Intel Skylake Core i7-6700K IPC & Overclocking Review @ [H]

zadillo said:
I think time to upgrade from my Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz E6700 Conroe CPU.
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4 years ago called; They have your upgrade.

WildMonkey said:
As a 2500K owner I'm probably going to upgrade (reluctantly) but as some reviews suggest, I'm going to wait until there are better mobos out there to take full advantage.
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I'm also in this boat, but not necessarily waiting for "better" motherboards. A more mature BIOS should help stabilize overclock potential whenever I'd get around to OCing. Looking at somewhere in September, myself.
 
I just bought a 6600K cos Ebuyer has stock and are cheaper than everywhere else.
Plan is to get a cheap DDR3 board and use my 8GB DDR3 2400.
Total cost will be less than half that of a 6700K system.

I checked DDR3 vs DDR4 performance on Skylake and the few places that have posted comparisons show practically no difference.
And another 8GB DDR3 is around 1/2 the price of 8GB DDR4.
A no brainer budget upgrade.
 
TDSlam720 said:
Unless it's 4k I don't care. You guys can hang onto the past I really don't care. The tired memes of PCIE doesn't really matter, DDR4 doesn't matter, extra cores are useless is starting to crack. I'll catch a bench here and there showing a few frame increase here and there. Maybe average frames the same but minimums way up. You can start to see it and peice it together that these old platforms are aging.

Be defensive all you want about the platform you're on and justify why you're not spending money on the newest stuff, but I though my this was [H], shouldn't we all be on 4k by now trying to scape together every few frames we can get?
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Then stop reading CPU reviews and reread the latest GPU reviews. When you get to a GPU review that says it's CPU limited, start reading CPU reviews again. Problem solved.
 
Got tired of waiting and ordered a 5820k + GB UD3P X99 Mobo for $460 with tax. Hard to beat. Already have a h100i and 32GB of super cheap crucial DDR4 lying around. Skylake was not meant to be.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041778850 said:
Some yes, some no.

Even some 5 year old games don't run satisfactorily on two 980ti's at 4k. (Metro 2033 is an example)
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I don't know about that. But I'm running Witcher 3 @ 4k on my 4.4GHz 3770k 980Ti SLI setup with almost all the features jacked up just fine. When I get to the point I can't run current gen games anymore I'll just add another card.

I plan on upgrading to Skylake because my motherboard is borked, otherwise I wouldn't bother, so I should do even better afterwards.
 
DoomDoomDoom said:
4 years ago called; They have your upgrade.
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Hah, yeah - the funny thing is, I have such a backlog of older games that my C2D E6700 (OC's to 3.2 GHz) and a Radeon 5850 have basically still been ok for me. But I would like something modern and able to handle new stuff.
 
I'm currently stuck at an i5-3570K stock, but not sure if I want to upgrade to Skylake. I'd really like a new start, probably get performance boosts here and there and also go back to an i7 from my current i5. The question is, is it worth it? As a side thing, I do sell my old hardware to my dad/brother to help pay for some of this stuff. Would love a 5820K, but damn the prices are up there for the motherboards.
 
Wag said:
I don't know about that. But I'm running Witcher 3 @ 4k on my 4.4GHz 3770k 980Ti SLI setup with almost all the features jacked up just fine. When I get to the point I can't run current gen games anymore I'll just add another card.

I plan on upgrading to Skylake because my motherboard is borked, otherwise I wouldn't bother, so I should do even better afterwards.
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Well, I do. Have game installed, and opening scene couldn't get more than 45fps at most, dropped lower in some sections :p
 
I think they have nailed the process, binned the hell out of the part and chosen enthusiasts as their target.
This is the beginning of a new part cycle or product line so waiting for it to mature is best imo.
 
Are there going to be any Skylake motherboards with Tri-SLI support? All the ones I could find are limited to 2-way SLI (plenty of them have 3 and 4 way Crossfire). I'd like to be able to add another card if I ever get to that point.
 
Wag said:
Are there going to be any Skylake motherboards with Tri-SLI support? All the ones I could find are limited to 2-way SLI (plenty of them have 3 and 4 way Crossfire). I'd like to be able to add another card if I ever get to that point.
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Skylake only has 20 PCI-E lanes, so the best you're going to get with Tri-SLI is x8/x4/x4. You would be better off going Haswell-E or waiting for (presumably) Skylake-E.
 
Parja said:
Skylake only has 20 PCI-E lanes, so the best you're going to get with Tri-SLI is x8/x4/x4. You would be better off going Haswell-E or waiting for (presumably) Skylake-E.
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Problem is my motherboard is screwed. Among one of the problems is that I can't seem to get the RAID controller on it to play nicely with other drives. I really need to upgrade. I have a Z77 Ivy Bridge 3770k @ 4.4GHz. I could just buy another refurbished Z77 motherboard but I figure as long as I'm replacing it...

What would be the best way to go?
 
Parja said:
Skylake only has 20 PCI-E lanes, so the best you're going to get with Tri-SLI is x8/x4/x4. You would be better off going Haswell-E or waiting for (presumably) Skylake-E.
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While you're not wrong about the Tri-SLI PCI-E config, doesn't Skylake have 16 PCI-E 3.0 lanes direct to CPU, and up to an additional 20x PCI-E 3.0 from the Z170 chipset?

At least that's my impression from the architectural overview:
NE2hqy7h.png


And according to Intel ARK, the 6700k's PCI-E 3.0 configuration goes up to 16x for CPU only.
 
Wag said:
Problem is my motherboard is screwed. Among one of the problems is that I can't seem to get the RAID controller on it to play nicely with other drives. I really need to upgrade. I have a Z77 Ivy Bridge 3770k @ 4.4GHz. I could just buy another refurbished Z77 motherboard but I figure as long as I'm replacing it...

What would be the best way to go?
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If you're upgrading now and plan on going to tri-sli you want a Haswell-E for the PCIe lanes since you will want at least 24 so you can do 8x/8x/8x config.
 
Parja said:
Skylake only has 20 PCI-E lanes, so the best you're going to get with Tri-SLI is x8/x4/x4. You would be better off going Haswell-E or waiting for (presumably) Skylake-E.
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1.) I thought SLI does not work at less than 8x?

2.) I thought Skylake had 16 lanes directly to the CPU, and an additional 20 lanes to the chipset.

3.) Question is if SLI will work well (or at all) if you use a mix of CPU lanes and chpset lanes. I have not yet seen this tested anywhere.
 
undertaker2k8 said:
Got tired of waiting and ordered a 5820k + GB UD3P X99 Mobo for $460 with tax. Hard to beat. Already have a h100i and 32GB of super cheap crucial DDR4 lying around. Skylake was not meant to be.
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looked into this.. the CPU costs as much as the 6700k, the motherboards are similar and the ram is similar. Why not just get this?

you get two full pcie 3 16x/16x. you get a 6 core cpu instead of a 4...

Am i missing something?
 
DF-1 said:
looked into this.. the CPU costs as much as the 6700k, the motherboards are similar and the ram is similar. Why not just get this?

you get two full pcie 3 16x/16x. you get a 6 core cpu instead of a 4...

Am i missing something?
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The problem with the 5820 - to me - is that it doesn't get the full -E 40 lanes.
 
DF-1 said:
looked into this.. the CPU costs as much as the 6700k, the motherboards are similar and the ram is similar. Why not just get this?

you get two full pcie 3 16x/16x. you get a 6 core cpu instead of a 4...

Am i missing something?
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Are you saying 6700K has six cores?
 
savagepagan said:
Are you saying 6700K has six cores?
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im saying the haswell E one has 6 cores for the same price as the 6700k, it has full 16/16 lanes as well.

im not sure why you would get the 6700k instead of the haswell e one.

edit: just remembered the 5820k doesnt get all the pcie lanes as mentioned above, but still a 6 core vs a 4 core
 
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BusyBeaverHP said:
While you're not wrong about the Tri-SLI PCI-E config, doesn't Skylake have 16 PCI-E 3.0 lanes direct to CPU, and up to an additional 20x PCI-E 3.0 from the Z170 chipset?

At least that's my impression from the architectural overview:

And according to Intel ARK, the 6700k's PCI-E 3.0 configuration goes up to 16x for CPU only.
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The chipset does have 20x PCIe 3.0 lanes. The problem is that anything which connects to the PCH will use them. So there aren't as many left over as you might think. Network adapters, audio, SATA Express, etc. all connect through the PCH. Look at a block diagram of a Z170 motherboard and you'll see what I'm talking about.
 
BusyBeaverHP said:
While you're not wrong about the Tri-SLI PCI-E config, doesn't Skylake have 16 PCI-E 3.0 lanes direct to CPU, and up to an additional 20x PCI-E 3.0 from the Z170 chipset?

At least that's my impression from the architectural overview:
NE2hqy7h.png


And according to Intel ARK, the 6700k's PCI-E 3.0 configuration goes up to 16x for CPU only.
Click to expand...

Quartz-1 said:
What was the TDP of the CPU at max overclock?
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The Core i7 6700K can pull about 150 watts. That's basically with an unrealistic load on it and represents a maximum worst case scenario according to my information.
 
All this has got me confused. Rather than transfer my current Win10 install over to my new Raid array I'll try doing a fresh install off USB and see if I can boot that way. Hopefully I should be able to keep my key since I already registered (purchased copy of Win 8 Pro).

Try and keep my Ivy Bridge going as long as possible.
 
with a bit of staples pm help , the 5820k is $283 right now less if you have coupons and gift cards. Good second gen x99 boards can now be had for $190 so the platform cost is the same. I would rather have 10 sata 3 and 16 usb ports rather than 6 sata and 14 USB ports. My cost for the CPU and board was only $460 with tax which is going to be hard to match with 6700k in the near term with any decent board. Plus x99 boards are generally better built.USB 3.1 only matters for external ssds on the desktop if at all.
 
undertaker2k8 said:
with a bit of staples pm help , the 5820k is $283 right now less if you have coupons and gift cards. Good second gen x99 boards can now be has for $190 so the platform cost is the same. I would rather have 10 data 3 and 16 usb ports rather than 6 data and 14 USB ports. My cost for the CPU and board was only $460 which is going to be hard to match with 6700k in the near term. Plus x99 boards are generally better built.
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price matched against microcenter?

I'm up in seattle and I can't figure out how to get the 5820K for anywhere near that price.
 
Nenu said:
I just bought a 6600K cos Ebuyer has stock and are cheaper than everywhere else.
Plan is to get a cheap DDR3 board and use my 8GB DDR3 2400.
Total cost will be less than half that of a 6700K system.

I checked DDR3 vs DDR4 performance on Skylake and the few places that have posted comparisons show practically no difference.
And another 8GB DDR3 is around 1/2 the price of 8GB DDR4.
A no brainer budget upgrade.
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I'm seriously reconsidering this because Skylake supports DDR3L, lower voltage 1.35V DDR3.
Its possible that some mobos will allow 1.5 to 1.65V but there is no info and its going to take a while to emerge.

Rather than spend ages getting annoyed, I'm likely to just go DDR4 3000.
A bit annoying because this will cost about £115 more for a decent DDR4 mobo and 8GB or £180 for 16GB, rather than sticking with my DDR3.
This is actually about the same cost as getting a 6700K, DDR3L board and buying 16GB of DDR3L !!
But there is no guarantee it will perform as well at extremes of CPU neediness, so the safe option is probably better.
hmph.
 
Ah damn. Downloading the Win10 image my PC just turned off again (yes I replaced the PSU already). Only thing I can think of is it's the motherboard or one of my 980Ti's.

Definitely need to do something, and soon. Haswell for 980Ti SLI setup is a better deal than a Skylake setup right now people generally agree? I want a motherboard with 3-way SLI support and 8-10 SATA ports.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6BM35P3504

Either that or I could just buy this Z77 refurbished motherboard and wait for Skylake-E to come out.
 
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It looks like the Haswell-E is a smarter buy. I doubt there will be a Broadwell-E, though. Still upgrading to a 10 core Xeon down the road should be a nice easy upgrade should you find $2000 laying around. MASSIVE e-peen.
 
Nihilus1 said:
It looks like the Haswell-E is a smarter buy. I doubt there will be a Broadwell-E, though. Still upgrading to a 10 core Xeon down the road should be a nice easy upgrade should you find $2000 laying around. MASSIVE e-peen.
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Why is it a smarter buy? Admittedly I have not compared the prices in detail but seems like about the same price. Trade off is with H-E is older platform but you get 6 cores instead of 4?
 
I continue to question where people are getting these price figures. Haswell-E is going to break the bank in comparison.

I just ordered:
170 Chipset MB: $139.
16GB DDR4 3000: $139.
All that's left is the i7-6700k CPU that isn't available in North America yet.
Let's assume it's full price $350.

That's $628.

You are going to be hard pressed to go with anything socket 2011-v3 with DDR4 for that kind of money. The 5820K is only moderately more money, but the motherboard is a LOT more money. And lets face it, there aren't a lot of reasons to go Haswell-E if you aren't planning on getting at least the 5930k so you have the extra PCIE lanes and then run SLI video cards.

If your goal is a fast single video card system it's going to be either the 4790k or the 6700k. Those are the strong choices right now.

And yes, I'm all on board with Intel releasing a 6-core Skylake. Whatever the practicality, it would have made a hell of a splash with enthusiasts. But if wishes were horses, beggers would ride.
 
Nihilus1 said:
It looks like the Haswell-E is a smarter buy. I doubt there will be a Broadwell-E, though. Still upgrading to a 10 core Xeon down the road should be a nice easy upgrade should you find $2000 laying around. MASSIVE e-peen.
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Yep if you gotta go with DDR4 for Skylake, might as well go H-E.

I'd rather spend the extra $40 (or less given current *51 board prices) and get 2 more Haswell cores. Overclock that 5820k to 4.5.4.7 and it'll will murder the 6700k, even if the latter is overclocked.
 
atp1916 said:
Yep if you gotta go with DDR4 for Skylake, might as well go H-E.

I'd rather spend the extra $40 (or less given current *51 board prices) and get 2 more Haswell cores. An overclocked 5820k will murder the 6700k, even if the latter is overclocked.
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Murder it at what? Games? No
 
Fine. I'll qualify my statement's scope to a more narrow assessment:

"Murder the 6700k" = 1 - Games.

Happy? ;)
 
Haswell E is 150ish bucks more at most. 100 more for a decent mobo and 50 more for the 5820k chip. That's a few tanks of gas.

For developers or a dedicated gaming rig I'd go with Skylake for sure. For an all around multitasking beefy rig, in my opinion X99 is the clear choice.
 
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