This coming March, Techgage will turn 9-years-old. In all the time the site has been around, we’ve taken a look at a countless number of processors from both AMD and Intel, and generally speaking, the process for reviewing a new one – especially one with a new architecture – has largely been the same: A) Benchmark; B) Stare in awe at the improved performance; C) Convert that excitement into words; D) Profit.
I’d love nothing more than to be able to say that the trend will continue with Intel’s just-released Ivy Bridge-E based processors, but the fact of the matter is, even Intel itself knew that it was going to be a hard sell. It had to have.
When Intel released its Sandy Bridge-E processors two years ago, I was left impressed overall with what it offered over the previous generation, but I mentioned in the conclusion that many “were hoping that Sandy Bridge-E would launch with eight cores” – and of course, it didn’t. It seemed to be a sure thing, then, that two years later, its successor would ship with those coveted eight cores. But not so.
![Intel 4th Gen Core Processor Box](https://techgage.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Intel-4th-Gen-Core-Processor-Box.jpg)
In its press slides, Intel states that compared to Sandy Bridge-E, Ivy Bridge-E should be about 4% faster for “everyday computing”, 7% faster for 3D gaming, 5% faster for financial analysis and 10% faster for 3D modeling. This type of performance increase is what we’d expect to see from a speed-boost product – not a new architecture being released two years after the last.
The problem is further highlighted by a comparison of the Core i7-4960X that can be seen below, involving the top-end Haswell part released this past summer, the Core i7-4770K. For the first time that I can recall ever seeing from a launch of an enthusiast-class CPU, it’s being noted that “everyday computing” is 18% lower. This is thanks to Haswell’s increased instructions-per-clock and single-threaded performance, but is that what you’d expect to see from a $1,000 processor versus a $339 one?
![Intel Ivy Bridge-E Performance Expectations](https://techgage.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Intel-Ivy-Bridge-E-Performance-Expectations-680x510.png)
Despite that bizarre “lower” result listed in the slide above, the benefits a CPU like the 4960X do offer is that it can improve 3D gaming (though the result here is unrealistic outside of a benchmark), crunch numbers faster and of course, prove far more efficient at 3D work (and of course, video work, though it’s not mentioned).
The X79 platform offers a couple of important benefits over something like the Z87 as well, such as an improved number of PCI Express lanes, which is important for those running higher-end multi-GPU setups. We’re not dealing with a mere bandwidth limitation here, but rather an electrical one. On Z87, dual GPUs will give you an x8 / x8 PCIe configuration; on X79, it’d be x16 / x16. With additional chips on the motherboard, it could be x16 / x16 / x16 / x16 for a quad-GPU configuration, as is possible with our ASUS P9X79-E WS motherboard.
A rather significant perk for those who need it is increased memory bandwidth. At the same RAM speeds, going from a 4x DIMM configuration on Z87 to a 4x one on X79 could almost double the throughput. For most enthusiasts, this isn’t a benefit they can enjoy and experience, but for those opting for X79 for multimedia or workstation purposes, it certainly could.
![Intel Core i7-4960X CPU-Z](https://techgage.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Intel-Core-i7-4960X-CPU-Z1.png)
Compared to Intel’s latest Z87 platform, X79 is looking long in the tooth, so it’s almost amazing that the company didn’t update things and push out an X89 chipset. Sure – the backwards compatibility is very-much appreciated (a rarity from Intel nowadays), but while Z87 natively supports 6x SATA 6Gbit/s and 6x USB 3.0, X79 supports 2x SATA 6Gbit/s and 0x USB 3.0 – yes, (Zero)x.
To get around this lacking functionality, motherboard vendors implement chipsets from places like ASMedia and Marvell to bump up the number of supported ports. With the P9X79-E WS we’re using, ASUS bumped up the number of ports to 6x SATA 6Gbit/s and 4x USB 3.0 – a great thing, but again, there are caveats. As far as performance goes on either these SATA or USB connectors, Intel has the performance crown locked-down. So by using ASMedia and Marvell, you’re actually using weaker-performing ports than those folks that are using a Z87 platform (a platform, that I must remind you, costs way less).
As a quick summary, the clear benefits Ivy Bridge-E avail vs. Haswell include a quad-channel memory controller, and a more robust PCIe configuration. The things that lack vs. Haswell include lower instruction-per-clock performance, fewer native SATA and USB ports, and of course, the fantastic power-related improvements that came with that architecture – but admittedly, those looking to build a six-core powerhouse might not be too concerned about that.
Well, this sure has been quite the review so far, hasn’t it? Let’s get a move on with a look at Intel’s current mainstream and higher current-gen series:
|
Cores |
Threads |
Clock |
Turbo |
Cache |
IGP |
TDP |
$/1,000 |
Core i7-4960X |
6 |
12 |
3.6GHz |
4.0GHz |
15MB |
N/A |
130W |
$990 |
Core i7-4930X |
6 |
12 |
3.4GHz |
3.9GHz |
12MB |
N/A |
130W |
$583 |
Core i7-4820K |
4 |
8 |
3.7GHz |
3.9GHz |
10MB |
N/A |
130W |
$323 |
Core i7-4770K |
4 |
8 |
3.5GHz |
3.9GHz |
8MB |
HD 4600 |
84W |
$339 |
Core i7-4770S |
4 |
8 |
3.1GHz |
3.9GHz |
8MB |
HD 4600 |
65W |
$303 |
Core i7-4770 |
4 |
8 |
3.4GHz |
3.9GHz |
8MB |
HD 4600 |
84W |
$303 |
Core i5-4670K |
4 |
4 |
3.4GHz |
3.8GHz |
6MB |
HD 4600 |
84W |
$242 |
Core i5-4670S |
4 |
4 |
3.1GHz |
3.8GHz |
6MB |
HD 4600 |
65W |
$213 |
Core i5-4670 |
4 |
4 |
3.4GHz |
3.8GHz |
6MB |
HD 4600 |
84W |
$213 |
Core i5-4570S |
4 |
4 |
2.9GHz |
3.6GHz |
6MB |
HD 4600 |
65W |
$192 |
Core i5-4570 |
4 |
4 |
3.2GHz |
3.6GHz |
6MB |
HD 4600 |
84W |
$192 |
Core i5-4430S |
4 |
4 |
2.7GHz |
3.2GHz |
6MB |
HD 4600 |
65W |
$182 |
Core i5-4430 |
4 |
4 |
3.0GHz |
3.2GHz |
6MB |
HD 4600 |
84W |
$182 |
Intel is offering three different Ivy Bridge-E models to choose from, with all three comfortably being considered “high-end”. The Core i7-4820K is best comparable to the Haswell-based Core i7-4770K, and surprisingly, despite costing $16 less, it offers a modest clock boost and a 25% increase to cache.
On the six-core front, the Core i7-4960X we’re looking at here is clocked at 100MHz higher than last gen’s Core i7-3970X, and commands a $1,000 price tag. For those wanting to save their wallet a bit of stress, the i7-4930X is clocked at 200MHz less, and with 80% of the cache, and can be had for $583.
It’s worth noting that the quad-core Sandy Bridge-E model was not an unlocked part. The quad-core model with Ivy Bridge-E is. Kudos to Intel for that change. This means that every single one of the Sandy Bridge-E models available are ready to be poked and prodded for overclocking with no limitations whatsoever (well, except for the top-end limit of the chip, of course).
As should be clear by this point, the Core i7-4960X is a bit of an odd chip, but now it’s time to see how it actually performs, both compared to the last-gen Core i7-3970X – which it replaces – and also the Haswell i7-4770K.