Is it possible to overclock the I7 4790 processor. Processors

When in 2006 Intel moved to the use of the Core microarchitecture in its processors and introduced new principles of development that received the speaking nickname "Tick-like", it was assumed that fundamentally new processors for personal computers The company will withdraw annually. However, in the future, this plan has undergone certain changes: as it turned out, there is no point in such a high intensity of the development of microarchitectures. AMD gradually left a segment of high-performance processors, and this allowed Intel to make noticeable reliefs in the original schedule without any risk of market lobes. And now, today no one is not particularly surprised by the fact that the Haswell processors are going to hold out in the role of advanced solutions for personal computers at least eighteen months, and as the most relevant options for desktops - almost two years.

However, initially nothing was supposed. The Broadwell processor microarchitecture was supposed to be replaced by Haswell in the middle of this year, and the life cycle of the Fourth Generation Core processors would be quite ordinary duration. However, an unpleasant surprise was presented with 14-nm technical process, which should be implemented for Broadwell. Something went wrong, and the production schedule had to be adjusted by moving away the start of the mass issue of promising semiconductor crystals for about six months. Now the announcement of mobile energy efficient variants of Broadwell is expected only on the eve of the new year, and the processors based on this design for mass computers will be available only next year. Moreover, the common desktop Broadwell will appear in the market only in May-June 2015.

And although the shift of the charts of the announcements for half a year old for Intel does not threaten any special trouble, the company considered it necessary to fulfill any renewal of his own platform in the deadlines installed earlier - in the middle of this year. This is a kind of curtsy towards leading partners who are given the opportunity to refresh the line of their own products. This promotion, which received the Haswell Refresh code name, includes two components. First, the actual declines to the market of new models of processors with the old microarchitecture, but with increased clock frequencies, and, secondly, the presentation of new sets of system logic of the ninth series.

The official announcement of new processors and chipset was scheduled for May 11 - and he has already taken place. The action of Haswell Refresh at first glance turned out very large-scale. In the Intel Price List, 42 new processors were added, 25 of which aims at desktop systems of various classes. In addition, three new sets of logic appeared among the offers of the company. However, what lies for the way out of such a significant array of new products in reality - we will try to find out in this review. For him, our laboratory was able to get two senior Haswell refresh processors, Core i7-4790 and Core i5-4690, as well as the motherboard based on the Z97, ASUS Z97-Deluxe logic database.

⇡ Haswell Refresh processors

Strictly speaking, the Haswell Refresh processor family does not represent anything special, in fact we are talking about a simple increase in the clock frequencies of the Haswell processors well acquainted to us. Unusually here is only the fact that a large group of processors with increased frequencies is excreted at the same time, within the framework of a single announcement. Previously, Intel preferred to raise the frequencies with its CPU scattered, without tosing to one date. The logic of the strategy applied this time is that in the absence of real innovations, the company wants to find a reason to attract additional attention to its products.

In other words, the whole hype around Haswell refresh artificially, it specifically generates Intel itself, trying to create an impression of incessant innovation, even despite the transfer of the Broadwell announcement for a later date. In fact, the output of Haswell Refresh is quite ordinary update, and fresh processors differ from the old ones present on the market for almost a year of Haswell, only an increase in the funny 100-200 MHz frequencies that have occurred within the framework of old thermal packages. In fact, we are talking about a minor increase in productivity, which makes up about 2-3 percent, and no more. Nevertheless, the numerous Intel partners appear Haswell Refresh will take advantage of their own interests and will undoubtedly offer consumers new models of finished systems.

For a sake of fairness, it should be noted that the updating of Intel processors did not make a reason for their rise. Haswell Refresh occupied the old position in the price list, turning out from the Haswell sample last year. The full list of new CPUs for desktop systems looks like this:

	Nuclei / flocks	Clock frequency	Turbochasty	L3-kesh	Graphics	TDP.	Price
Celeron G1840.	2/2	2.8 GHz	-	2 MB	HD.	53 W.	$42
Celeron G1840T.	2/2	2.5 GHz	-	2 MB	HD.	35 W.	$42
Celeron G1850.	2/2	2.9 GHz	-	2 MB	HD.	53 W.	$52
Pentium G3240.	2/2	3.1 GHz	-	3 MB	HD.	53 W.	$64
Pentium G3240T.	2/2	2.7 GHz	-	3 MB	HD.	35 W.	$64
Pentium G3440.	2/2	3.3 GHz	-	3 MB	HD.	53 W.	$75
Pentium G3440T.	2/2	2.8 GHz	-	3 MB	HD.	35 W.	$75
Pentium G3450.	2/2	3.4 GHz	-	3 MB	HD.	53 W.	$86
Core i3-4150	2/4	3.5 GHz	-	3 MB	HD 4400.	54 W.	$117
Core i3-4150t.	2/4	3.0 GHz	-	3 MB	HD 4400.	35 W.	$117
Core i3-4350	2/4	3.6 GHz	-	4 MB	HD 4600.	54 W.	$138
Core i3-4350t.	2/4	3.1 GHz	-	4 MB	HD 4600.	35 W.	$138
Core i3-4360.	2/4	3.7 GHz	-	4 MB	HD 4600.	54 W.	$149
Core i5-4460	4/4	3.2 GHz	3.4 GHz	6 MB	HD 4600.	84 W.	$182
Core i5-4460s.	4/4	2.9 GHz	3.4 GHz	6 MB	HD 4600.	65 W.	$182
Core i5-4590.	4/4	3.3 GHz	3.7 GHz	6 MB	HD 4600.	84 W.	$192
Core i5-4590s.	4/4	3.0 GHz	3.7 GHz	6 MB	HD 4600.	65 W.	$192
Core i5-4590t.	4/4	2.0 GHz	3.0 GHz	6 MB	HD 4600.	35 W.	$192
Core i5-4690.	4/4	3.5 GHz	3.9 GHz	6 MB	HD 4600.	84 W.	$213
Core i5-4690s.	4/4	3.2 GHz	3.9 GHz	6 MB	HD 4600.	65 W.	$213
Core i5-4690T.	4/4	2.5 GHz	3.5 GHz	6 MB	HD 4600.	45 W.	$213
Core i7-4785T	4/8	2.2 GHz	3.2 GHz	8 MB	HD 4600.	35 W.	$303
Core i7-4790.	4/8	3.6 GHz	4.0 GHz	8 MB	HD 4600.	84 W.	$303
Core i7-4790s.	4/8	3.2 GHz	4.0 GHz	8 MB	HD 4600.	65 W.	$303
Core i7-4790t.	4/8	2.7 GHz	3.9 GHz	8 MB	HD 4600.	45 W.	$303

Unfortunately, in the above list, you will not find a single overclocker processor with the index K. This means that the Core i7-4770k and Core i5-4670K released a year ago remain unaffected by the Haswell Refresh promotion and still retain their relevance.

The explanation of this fact is quite simple. Enthusiasts who usually acquire processors with a unlocked multiplier are unlikely to become a minor increase in the clock-stated clock frequency, especially if we consider that it can be obtained by elementary overclocking. The processors included in the Haswell Refresh family are not any other changes in themselves. They are based on the same as predecessors, semiconductor kernel stepping C0 and do not have an even account no additional advantages. The frequency growth occurred in the Haswell refresh relies only to the aging 22-nm technical process, which was introduced by Intel into circulation in 2012. Overclockers need something more.

And this is more in the nearest Intel plans, it is called Devil's Canyon. Under this code name, new Haswell K-series is meant, which will be presented in the very near future, but will appear on a wide sale only by autumn. Intel requires more time to prepare for these proposals, but the waiting is worth it. Devil's Canyon is planned to be a serious change in processor packaging, which in Haswell causes serious complaints. The thermal conducting material, laid between the processor crystal and the cover-heat distributor, will be replaced more efficient, and the lid itself will begin to be manufactured from another alloy with better thermal conductivity. In addition, changes will be made to the electrical "strapping" of the processor crystal in order to improve the "purity" of the supply voltages. As a result, representatives of the Devil's Canyon series, which will receive the names of Core i7-4790k and Core i5-4690K, will become noticeably more accelerated even without performing the "scalping" procedure. In addition, the DEVIL'S Canyon will noticeably increase and passport clock frequencies. For example, in the case of Core i7-4790K, they will reach a 4-gigahertz mark even without the help of turbo. True, although the estimated heat dissipation will increase - it will be not 84, but 88 W.

Well, while with senior processors for the LGA1150 platform - from affordable on sale - are conventional, non-erotic Core i7-4790 and Core i5-4690. These CPUs are completely deprived of any acceleration capabilities and do not allow to increase the working frequencies above the values \u200b\u200bset by the rating. Not even a minor increment of the multiplier, which was possible in the representatives of the Sandy Bridge families and Ivy Bridge.. The only characteristics of Haswell Refresh, which can be improved by enthusiasts, is the frequency of memory and graphics core. In other words, new CPUs suggest operation only in their regular mode. But for the lack of any other options, we tested exactly such a couple of senior representatives of the Haswell Refresh family.

Detailed characteristics of these models are given in the following table:

	Core i7-4790.	Core i5-4690.
Nuclei / flocks	4/8	4/4
Hyper-Threading Technology	there is	Not
Clock frequency	3.6 GHz	3.5 GHz
Maximum frequency in turbojym	4.0 GHz	3.9 GHz
TDP.	84 W.	84 W.
HD Graphics.	4600	4600
Frequency of graphic nucleus	1200 MHz	1200 MHz
L3-kesh	8 MB	6 MB
Support DDR3	1333/1600	1333/1600
Technologies VPRO / TSX-NI / TXT / VT-D	there is	there is
Instruction set extensions	AVX 2.0	AVX 2.0
Packaging	LGA 1150.	LGA 1150.
Price	$303	$213

Core i7-4790 increases the clock frequency of the older line of processors for the LGA1150 platform by 100 MHz, overlapping, thus, one step and overclocking Core i7-4770K, and the usual Core i7-4771. Otherwise, this is a typical Core i7 generation Haswell: it has four cores, supports Hyper-Threading, has a capacity of the third level of 8 MB and compatible with new AVX2 instructions. The graphic core, like the predecessors, belongs to the GT2 class, that is, there are 20 actuating devices. It should be noted that thanks tURBO technologies Boost 2.0 Characteristic work frequency for Core i7-4790 is 3.8 GHz.

The supply voltage of our instance under load was 1.225 V, in the state of downtime, the frequency dropped to 800 MHz, and the voltage to 0.717 V.

Security technology, including VPRO, TXT and VT-D, this processor is maintained in full. In other words, Core i7-4790 is new flagship For the LGA1150 platform, but without the possibility of overclocking.

Core i5-4690 is a processor simpler: unlike representatives of the flagship series, there is no Hyper-Threading technology in it, the L3-cache is reduced by 2 MB and slightly below the clock frequency. Nevertheless, Core i5-4690 was able to take the position of the older model in the Core i5 series: its 100 MHz frequency is higher than that of Core i5-4670, it ranges from 3.5 to 3.9 GHz. Thanks to the turbojam, the most typical frequency of work Core i5-4690 becomes 3.7 GHz - this is only 100 MHz less than that of Core i7-4790.

The Core i5-4690 voltage under load was 1.195 V, but in idle state, as well as the senior fellow, drove the frequency to 800 MHz, and the voltage to 0.718 V.

The graphical core in Core i5-4690 is exactly the same as at the Core i7 Haswell Refresh processor, there are no additional restrictions in the supported sets of instructions or in safety technologies.

New Haswell Refresh Processors No special requirements for motherboards do not impose. They are compatible with any LGA1150 platforms, including those that were released a year ago, at the time of the Announcement of the usual Haswell processors. But, despite this, simultaneously with the release of new Intel processors has released new logic sets for LGA1150-systems - Z97 and H97. They should be told separately.

⇡ Chipsets of the ninth series

In general, the story with the announcement of the Z97 and H97 logic sets is about the same as with Haswell Refresh. These chipsets do not carry any noticeable improvements, and not needed to accompany new processors. The only more or less logical explanation of their appearance is preliminary soil preparation for the next-generation processors, Broadwell, which is expected to be compatible with the LGA1150 ecosystem only partially.

According to available information, Broadwell processors provide additional requirements for the power supply system implemented on the motherboard. Therefore, they will most likely not be compatible with LGA1150 fees released last year. The emergence of new and more modern sets of logic of the ninth series should give impetus to the development and release of LGA1150-cards of the second stage, which must already have compatibility with Brodawell.without any reservations. Therefore, one of the main properties of the Z97 and H97 logic sets calls compatibility with future CPUs: now it is laid at the level of the reference design of the motherboard feed converter. It is not surprising that in the first lines of characteristics of new chipsets, processor support is " Intel Core 4th and 5th generations ", while the chipsets of the eighth series are formally compatible with Haswell.

There is another nuance concerning processor support. For some reason, speaking of their Devil's Canyon overclocker chips, Intel indicates their performance in charges with the Z97 chipset and keeps silence relative to compatibility with Z87. It is quite possible, this is such a marketing trick, but to exclude that new LGA1150 fees will be able to work with Core i7-4790k and Core i5-4690K and Core i5-4690K is better not yet.

If you close your eyes to not fully understand the situation with processor support, then new logic sets look like a simple evolutionary update Z87 and H87. In this case, the main advantage of Z97 and H97 is the emergence of new opportunities associated with the construction of the disk subsystem. In particular, these logic sets make the first step towards implementing promising interfaces for connecting solid-state drives - SATA EXPRESS and M.2.

At the same time, the characteristics of Z97 and H97 are almost the same, the difference between them lies only in their positioning. The Z97 traditionally is focused on enthusiasts and overclockers, maintaining the processor and multi-GPU configuration. H97 is a more conservative option that is cheaper, but it does not allow division of processor lines. PCI EXPRESS.does not allow to overclock the processor, but supports the Intel Small Business Advantage administration system.

The main innovation in the chipsets of the ninth series is the RAPID Storage technology version 13. In the new version, this technology acquires compatibility with drives connected not only through the SATA interface, but also on the PCI Express bus. Simply put, this means that the Intel disk driver will now see and AHCI, and NVME PCI Express devices, allowing you to apply almost all the functions in Rapid Storage Technology. For example, you can be downloaded by downloadable discs, create hybrid configurations based on Smart Response Technology (SRT) with their participation and the like. The only restriction is the drives with the PCI Express interface cannot be involved in RAID arrays.

As for the actual RAID modes, then for SATA disks, almost everything remains in the old way. The chipsets are supported by arrays of levels 0, 1, 10 and 5, while in an array with mirroring of two or four solid-state drives (level 0), the Trim team is possible for all participants included in its composition.

Another improvement in Rapid Storage Technology 13 is the emergence of support for configurations with 16 GB of RAM in Intel Rapid Start technology. Recall that this technology allows you to keep the memory dump on SSD to the SSD state when switching the system to the state of deep sleep - so that the "wake-up" process happened, and during the sleep itself, the system did not need food to maintain the state of RAM. Previously, the work of this technology was allowed only in systems with 8 GB of memory, but now the restriction is removed.

Otherwise, no significant innovations are visible. Z97 and H97, like their predecessors, support up to six SATA 6 Gb / s interfaces, up to six USB 3.0 ports and up to eight PCI EXPRESS 2.0 lines. At the same time, it is obviously a pair of PCI EXPRESS chipset lines can be used not only to connect additional controllers or implement the expansion slots, but also to set the M.2 slot or one SATA Express port. This means that the interfaces for connecting new generation drives, implemented on the basis of the system logic sets of the ninth series, can provide maximum bandwidth of about 1 GB / s, which is 67 percent more than the usual SATA ports 6 Gb / s are issued.

However, the scheme of the implementation of all high-speed ports in new chipsets remained as unwarly as it was before. She again obeys the Flex IO brand scheme, but now another unknown is added to the equation - the M.2 slot or SATA Express port. The bottom line is that the total Z97 and H97 have 18 channels to implement high-speed ports. Four channels are intended for USB 3.0 ports, four - for SATA 6 Gb / s and six - for PCI Express 2.0 lines. The remaining four channels do not have rigidly fixed functionality: two of them can be used both for PCI Express and for USB 3.0, and the second pair can play a role or PCI Express, or SATA 6 Gb / s. Therefore, manufacturers of motherboards when designing their products are forced to choose between different configurations. For example, if there are six chipset USB 3.0 and six SATA 6 Gb / s on the board, then the PCI Express 2.0 chipset lines can only be obtained six as possible. In addition, there is another limitation: the total number of PCI Express lines should not be greater than eight.

Now the M.2 or SATA EXPRESS interfaces are added to the described scheme, the appearance of support for which Intel says in new chipsets. As you know, to implement the M.2 slot current at the moment type M requires one SATA port and at least two PCI Express lines. The SATA Express interface requires two SATA ports and a minimum of two PCI Express lines. At first glance, adding such interfaces on the motherboard with a chipset that has only eighteen channels for high-speed ports should noticeably exhaust its expansion capabilities. But, fortunately, in M.2 and SATA Express, SATA and PCI Express interfaces are never used at the same time. Therefore, Intel decided to give them channels under the numbers 13 and 14, the most that can switch their functionality between SATA and PCI Express. Of course, library manufacturers will use for M.2 and SATA Express and other SATA ports and PCI Express lines or even resort to external controllers. But support for Rapid Storage Technology 13 for drives connected via PCI Express bus is possible only if they work through the 13th and 14th chipset channels. And this means that the presence on the fee based on the chipset of the ninth generation, the PCI Express drive, which is connected in accordance with the Intel scheme, reduces the number of SATA 6 Gbps working ports to four.

Despite the fact that there are not many opportunities in the logic sets of the ninth series, the manufacturers of motherboards perceived their announcement with great enthusiasm. All leading brands have completely updated their LGA1150-Mother Lights, however, the latest feces are mostly not offered any fundamentally new features. Nevertheless, 3DNews monitors the appearance of really interesting new products - a couple of reviews have already been published, plus we will continue to publish them on our website.

15.07.2014 20:01

The Intel Core i7-4790K basic clock frequency is 4 GHz, in automatic acceleration mode - 4400 MHz. Not bad, agree?

A very little time remains until the release of new eight-core processors from Intel called Intel X99 chipset. However, to the release in Intel, they know what to surprise the multi-million audience of users around the world (although probably the main focus of the giant is still focused on corporate clientele).

This summer will be remembered by the appearance of two central processors (but in fact three of them, there are still incredibly budget dual-core with a unlocked multiplier) under the code name Devil's Canyon (Today guest and). And it is para stones At the moment, it is svezhakwhich can be installed in the LGA 1150 socket connector and Intel Z87 chipsets, as well as recently released.

In fairness, we note that for modern games, such a powerful processor is not required, enough and Intel Core i5 operating at 3500-4000 MHz.

In this review, we will talk about the top quad-core A processor for a given socket is an Intel Core i7-4790K, a kind of Intel Core i7-4770K follower. Architectural innovations as such are not, it's all the same 22 nm Haswell, with four active nuclei and eight computing streams. The unlocked multiplier what the suffix "K" in the title says, allows you to conquer invisible overclocking frequencies, however, we have a rush to assure you that you can hardly achieve even more impressive results compared with the denomination, because the basic clock frequency Intel Core i7-4790K is equal to 4 GHz., in automatic acceleration mode - 4400 MHz. Not bad, agree?

In such a situation, it is quite difficult to find an adequate reson for an even greater increase in frequency. The number of cache in this stone – 8 MB. The TDP level is at the mark in 88 W.. However, this is a somewhat average indicator, because by 4.4 GHz, heat dissipation increases to 102 W. And this value is on the standard voltage, which the manufacturer had to raise above 1.3 V.. In idle (2D mode) Intel Core i7-4790K highlights 20 W. Heat. At the standard frequency, the temperature of Intel Core i7-4790k sometimes reached 74 degrees. However, we used the cooler from DeepCool with the ability to dissipate only 95 W power. We recognize that it may not be enough for permanent peak loads.

After increasing the multiplier to several values, as well as voltages up to 1.380 V, we managed to launch Intel Core i7-4790K and 4,600 MHz.

Integrated graphic kernel former - Intel HD Graphics 4600, with the support of three graphic displays. Maximum clock frequency graphics - 1250 MHz. Except for watching high-definition video and normal output images on display, given video card No one is suitable for anything. Although on the low resolution and average settings of the picture quality, we managed to achieve an acceptable frame / s in the game Tomb Raider, another thing is that the picture quality absolutely did not correspond to the level of 2013-2014.

For testing Intel Core i7-4790k We used Maternal asus board Z97-WS and RAM KINGSTON HYPERX 10TH Anniversary Edition (), which worked for 2133 MHz.

This motherboard allows you to squeeze out of any processor much, but, as mentioned above, Intel engineers and so they took an overlooking processor to the limit itself. Still, 4400 MHz is not a joke. Neither for everyday needs, nor for game applications, so many megahertz do not need.

After increasing the multiplier to several values, as well as voltages to 1,380 B.We managed to run Intel Core i7-4790K and on 4600 MHzHowever, for complete stability and in order to unjust overheating, we dropped to 4.5 GHz to pass tests.

And without the incredible performance of Intel Core i7-4790K in the nominal mode has increased even higher. In fairness, we note that for modern games, such a powerful processor is not required, enough and Intel Core i5 operating at 3500-4000 MHz. But for rendering, professional graphic, architectural and design calculations, Intel Core i7-4790K will fit the most correct way.

In our retail, Intel Core i7-4790k has not succeeded yet, however, it is known that the recommended price for this a rock Will turns out in the area 350$ . And in our opinion, this is a more appropriate applicant for the installation in the system compared to second In the Intel Core I7-4770K line. After all, today's new items, with an equal vacation value, the nominal frequency is already 4400 MHz, and the Intel Core i7-4770k still needs to be configured to work in this mode (although for lovers computer Iron. This will not be a lot of work).

It introduces, even recently, the ideology of overclocking processors assumed the acquisition of cheap CPU models and their acceleration to the level of senior models or even stronger. That is, at the expense of his skills and experience, enthusiasts really saved, without losing in the level of productivity of their own systems. But with an increase in the popularity of overclocking, such a situation has ceased to arrange manufacturers of computer equipment, which, in the end, were able to turn the entire overclocking from the legs on the head. For example, Intel, which acts as the main developer and supplier of central processors, has recently accelerated only special models that have a higher than conventional CPUs, the price. It is not surprising that all this strongly affected the overclocking movement. It was not so widespread, turning from the usual practice into a kind of sport. However, it cannot be said that the ranks of the enthusiasts were catastrophically definitely. Processors with unlocked frequency increases continue to enjoy good demand, which causes the emergence of new and new CPU modifications for overclockers.

However, the release of specialized acceleration CPUs, Intel thus took over and certain obligations: the processors that it offers at an elevated price with an overclocking use should have a good frequency potential, otherwise what is the meaning? And here the problem arises. Currently, when developing new processor architectures, the main priority for Intel is by no means increasing the frequency potential, but to improve the efficiency of processor nuclei. And this is consistent with acceleration is not too good. Since the appearance of the Sandy Bridge processor processors, the output of each new generation of microarchitecture will attract a decrease in frequency potential. And if the generation processors are Sandy Bridge often managed to cut out for everyday use to the frequencies of 4.8-5.0 GHz, the modern Haswell is not strongly reaching until this turn, stopping at frequencies of 4.3-4.5 GHz, which, in fact, , not too much exceed nominal.

All this began to threaten Intel and monetary, and reputational losses, because many owners of classical desktop systems refuse to go to new CPU generations precisely because of their weak acceleration. The current situation began to strain intel so that in December last year, six months after the sale of Haswell processors, at the level of the leadership, it was decided to make urgent measures that would improve Intel's image in the ranks of enthusiasts. Thus, the idea of \u200b\u200bDevil's Canyon was born - the new version of Haswell for overclockers, which was eventually designed and launched into mass production in record time.

Two new developers of the Devil's Canyon series together with another interesting novelty - the anniversary overclocking processor Pentium G3258 - were announced in June and appeared on sale in July-August. The novelties were presented two: "Simple" Quad Oddernik Core i5-4690K and the flagship four-core processor for the LGA 1150 platform with the support of Hyper-Threading technology, Core i7-4790K. These are two processors, as it were, complement the update of the LGA 1150 processors of Haswell Refresh. New Devil's Canyon act as Haswell Refresh for enthusiasts, offering the replacement of its predecessors Core i5-4670K and Core i7-4770K on a model with slightly higher clock frequencies. However, the simple frequency growth could hardly be caused by a drop of interest from overclockers, so this is not limited to this. In addition, the microprocessor giant promises a noticeable improvement in overclocking potential, and this is precisely this noteworthy of new processors. Let's get acquainted with them more.

Devil's Canyon Features

Considering that Devil's Canyon was developed in avral mode, no improvements at the microarchitecture level in them. The advantage of these processors over the predecessors is due only to such engineering solutions that could be tested without deepening in the "Drack" of the processor. However, while Haswell Refresh differs from Haswell "First Wave" with only slightly increased clock frequencies, the fundamental differences of Devil's Canyon from past overclocker Haswell you can count as many as three.

The first change will be interested in those users who use overclocker processors in nominal mode. Considering that with the release of Haswell Refresh, the frequency has grown in all processors for the LGA 1150 platform, the old modifications of Core i5-4670k and Core i7-4770K have ceased to be the fastest CPUs of their class. Therefore, the new Core i5-4690k and the Core i7-4790K frequencies had to be increasing. Moreover, in this case, we are not talking about 100 megaHell add, as in Haswell Refresh, but about a more noticeable acceleration. For example, the older model of Core i7-4790K in its passport frequency could even reach a psychologically important mark of 4.0 GHz, which neither one of the Intel processors for desktop systems could still could not cross.

The second change is aimed directly to improve the frequency potential during acceleration. Devil's Canyon has changed the composition of the material located between the semiconductor crystal and the processor lid. This step is a direct response to the criticism of overclockers, which expressed dissatisfaction with the poor thermal conductivity of the inner thermal interface of the old Haswell and Ivy Bridge, due to which the processor kernels overheated even in systems with very productive cooling systems. However, the change occurred only moderate optimism. The fact is that the most effective way of interfacing the crystal and the lid is through an adherent solder soldering with high thermal conductivity - in Devil's Canyon never returned. In fact, Intel simply replaced one grade thermal paste to others. The new material called in the NGPTIM documentation (NEXT-Generation Polymer Thermal Interface Material - the "Polymer thermal interface material of the new generation") is distinguished by its chemical composition and has a better than before, thermal conductivity.

If you remove the processor cover from Devil's Canyon, then such a picture opens before your eyes.

The appearance of the thermal interface compared to the old Haswell has not changed. No solder in Devil's Canyon, naturally, no, is used about the same as before, a gray substance. However, the plasticity of this material has improved, it does not look dry, and it can be removed as an ordinary high-quality thermal path - a soft cloth. As for the thermal conductivity, the experiments show that Ngptim has not grown too much. This heat-conducting material loses with direct comparison even with such an inexpensive and public thermal paste as Arctic MX-2. Consequently, we should not expect serious changes in the temperature mode of new overclocker processors. Practical experiments show that with the same frequency and voltage of Devil's Canyon heated by about 10 degrees less than their predecessors, which in fact does not change in principle. Radical enthusiasts to achieve maximum overclocking results will have to continue to "scalize" and DEVIL'S CANYON processors.

By the way, the third innovation in Devil's Canyon aims precisely on such advanced accelerations, which do not disperse extremal approaches to overclocking. In order to improve the stability of Intel's power stresses, developed a new circuit of electrical strapping, which was reflected in the appearance of the processor on the "trouser" and under its cover of additional attached capacitors. The new power circuit allows to improve the constancy of stresses at high load, that is, in fact, it acts an analogue to counteracting the voltage drop, which is usually implemented on motherboards for enthusiasts. The usual "home" acceleration of Haswell without using extreme cooling methods does not really require anything like that, when experiments with cooling processor with dry ice or liquid nitrogen, additional stabilization may not be more by the way.

No other changes compared to Haswell in Devil's Canyon. Contrary to bold expectations, the semiconductor crystal in Devil's Canyon remained unchanged. Its stepping - C0: the same kernel stepping can be observed both in Haswell Refresh, and in ordinary Haswell annual prescription. Therefore, all promised improvements in the frequency potential is solely the result of changing the inner thermal interface and the improvement of the supply scheme.

Specifications

The most important news that can be seen in specifications is a significant increase in the Core i7-4790K processor clock frequency. While the nominal frequency at its predecessor, Core i7-4770k was installed at 3.5 GHz with the possibility of aviance in turbo mode to 3.9 GHz, the novelty wakes up for the conquest of a 4-gighertz turn. It is at such a level that the regular frequency of Senior Devil's Canyon, Core i7-4790K is installed, that is, this processor always operates at a frequency at least not lower than 4.0 GHz. Thanks to the TURBO Boost technology, the maximum nominal frequency of this novelty with a low load can reach up to 4.4 GHz. Thus, Core i7-4790k received a 14 percent acceleration compared to its predecessor, which looks like a very generous gift from Intel, especially if you take into account the fact identical with the Core i7-4770K recommended value. The only side effect of the incident of the clock frequency increasing is an increase in the calculated heat generation, which has grown from 84 to 88 W.

The junior processor from the Duet DEVIL'S Canyon, Core i5-4690K, can not boast of expressive increase in the frequency. From the point of view of the specifications, it could be written in the ranks of Haswell Refresh, because its frequency compared to the Core i5-4670K frequency rose only to one 100 meghartz step. The old overclocking Core i5 worked at frequencies of 3.4-3.8 GHz, and its follower Devil's Canyon received frequencies of 3.5-3.9 GHz. At the same time, for Core i5-4690k, the manufacturer also pushed to 88 W frame of the thermal package, but it was done purely formally. Having the same operating characteristics of Core i5-4690 (non-overclocking Haswell Refresh) has a TDP 84 W.

Note that new K-series processors for the LGA 1150 platform, in contrast to the predecessors, received support for VPRO and TXT security technologies, VT-D virtualization and formally, TSX-NI instructions. This partly makes Devil's Canyon interesting, including in the corporate sector. However, it should be recalled that recently an error was found in the TSX-NI set, due to which its introduction was impossible. With the release of new versions of the BIOS, this set will be simply disconnected in the processors at the microcode level. But the victims of this, most likely, will not be among the usual users: the TSX-NI instructions are needed to implement the transactional memory model in multi-threaded environments, and their use can be justified only in specialized applications, which are independent for multiprocessor servers.

Let's compare the characteristics of DEVIL'S Canyon processors with the specifications of their predecessors.

New processors related to the Devil's Canyon series continue to be destined for the LGA 1150 ecosystem. They are compatible with motherboards based on the logic sets of the 9th series, and with the overwhelming majority of boards with the 8th series chipsets (in the latter case, the firmware update is required). At the same time, among the boards on the Z87 chipset, there are models that are not able to work with Devil's Canyon, so if you plan to build a system on new processors and motherboards of one-year prescription, be sure to check their compatibility on the manufacturer's website.

I also want to emphasize the fact that with the Core i7-4790K and Core i5-4690K and Core i5-4690K, Intel increased the gap in productivity between the senior representatives of the I5 and I7 series. If earlier the main difference between such processors for enthusiasts was only a more roomy L3-cache and technology Hyper-Threading, now the semi-chaired difference in the clock frequency should be taken to consideration. In other words, the 40 percent difference in the value of older I5 and I7 became more justified, which is likely to bow many to the transition to the Core i7-4790K, and not on his younger fellow.

As for the practical aspects, the Core i7-4790K processor processor received for testing functioned in full compliance with the declared specifications - at a frequency of over 4.0 GHz. With activated TURBO BOOST 2.0 technology, with a multi-threaded load, its frequency was 4.2 GHz, in the case with single-threaded activity, it rose to the promised 4.4 GHz. The operating stresses were within the limits of 1.12-1,20 in that, it should be noted, a bit above the voltages, which are characteristic of both ordinary Haswell and their newest modifications of Haswell Refresh.

Given that Core i5-4690k as well as his senior fellow, has a calculated heat generation of 88 W, one would expect that its operating stresses will also be relatively high. But no, the sample taken by us worked in a par at 1.06 V, and when activating Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, this voltage increased only to 1.09 V. In this case, the typical real frequency of Core i5-4690K with active turbojym and high computing load is 3 , 7 GHz.

Acceleration

Devil's Canyon is targeted by Intel on the audience of enthusiasts. Therefore, both processors included in this series have unlocked multipliers that allow independently overclocking the processor, a tire, memory, and a graphical core. However, there is nothing new on this list, and on overclocking functions Core i7-4790k, together with Core i5-4690K, is similar to the past Haswell K-series.

Previously, Haswell with an unlocked multiplier was caused by overclockers somewhat dismissive attitude. The highest heating is due, due to which the maximum frequency suitable for the daily use of the processor did not exceed 4.3-4.5 GHz. But Devil's Canyon is presented with Intel as "work on errors" in the first place in the heat level from the processor crystal. That is, the manufacturer directly promised to enthusiasts that new CPUs should be sick less and at the expense of this can conquer higher frequencies without any surgical intervention (scalping) and replacing the inner thermal interface.

However, in practice, immediately after its release, Devil's Canyon did not demonstrate anything good. It even made us abandon the review by Intel sent engineering samples. In the acceleration, they were no better than the predecessors, which prevailed to think that something was wrong with them. Now we have waited for the emergence of serial copies of processors in our laboratory. And you know what? Nothing changed!

The junior four-detector Core i5-4690k took part in the experiments on acceleration. The maximum achievable frequency for it during acceleration was modest, but the usual 4.4 GHz. It should be understood that in this case we are not talking about an overclocking record, but about the frequency at which this processor can function in a conventional desktop system 24/7. Therefore, for cooling, we used the NOctua NH-D15 air cooler with a two-bash design, which, however, refers to the number of the most effective solutions of this class.

To ensure stability when tested testing, the voltage had to raise up to 1.15 V. In this case, no problems occurred, but when performing the test in Linx 0.6.5, the temperature of the hottest nucleus increased to 98 degrees, that is, almost up to 100 degrees . Thus, the temperature factor, as before, continues to restrain the overclocking of Core i5-4690K. The ineffectiveness of the inner thermal interface leads to overheating of the processor cores, and cope with it, increasing the performance of the cooling system, is almost impossible.

As a result, increasing the voltage of the processor supply, which is necessary for stable operation during acceleration, is possible only in very limited limits. And in the end we get just such a sad overclocking. The maximum for our Core i5-4690K 4.4 GHz is not only no better than typical overclocking of the Core i5-4670K released more than a year ago, but also this is the Core i7-4790K passport frequency in turbo mode.

Maybe the flagship processor accelerates better? Well, if only a little bit. The maximum frequency achieved in the process of overclocker experiments was 4.5 GHz. To ensure stability, the supply voltage had to be increased to 1.2 V - with a smaller voltage, the system flew into " blue screen" The temperature in this case during the inspection in Linx 0.6.5 on the hottest core reached 96 degrees.

In other words, even using highly efficient air cooling about what is noticeably higher than before, acceleration does not have to talk. And the wines in this again lying on the inner thermal interface, which simply does not allow to remove heat from the processor crystal and rolls up users in increasing supply voltage. The Sandy Bridge processors, produced according to 32-nm technology, could work freely at a voltage of 1.4-1.5 V, and at the same time all the highlighted heat managed to dispel the air cooling system with good efficiency. In the production of Haswell and Devil's Canyon, a more perfect 22-nm technical process is used, but increase the voltage can only be removed to 1.2 V, and then overheating. This is a very demonstrative manifestation of the poor quality of the existing thermal interface.

Unfortunately, all Haswell problems manifested in acceleration completely moved and in Devil's Canyon. If the load occurs, the temperature of the processor nuclei increases sharply and significantly, and its retention in permissible framework requires non-gravity. It turns out that new LGA 1150 processors with ordinary non-extremal acceleration are almost no better than their overclocker predecessors of the Haswell family. To make a new Sandy Bridge from Haswell, a simple change in the chemical composition of the polymer thermal interface is not enough. So it remains only to hope that the Berflus Soldering of the semiconductor crystal to the processor cover with a light-melting point based on metal India will return to the future LGA1150 products for the Broadwell generation enthusiasts. At the same time, the only current current processors in which the soldering is used is the newly released Haswell-E, but they, unlike Devil's Canyon, belong to the premium price category.

As we tested

The performance of new DEVIL's Canyon processors we compared at the speed of their predecessors, senior representatives of the Haswell line of the last year's sample, Core i5-4670k and Core i7-4770k. However, we did not limit. From this week, AMD introduces new prices for their FX processors that re-make them (conditionally) competitive. For example, the Senior FX-9590 receives the official price tag at $ 230, which allows you to compare it with Intel Core i5. That is why among the participants of the test you will find both AMD FX-9590.

In order to show the scalability of Devil's Canyon performance when they are accelerated, Core i5-4690k and Core i7-4790k were tested by us both when working in nominal mode and with the frequency that is maximum achieved, which, however, is not very different from the nominal.

As a result, the list of hardware components involved in testing looked as follows:

Processors:

AMD FX-9590 (Vishera, 8 cores, 4.7-5.0 GHz, 4x2 MB L2, 8 MB L3);
Intel Core i7-4790K (Haswell Refresh, 4 cores + HT, 4.0-4.4 GHz, 4x256 KBIT L2, 8 MB L3);
Intel Core i7-4770K (Haswell, 4 cores + HT, 3.5-3.9 GHz, 4x256 KB L2, 8 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-4690K (Haswell, 4 kernels, 3.5-3.9 GHz, 4x256 KB L2, 6 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-4670K (Haswell, 4 kernels, 3.4-3.8 GHz, 4x256 KB L2, 6 MB L3).

Processor cooler: NOCTUA NH-D15.
Motherboards:

ASUS M5A99FX Pro R2.0 (Socket AM3 +, AMD 990FX + SB950);
ASUS Z97-PRO (LGA1150, Intel Z97).

Memory: 2x8 GB DDR3-2133 SDRAM, 9-11-11-31 (G.SKILL F3-2133C9D-16GTX).
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX. 780 Ti (3 GB / 384 BIT GDDR5, 876-928 / 7000 MHz).
Disk subsystem: Intel SSD 520 240 GB (SSDSC2CW240A3K5).
Power supply: Seasonic Platinum SS-760XP2 (80 Plus Platinum, 760 W).

Testing was performed in the operating system Microsoft Windows. 8.1 Professional X64 with Update using the following set of drivers:

AMD CHIPSET DRIVERS 14.4;
Intel Chipset Driver 10.0.14;
Intel Management Engine Driver 10.0.0.1204;
Intel Rapid Storage Technology 13.0.3.1001;
NVIDIA GeForce 340.52 Driver.

Performance

Total performance

To estimate the performance of processors in common tasks, we traditionally use the BAPCO SYSMARK test package that simulates the user's work in real common modern office programs and applications for creating and processing digital content. The test idea is very simple: it gives the only metric characterizing the weighted average speed of the computer during everyday use. Recently, this benchmark has once again updated, and now we will use the latest version - SYSMARK 2014.

The increase in the Core i5-4690K clock frequency compared to Core i5-4670K amounted to 3 percent. The senior Core i7-4790K received 14 percent higher frequency than its predecessor, Core i7-4770K. If you have this in mind, the results obtained become well explained, because it is precisely in such proportions that the indicators in SYSMARK 2014 have increased. As a result, Core i7-4790K exceeds in the performance of Core i5-4690K by as much as much as the difference in speed has previously experienced Senior Core i5 and Core i7. However, if you take into account overclocking, which allows you to increase the Core i5-4690K frequency by 25 percent, and Core i7-4790k is only 13 percent, it is completely not surprising that the discrepancy in the results is reduced to 17 percent.

The deeper understanding of the results of SYSMARK 2014 is able to give acquaintance with productivity estimates obtained in various system use scenarios. Office Productivity Scenario Models typical office work: text preparation, spreading spreadsheet, e-mail and visits to Internet sites. The script will use the following set of applications: Adobe Acrobat XI Pro, Google Chrome 32, Microsoft Excel 2013, Microsoft OneNote 2013, Microsoft Outlook. 2013, Microsoft PowerPoint 2013, Microsoft Word. 2013, WinZip Pro 17.5 Pro.

In the MEDIA CREATION scenario, the creation of a commercial using pre-filtered digital images and video. For this purpose, Popular Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended Packages are applied, Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 and Trimble Sketchup Pro 2013.

The Data / Financial Analysis scenario is devoted to statistical analysis and investment forecasting based on a certain financial model. The script uses large volumes of numerical data and two Microsoft Excel 2013 and WinZip Pro 17.5 Pro applications.

In applications of different types, the relative advantage of Devil's Canyon over their predecessors of the genus Haswell remains constant. This is just advantageous to increase the clock frequency - it always gives a predictable positive result. The difference in the performance of Core i5 and Core i7 varies depending on the load. We have repeatedly talked about what tasks are the Core i7 processors are good. It is better to use them when creative work with multimedia content and in countable tasks, such as financial orientation. For the general activity, it is quite possible to limit the Core i5-4690k, which after overclocking lags behind the overclocked I7-4790K by only 7 percent. A similar recommendation can be distributed to the game, but we will not run forward.

Game performance

As you know, the performance of platforms equipped with high-performance processors in the overwhelming majority of modern games is determined by the capacity of the graphic subsystem. That is why when testing processors, we choose the most processor-dependent game, and we perform the measurement of the number of frames twice. The first passing tests are carried out without inclusion of smoothing and installing far from the highest permissions. Such settings allow us to evaluate how well the processors with gaming load are displayed in principle, which means that it makes it possible to build guesses about how tested computing platforms will behave in the future, when faster options for graphic accelerators appear on the market. The second pass is performed with realistic installations - when you select FullHD permission and the maximum level of full-screen smoothing. In our opinion, such results are no less interesting, as they respond to a frequently asked question of which level of game performance can provide processors right now - in modern conditions.

Results in FullHD adequacy with maximum quality settings:

We have long talked about the fact that the senior processors of the Core i5 and Core i7 series are approximately equal in modern games. DEVIL'S CANYON output changed nothing. According to the above graphics, it is clearly clear that the maximum difference in the frequency of frames is 3 percent. In other words, for gaming systems, the acquisition of the Core i7-4790K instead of Core i5-4690k has not too much sense. Moreover, when overclocked, the frequency of these processors is compared, which further brings the results shown by them.

Naturally, to see on the example of 3D games at least some progress in gaming performance when moving from old Haswell to the new Devil's Canyon single class is almost impossible. Therefore, the only explicit fact that can be seen, looking at the above diagrams, is that aMD processor FX-9590 was weaker than Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

Results with reduced resolution:

If you facilitate a slightly load on the graphics subsystem, reducing the resolution, food for reflection appears much more. Here the Core i5-4690K processor has become the faster of its predecessor on average by 2 percent. Senior Core I7-4790K, whose frequency stepped far forward, ahead of Core i7-4770k is much more significant - by 12 percent. The difference in the performance of the participants in Duet Devil's Canyon is about 13 percent on average, but depending on the optimization of the game engine, from 3 to 33 percent, it may vary. It turns out that the Gaming potential of Core i7-4790K is significantly higher than that of his fellow and what its predecessors. However, to reveal it, power gEFORCE video cards GTX 780 Ti lacks. But nothing, soon we are waiting for a meeting with the new generation of graphic accelerators.

Tests in applications

In Autodesk 3DS MAX 2015, we test the speed of the final rendering. It is measured by the time spent on rendering in the resolution of 1920x1080 using the Mental Ray render of one frame of the standard SPACE_FLYBY scene from the SPEC test package.

Performance Testing When processing graphic images occurs in Adobe Photoshop CC 2014. The average execution time of the test script is measured, which is a creative recycled Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed \u200b\u200bTest, which includes typical processing of four 24 megapixel images made by a digital camera.

By numerous requests of photographers, we conducted performance testing in the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 graphics program. The test script includes post-processing and exports to JPEG with a resolution of 1920x1080 and the maximum quality of two hundred 12 megapixel images in the RAW format made by the Nikon D300 digital camera.

Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2014 is tested with a nonlinear video edge. The rendering time is measured in the H.264 Blu-Ray format of the project containing HDV 1080P25 video sequence with the imposition of various effects.

Performance when working websites and Internet applications built using modern technologies, we are measured in Internet Explorer. 11. For this, a specialized WebXPRT 2013 test is applied, which implements on HTML5 and JavaScript actually used in the Internet applications algorithms.

To measure the speed of processors when compressing information, we use archiver winrar. 5.0, with which with the maximum degree of compression, archive a folder with various files with a total volume of 1.7 GB.

To estimate the video recoding speed to H.264 format uses the X264 FHD Benchmark 1.0.1 test (64bit), based on measuring coding time coder X264 source video to MPEG-4 / AVC format with permission [Email Protected] and default settings. It should be noted that the results of this benchmark have a huge practical valueSince the Code X264 is based on numerous popular recoding utilities, such as Handbrake, Megui, VirtualDub, and so on. We periodically update the encoder used to measure performance, and in this testing was attended by version R2453, which implements support for all modern instructions sets, including AVX2.

In addition, we added to the test applications and the new Code X265, designed to transcribe video into a promising H.265 / HEVC format, which is a logical continuation of H.264 and is characterized by more efficient compression algorithms. The source is used to evaluate performance [Email Protected] Y4M video file, which is recoded to H.265 format with Medium profile. This testing was attended by the release of Codeter version 1.2.

There are no surprises in resource-intensive applications. The larger clock frequencies of Devil's Canyon take them into leaders in all tests, and the superiority over the older Haswell, released a year ago, is noticeably very good. Despite the fact that in the case of Core i5-4690k it is about 2 percent, Core i7-4790K, working in the nominal mode, is ahead of Core i7-4770K by 12 percent. This means that if you are interested in high performance right "out of the box", Core i7-4790k is the best option. Its speed in the resource-intensive tasks noticeably exceeds not only the performance of the predecessor. He is more than a quarter faster than his fellow from the Core i5 series.

By the way, in its marketing materials, Intel also indicates that the Senior Devil's Canyon processor, Core i7-4790K, works in applications by more than 30 percent faster than Sandy Bridge, Core i7-2700K. Moreover, in some tasks, for example, when creating and processing a video content, the level of such an advantage can be significantly higher and even to reach up to 65 percent.

The scalability of performance during acceleration is defined quite weak. Overheating Problems, restraining the operation of Devil's Canyon processors at frequencies, seriously exceeding regular, lead to what overclockers can win only from 5 to 15 percent of additional performance depending on which processor is Core i7-4790K or Core i5-4690K - There is a speech.

Energy consumption

In fact, everything is clear and so: there are no fundamental improvements in the energy consumption of Devil's Canyon, because these processors are based on exactly the same semiconductor crystal, as well as all other four-core in LGA 1150 execution. Therefore, it is obvious that they will require more electricity than their predecessors, simply due to a higher clock frequency. Moreover, for Core i7-4790k and Core i5-4690k, the manufacturer of 4 W increased the boundaries of the thermal package. However, all these theoretical calculations need practical verification. To her and go.

The following charts, unless specifically stipulated separately, the system consumption (without a monitor) is provided, measured at the output from the outlet in which the power supply unit is connected, and represents the amount of power consumption of all components involved in the system. The switch of the power supply itself is automatically turned into the total indicator, but considering that the BP model we use, the Seasonic Platinum SS-760XP2, has a certificate of 80 PLUS Platinum, its influence must be minimal. To correct energy consumption assessment, we activated the turbo mode and all existing energy-saving technologies: C1E, C6 and Enhanced Intel Speedstep.

First of all, consumption in idle state was measured.

In a state of idle, no fundamental differences in the consumption of ordinary Haswell and Devil's Canyon are not noticeable. It is clear: the activation of processor energy-saving technologies reduces the CPU energy appetites to almost zero. Therefore, what is reflected in the diagram in the case of LGA1150 systems is the total consumption of motherboard, video card and SSD.

Then we measured the maximum consumption with the load created by the 64-bit version of the LINX 0.6.5 utility with support for the AVX2 instruction set based on the LINPACK package.

What can be seen in the diagram is - a limit level of consumption observed in practice. Nevertheless, a certain concern inspires the fact that the difference between the Haswell and Devil's Canyon consumption at the level of several watts is observed only at the Core i5 series processors. Core i7-4790k turned out to be voracious than Core i7-4770k, for as much as 14 W! This is logical, based on a substantial increase in the Senior Devil's Canyon clock frequency and supply voltage, but not entirely consistent with its TDP level. In other words, it seems necessary to get used to the fact that this characteristic of Intel is associated with the maximum achievable energy consumption and heat dissipation on some implicit law. And in fact modern processors Intel is able to demonstrate real power consumption, noticeably exceeding their thermal package.

Considering that power consumption, initiated by the LINX-based LINPACK package, greatly exceeds the average realistic level, we measured consumption and with a more "landed" load - recoding a video using a 64-bit version of the X264 version R2453.

A qualitative picture does not change. Devil's Canyon reiterates higher than their predecessors, consumption. Meanwhile, absolute number of power consumption looks not so frightening as in the previous case. Moreover, the growth of energy consumption in new products turns out to be less than the advantages in the performance that they can offer in resource-consuming proposals. This means that Core i7-4790k and Core i5-4690K are more beneficial than Core i7-4770k and Core i5-4670K, from the point of view of specific speed in the recalculation of the expended Watt of electricity.

conclusions

Users of desktops encountered in their daily activities with resource-intensive tasks, always welcome the emergence of new processors with increased productivity. However, in the past few years, every next generation of Intel CPUs gave only a slight increase in speed at 5-10 percent, which was provided by small microarchiterate optimizations and nothing else. The clock frequencies at the same time almost did not change. But this year Intel could not withdraw its regular generation of processors, Broadwell. Therefore, finally, the increase in working frequencies, through which new processors and increased their speed through which new processors. In other words, new Devil's Canyon provide a traditional increase in productivity, but do it a little unusual way, which can be described as "legalized overclocking".

However, one simple inclusion of the frequency was not limited. Intel also changed a slightly power scheme by adding additional stabilizing capacitors to it, and in addition, it tried to compete with high temperatures inherent in the Haswell generation processors. This struggle, however, was carried out according to the simplest way to improve the thermal conductivity of the inner thermal interface material. But this gave some effect: under high load temperatures decreased by about 10 degrees relative to the temperatures of the original Haswell. But did DEVIL'S Canyon make it more interesting than old Haswell? The answer to this question will depend on what position to look at the novelties.

Intel herself, when the new Devil's Canyon was represented, he had found that these processors were specifically designed for accelerations. However, overclockers, most likely, Devil's Canyon will not like. The fact that Intel has done to improve acceleration potential, in reality did not give almost no effect. In the conditions of normal overclocking, which assumes the continuous operation of the processor at an increased frequency, we were able to see only 100 megahertz improvement of the frequency potential, and even that, only for a single processor from the tested pair. The temperature of the processor nuclei, while the same wild remained, as before, and the removal of heat from the processor crystal is also associated with significant problems. And this means that if you already have an overclocking Haswell, there is no point in Devil's Canyon. More or less normal overclocking and in the other case, require removal of the lid and the replacement of Intel's thermal paste on, for example, liquid metal.

Another thing, if you approach the new products as ordinary flagship processors for the LGA 1150 platform. In this case, the older model, Core i7-4790k, looks very attractive due to the increased clock frequencies. This processor first stepped over in the Intel products through a 4-gighertz bar, so that it can offer a higher speed for about 10-15 percent than its predecessor. At the same time, energy consumption and heat dissipation in the novelty grew quite slightly, and the price remained at the old level. As a result, Core i7-4790K can be called the fastest to date by the four-core processor and one of the most favorable sentences top price category. The second processor from those considered today, Core i5-4690k, increased frequency completely slightly. But at the price it is equivalent to Core i5-4670k, so that buyers will be on this model.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the announcement of the next-generation desktop processors, Broadwell, according to the latest data, is postponed for the second quarter of the next year, and, it means, Devil's Canyon will remain best options For the LGA 1150 platform, there is still a long time. However, even with the Broadwell exit, they can save their appeal. A very big question is whether the prospective flagship processors Intel will be able to work at an equally large clock frequency as Core i7-4790K, or they will have to rejected the traditional 3.5-3.9 GHz. This means that it may well come out in such a way that buyers who acquire the eldest Devil's Canyon today make a very far-sighted attachment.

In mid-May Intel. But compared with the predecessors, we received not fully new models, but a small increase in the clock frequency of 100-200 MHz, as a result. But Intel did not raise prices, but presented the "Haswell Refresh" processors at the same price of the market. Just for the COMPUTEX 2014 exhibition chip manufacturer, aimed at ambitious overclockers, which have been added some improvements. In our article, we will consider the new flagship of the Intel Z97 platform, namely Intel Core i7-4790k.

But after the only thing that was not enough - models with an unlocked multiplier. With Intel Core i7-4790K and Core i5-4690K and Core i5-4690k and Core I5-4690K, just after computex. If the previous processors "Haswell Refresh" were equipped with only a higher base frequency and turbo frequency (per 100 or 200 MHz), otherwise leaked to the "Haswell" architecture and 22-nm technical process, then new processors "Devils Canyon" are intended for serious overclockers.

In addition to the unlocked factor Intel corrected another significant drawback. The fact is that the generation of "Ivy Bridge" K processor heat distributor is no longer soldered. A special material (TIM) resembling a thermal paste was used between heat distributor and crystal. Many users complained that the effectiveness of heat transfer from this material decreased. Intel tried to correct the situation for "Devils Canyon" processors used a new chemical composition, which is characterized by the best thermal conductivity. The manufacturer promises temperatures at the level of the soldered heat distributor. The Superior Tim Intel material calls the Intel Next-Generation Polymer Thermal Interface Material (NGPTIM) interface. There are also additional capacitors that promise more stable processor power. Otherwise, we get energy consumption, quite comparable with the previous fastest models of "Haswell", as well as "Haswell Refresh", even even above. New "Devils Canyon" processors have an energy consumption of 88 W instead of the usual level 84 W TDP.

4790 No need to think about system requirements Software to computer hardware stuffing. This semiconductor crystal boasts one of the highest levels of performance, which allows it to solve any tasks.

Who is the processor solution for?

The hero of today's review came to replace Core I7 4770. The cardinal differences between them do not exist. The only difference is an enlarged that in 4790 is 3.6 GHz in the basic mode (that is, when using all 4-cores), and in 4770 - 200 MHz less than 3.4 GHz in a similar mode. Otherwise, niche of this processor is gaming computers, workers and graphics stations and entry-level servers. Of course, you can and easily solve on such a processor, but it is not entirely justified from an economic point of view. For example, the same office applications will perfectly work on a more modest, from the position of hardware characteristics, CPU. Therefore, Niche 4790 is demanding programs and toys. It is for working with such a software and created this semiconductor crystal.

What comes in the delivery set with the CPU?

The Box version of the Core i7 4790 CPU central processor can boast such a complete set:

The processor itself in protective plastic packaging.

Basic cooling system.

Thermal Pasta.

Processor logo in the form of stickers for the front panel system Block PC.

Warranty card.

Brief guide to the use of CPU.

More affordable version With the Prefix Tray differs only only in the absence of a cooling system. The difference in the recommended value between them is 10 dollars.

What socket is the processor oriented?

Core i7 4790 is focused on the most popular connector for the processor from Intel Corporation - FClga1150. Until the end of this year, a socket 1151 will come to shift. But this does not mean that decisions based on 1150 will immediately become obsolete. They will still be exactly relevant for 2-3 years, and the hero of our today's review and more - is guaranteed for 5 years it will cope with any task. The overall dimensions of the chip are 37.5 mm by 37.5 mm.

Technology

The cPU Produced on the standards of 22-nm of the technological process. This is quite a fresh solution: the most progressive chips from Intel in this regard can boast of technology in 14 nm. And they were released relatively recently. But on the other hand, 4790 was now a little bitfast due to this nuance - it became a little easier to acquire it.

Cache

This quad-core processor boasts a solid three-level cache that allows you to significantly increase the performance of the computer system. The first level is fast divided into 4 parts. The size of each of them is 64 KB. In this case, half of these 64 KB is used to store software instructions, and the second exactly stores the data. The total size of the first level cache is 256 KB. The second level is similarly divided into 4 equal parts of 256 Kb. But at the same time, such a clear separation, as at the first level, there is no and data along with the instructions are stored in a single address space. The total amount of the second level of the cache is 1 MB. The third level of fast energy-dependent memory is 8 MB and is common to all computing CPU computing blocks.

Oz

The RAM controller is integrated into the processor itself, and such an engineering solution greatly increases the final speed of the system. The RAM controller itself is two-channel. That is, in the PC on the basis of this chip, it is better to install two strips of reduced size than one large. For example, 2 pieces of 4 GB than 1 piece on 8 GB. The recommended type of RAM is DRD3 with frequencies of 1333 MHz and 1600 MHz. The maximum size of RAM in this case can be 32 GB, and this is enough to install any software on such a computer.

Temperature nuances

The quad-core processor cannot be cold. As a result, the thermal package of this semiconductor solution is 88 W. On the one hand, it is much, in comparison with the solutions "Broadvel", in which this indicator is 65 W. Well, if we compare with the most recent CPUs of the line of the 6th generation (for example, Cor I7 6700K), we will get a value of 3 W greater - 91 W. In general, in terms of the thermal package 4790, something unusual does not boast. The maximum permissible temperature value for this semiconductor solution is 72.72 0 C. With a regular mode of operation with a complete cooling system and the maximum load, 55 degrees can be obtained. If you dispersed the CPU, but at the same time do not run resource-intensive applications, then the temperature can reach 62-65 degrees. Well, if when overclocking heavily load a central processor, then without an improved cooling system can not do. In this case, the temperature of the chip will be equal to 60 degrees.

Frequency

The minimum frequency for 4790 is 3.6 GHz. This is true for the mode of operation at which all four computing modules are used. In this case, multi-threaded applications will be performed on the PC. If there is no need to use all 4 kernels to solve the problem, and you can do it 3, then the unused block is automatically turned off, and the CPU frequency increases by 100 MHz and reaches 3.7 GHz. If the task is enough for the problem of two modules, the frequency rises by another 100 MHz in Intel Core I7 4790 - 3.8 GHz. Well, in one-threaded mode, you can get 3.9 GHz. Similar control of the frequency of the semiconductor crystal provides branded technology of Intel Corporation - "Turbo Boust". It also replies for the safe temperature mode of the central processor device.

Architecture

All the most advanced architectural processor technologies are implemented in Core i7 4790. Haswell Refresh is the code name of this family of chips. In this chip, 4 computing modules are implemented at the physical level. But the solutions of Intel with the help of the branded technology "hyper trading" on the program level can be transformed into an eight-flow CPU. It is to this class of solutions and refers to 4790. If necessary (for example, when carrying out the acceleration and operation of the chip in this mode), this technology can be disabled in the BIOS of the motherboard.

Graphic accelerator

4790, like any other CPU of this socket, is equipped with a built-in graphic accelerator. Of course, the outstanding parameters, it certainly does not boast, but to work with simple applications (office, browser, viewing video, simple toys) it will be fair enough. But for the full disclosure of the potential of this semiconductor crystal, the computer system based on it is mandatory to supplement the productive discrete video card.

Moreover, depending on the level of complexity of the problem, it may even be necessary to need 2-3 such accelerators. Well, integrated in 4790 graphic accelerator "Achdi Graz 4600". The minimum frequency is 350 MHz, and the maximum is 1.2 GHz. Among other features, you can select the possibility of displaying the image at once to 3 displays.

Acceleration

The usual CPU "Cor Ai7 4790" can be dispersed only by increasing the frequency of the system tire. This will make an increase in productivity up to 10-15 percent. In this case, you need to do the following:

Improved hardware must be installed in the PC (the motherboard must be on the Z97 chipset, the power supply with a capacity of at least 1kW, rAM - DRD3 on 1600 MHz).

We establish specialized software to verify the parameters of the system and its stress resistance.

In the BIOS of the motherboard, we reduce all frequencies, and the system tire frequency is up to 105 MHz.

We save the changes made and reboot the system.

Check the parameters and stress resistance. If the system is unstable, then increase the voltage to the processor in the BIOS, until the system starts to work stably.

There is a more advanced version of this processor with a unlocked multiplier. In her abbreviation at the end, the letter "K" is added. In this case, acceleration is carried out using a simple increase in the multiplier in the BIOS. In this case, the processor frequency can easily increase to 5GHz. This, in turn, will significantly increase the final performance of the computer system.

Cost

High-performance solutions from Intel, alas, cannot be available. This is how it is impossible to relate to Core i7 4790. The price recommended by the manufacturer is 303 dollars (the version of the Tray) and 313 dollars (Box version), respectively. In reality, you can buy such a semiconductor chip for 380 dollars. And this is far from not the limit. In some cases, the price may sometimes exceed $ 400.