need to be aware
of our conclusions primarily on specialized stability tests, which create heavy
but nevertheless quite realistic load.
The
comparison table between the two models
Therefore, the CPU’s overclocking process
actually cool down the device better than those we could use for Ivy Bridge
processors. In another words, it is harder to achieve the similar result when
overclocking the Core i7-4770K than doing the same thing with the Sandy Bridge,
which is overclocker-friendly and Ivy Bridge products
in LGA1155 form-factor.
For example, we only kept the Core i7-4770K
CPU at the stable frequency of 4.4 GHz. The temperature of the CPU’s cores was
highly alerted, meanwhile it was running normally with the LinX-AVX, although
we used a very well-performance cooler, the NZXT Havik 140.
A
diagram which demonstrating the temperature and frequency
In order to achieve the results as shown
above in the picture, we had to increase the voltage of the CPU to 1.2 volt. It
was only 0.14 volt higher than the nominal Vcore for our unique processor,
however, the temperature was too high.
As the result, even a minimal increase in
voltage could make a very high increase to the CPU’s temperature, which means
that the micro-structure of the Haswell is not very efficient and it only has a
very low voltage. Haswell-based desktop and overclocker-friendly CPUs are not
energy-efficient at all. As such, Haswell’s overall overclocking potential
doesn’t inspire much optimism. Another way to say, it is a repetition of the
actual Intel’s microarchitecture, a failure of frequency potential, even though
Intel has tried as much as possible to compensate for it by adding extra
overclocking-friendly features into their new processors.
Conclusion
Apparently, Intel has been trying all their
best to resolve the “ARM issue”. The giant microprocessor obviously does not
want to hand over the compact mobile devices market to the competition,
therefore all their engineering efforts have been directed towards designing
x86 processors with lower power consumption and excellent performance. The
CPUs, can be successfully compete with the high performance ARMs. At least, the
microprocessor with this microarchitecture could function well enough with the
compact ultra-books, the transformers and the high-performance tablets. And
there are quite a few models in the Haswell’s family that could be used for any
particular purposes. For instance, the Core ị Y with low voltage duo core has
average voltage dissipation of 6 W, provided with Hyper-Threading technology
and can be functioned at the frequency between 1.4-1.9 GHz. Moreover, there
will be at least a few dozen different SoC U-series microprocessors, which are
based on Haswell microarchitecture with 15 W TDP, which will target
ultra-books.
The variety of products, which are
currently being prepared to be announced after the Haswell microarchitecture
launch, indicate clearly that Intel’s priorities have changed a lot. Therefore,
there is a reasonable purpose for why we didn’t see much progress in the new
Haswell CPUs. Intel has no need or will in improving the existing desktop
platforms at the moment. The products we got today are what they managed to put
together with minimal modifications to the microarchitecture, which is
originally designed for mobile devices.
Strictly speaking, this product is not that
impressive in every aspect, especially in the views of the computer
enthusiasts. We have tested every top models of the Haswell desktop, Core
i7-4770K, and have been received some disappointed results. First, Core i7-470K
is only a bit faster than the top Sandy Bridge’s processor. The updated micro
architectural only provides 5-15% better performance, and the clock frequency
has no change at all. Secondly, the Core i7-4770K processor is a far hotter
processor than any other CPUs before. Even though Haswell allows engineering energy-efficient
processors with impressively low heat dissipation, its performance-per-watt has
worsened a lot when they adjusted its characteristics to meet the desktop
requirements. This is the thing that placed the device as the third dot-point
in this list: without extreme cooling Core i7-4770K overclocks less effectively
than the previous generation overclocker processors. The particular CPU models
that we have tested this time allowing us to conclude that the microprocessors
can be over-heated at the clock rate around 4.4 – 4.5 GHz even though it is
working under the high performance cooling system. And the fourth thing is: the
Haswell microprocessor requires the new LGA 1150 platform, not standing out
with any unique advantages, but simply providing the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps.
But at the moment, this platform seems to be very raw and it is still waiting
for a breakout in the chipset, which will fix some issues with the USB 3.0
controller.
4th
Gen Intel Core i7
In order to make up for all the above mentioned
mistakes, desktop Haswell gives out these following features: support of the
new AVX2/FMA3 instructions, which are not yet used by existing software; 30%
faster graphics core, and limited overclocking of the processor with a locked
clock frequency multiplier. Unfortunately, all these advantages will most
likely be useless for enthusiasts. Although, the basic Haswell CPU, from the
Core i7 series, for instance, can be quite outstanding because of these
features, they are expected to be released a bit late.
At this current stage, we need sum up our
review about the Core i3-4770K and the LGA 1150 with a little bit of
disappointment. The appearance of the Haswell microarchitecture into the
desktop segment seems to be very similar to the Windows 8 establishment. Intel
seems to provide something very new and very special, but each advantage the
newcomer has to offer is counterbalanced by at least two mistakes, ruining the
overall impression and taking away the desire to migrate to fourth generation
Core processors. Apparently, Haswell could feel a bit lonely in the laptop
segment, but we hope that the next revisions of the microprocessors and the
chipsets would encourage the manufacturer to make more improvements to the LGA
1150 platforms and the laptops’ microprocessors in particular.
|
Technical
specs
·
Processor Core: Quad-core
(4 Core)
·
Processor Manufacturer: Intel
·
Product Family: Core
i7
·
L3 Cache: 8 MB
·
Clock Speed: 3.50 GHz
·
Processor Socket: Socket
H3 LGA-1150
·
64-bit Processing: Yes
·
Processor Technology: Virtualization
Technology, Enhanced SpeedStep Technology, Turbo Boost Technology 2.0,
Hyper-Threading Technology, Extended Memory 64 Technology
·
L1 Cache: 256 KB
·
L2 Cache: 1 MB
·
Product Line: Core i7
·
Process Technology: 22
nm
|
