FRONTPAGE Intel Skylake i7 6700K CPU Review

[Overclockers.com]

Just barely a month ago, Intel's "Tick" release of Broadwell desktop processors hit the scene. The dust has barely settled from that release, and a "Tock" release is upon us. As is usually the case, an Intel "Tock" release generally means a new microarchitecture. This can typically include improved energy efficiency, better performance, and improvements in video transcoding and encryption/decryption. As is the case with the i7 6700K we'll be looking at today (and most "Tock" releases for that matter), a CPU socket and motherboard chipset change comes along with the release of Skylake processors. Yes, a new socket 1151 motherboard will have to be purchased if you're considering a move to this platform. Let's go for a ride and see what this highly anticipated platform has to offer!

Click here to view the article.

 

[mimart7]

Great review Dino. It is my understanding that Intel is suing tim under the lid instead of solder. Do you have any info? I'm not asking you to delid I'm just curious.

 

[Janus67]

Fantastic review Dino

 

[Lvcoyote]

Thanks guys. As far as the TIM goes, we haven't received a detailed specifications list as of yet. Today was a "Soft" release with just the K series CPUs being announced/released. More detailed information will be released at IDF on August 18th. We should be able to find out more information then.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

If they're still using TIM they definitely refined the process. Those XTU temps are very good.

 

[EarthDog]

I would have to guess with the temps we had that it may be solder...? But really not sure. That is just a guess and here is why I say that...: I was sitting at 4.9Ghz and 1.449v and didn't hit 70C. BUT... the voltage difference (1.3v stock to 1.449v) is not as much as the jump from 1.1v to 1.45v I had to use with 4790K.

The FIVR is also gone so that saves a few C there as well... so, in the end, we will have to wait like Dino said.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I would have to guess with the temps we had that it may be solder...? But really not sure. That is just a guess and here is why I say that...: I was sitting at 4.9Ghz and 1.449v and didn't hit 70C. BUT... the voltage difference (1.3v stock to 1.449v) is not as much as the jump from 1.1v to 1.45v I had to use with 4790K.

The FIVR is also gone so that saves a few C there as well... so, in the end, we will have to wait like Dino said.

This sums up my first thoughts when I was talking with you this morning about the temps you saw.

 

[EarthDog]

Availability update............newegg doesn't have a clue when....

Newegg chat:

Joe Shields: I was checking in on your expected availability for the new 6700K CPU released today.
Agent Marvin X.: I am checking on it for you, Joe. One moment please.
Customer Joe Shields: 10-4... thanks!
Agent Marvin X.: Thank you for holding.
Agent Marvin X.: I am sorry I cannot locate the item. Do you have a link of it? I will further check it for you.
Customer Joe Shields: It is the new CPU from Intel that was released today.
Customer Joe Shields: i7 6700K
Customer Joe Shields: Retail availability is supposed to be today according to Intel.
Customer Joe Shields: Link to our review on it... http://www.overclockers.com/intel-skylake-i7-6700k-cpu-review/
Agent Marvin X.: Thank you for that information.
Agent Marvin X.: I am sorry that we do not have the item on our website currently.
Customer Joe Shields: Correct. I am asking when you expect it to be available.
Agent Marvin X.: After double checking, I am sorry that we are not sure when the item can be available on our web site, Joe. Please check it online from time to time.
Customer Joe Shields: Ok, thank you!

Microcenter also does not know either...


Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

 

[DaveB]

I really don't agree with using uber expensive DDR4-3600 for the review. It's $400 for a 2 x 4GB set at Newegg. An equivalent set of DDR4-2800 is only $70 which makes an upgrade to Skylake affordable and would make the benchmarks more realistic.

 

[mimart7]

At least the egg has more than one motherboard listed, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=z170_motherboard-_-13-132-565-_-Product

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I really don't agree with using uber expensive DDR4-3600 for the review. It's $400 for a 2 x 4GB set at Newegg. An equivalent set of DDR4-2800 is only $70 which makes an upgrade to Skylake affordable and would make the benchmarks more realistic.

By that logic we shouldn't be using DDR3-2400 10-12-12 for the 4790K tests.
It's an overclocking site, we're going to be using fast memory.

 

[EarthDog]

I'm not sure he had a choice...? But I dont imagine most results to be a lot different with using slow DDR4.

Moving forward, I believe we settled on DDR4 3000 CL15-15-15-35 speed and timings for our motherboard reviews on this platform. I believe that is a sweet spot at the current time between showing what DDR4 can do and pricing.

On the flip side, I dont see a point of testing DDR4 at DDR3 speeds (2666/2800)? We want to show progress too.

 

[Blaylock]

Great write up as usual Dino. Thanks for spending the time to do it properly.

I understand the necessity of switching to the faster DDR4, but how much of that 10% increase do you think is due to the faster ram? Maybe 3-4%? Just curious. Is there even a way to test that?

 

[Janus67]

Great write up as usual Dino. Thanks for spending the time to do it properly.

I understand the necessity of switching to the faster DDR4, but how much of that 10% increase do you think is due to the faster ram? Maybe 3-4%? Just curious. Is there even a way to test that?

Easy way would be to downclock the ram to lower speeds and see how much scaling is involved in the results.

 

[EarthDog]

Great write up as usual Dino. Thanks for spending the time to do it properly.

I understand the necessity of switching to the faster DDR4, but how much of that 10% increase do you think is due to the faster ram? Maybe 3-4%? Just curious. Is there even a way to test that?

The only way to test that would be to run on a board that has DDR3 and DDR4 on it (since the CPU has IMCs for both IIRC) at the same speed and timings to minimize other variables.

Memory bandwidth really doesn't have a lot of effect on many things. I would guess 1-2% at like speeds. But you (EDIT: WE) can't really run DDR3 on this platform at the moment, you have take the results as they are.

I also tested IPC in the MSI Gaming M7 review but used DDR4 2666K versus my other reviews at DDR3 2666. The timings were WAY different though. Again, memory bandwidth in a lot of tests, there really isn't much difference.

Thank ATM for seeing this: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/7

Comparing default DDR4 to a high performance DDR3 memory kit is almost an equal contest. Having the faster frequency helps for large frame video encoding (HandBrake HQ) as well as WinRAR which is normally memory intensive. The only real benchmark loss was FastStone, which was one second in 48 seconds.

End result, looking at the CPU test scores, is that upgrading to DDR4 doesn’t degrade performance from your high end DRAM kit, and you get the added benefit of future upgrades, faster speeds, lower power consumption due to the lower voltage and higher density modules.

For discrete graphics card testing, only three differences stand out here. For GRID on the R7 240 the DDR4 set loses by 3.2%, but for the GTX 770 the DDR4 wins on Mordor by 6.4% and on GRID by 2.3%. All other differences are below 2%, mostly on the side of DDR4.

 

[Woomack]

There are reviews around the web with ~1-3% difference between DDR4-2133 and 3200 ... I wouldn't expect more than 5% difference. DDR3-2400 CL10 will be somewhere in the middle because of lower timings.
Actually broadwell is faster clock to clock than skylake but it's limited in OC. On the other hand what we see in various reviews doesn't look really good on skylake. Most results are about 4.7GHz ~1.35V so about the same as on 4790K.

I decided to get 6600K as it's $100 cheaper in local stores and I have 5820K anyway. It should arrive tomorrow. What is worse is that I can't find any motherboard worth to buy and all are weirdly expensive.

 

[EarthDog]

Actually broadwell is faster clock to clock than skylake

You would be the first person to say that. The couple of reviews I have read say the opposite. Can you link one up that shows what you are saying between broadwell and skylake?

EDIT: I should clarify.. Skylake is faster (IPC) than Broadwell except in the rare instance where the eDRAM on die is used.

 

[DaveB]

By that logic we shouldn't be using DDR3-2400 10-12-12 for the 4790K tests.
It's an overclocking site, we're going to be using fast memory.

Actually, the fastest DDR3 I could find at Newegg is DDR3-3100. So DDR3-2400 is middle of the road like the DDR4-2800 I suggested for the Skylake. And further, why was slower DDR4-3000 used for the Haswell-E setup? At least the two DDR4 systems could have used the same RAM.

None of the RAM choices made for this review make any sense at all when you're trying to compare relative performance.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Actually, the fastest DDR3 I could find at Newegg is DDR3-3100. So DDR3-2400 is middle of the road like the DDR4-2800 I suggested for the Skylake. And further, why was slower DDR4-3000 used for the Haswell-E setup? At least the two DDR4 systems could have used the same RAM.

None of the RAM choices made for this review make any sense at all when you're trying to compare relative performance.

You're talking quad channel vs dual channel now.

When DDR3 came out there wasn't anything running 2400MHz out of the box.
With DDR4, we're still right out of the gate.

 

[EarthDog]

I see what you are getting at Dave, but, how far down the rabbit hole do you want to go? The DDR4 3600 kit was only dual channel. If he used those in the X99 platform and took the time to retest everything, then someone would likely complain its not quad channel and it doesn't show the X99 platform as it should be used and THAT isn't a valid comparison either. Its tough to please everyone, but I feel he did a great job with the limited time he had to give us all the best information with the tools(parts) we have available.