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Test Setup And Benchmarks

Intel Core i7-4960X Preview: Ivy Bridge-E, Benchmarked
By
Test Hardware
ProcessorsIntel Core i7-4960X (Ivy Bridge-E) 3.6 GHz (36 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011, 15 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled

Intel Core i7-4770K (Haswell) 3.5 GHz (35 * 100 MHz), LGA 1150, 8 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled

Intel Core i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge) 3.5 GHz (35 * 100 MHz), LGA 1155, 8 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled

Intel Core i7-2700K (Sandy Bridge) 3.5 GHz (35 * 100 MHz), LGA 1155, 8 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled

Intel Core i7-3970X (Sandy Bridge-E) 3.5 GHz (35 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011, 15 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled

Intel Core i7-3930K (Sandy Bridge-E) 3.2 GHz (32 * 100 MHz), LGA 2011, 12 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Turbo Boost enabled, Power-savings enabled

AMD FX-8350 (Vishera) 4.0 GHz (20 * 200 MHz), Socket AM3+, 8 MB Shared L3, Turbo Core enabled, Power-savings enabled

AMD A10-5800K (Trinity) 3.8 GHz (19 * 200 MHz), Socket FM2, 4 MB Total L2 Cache, Turbo Core enabled, Power-savings enabled
MotherboardMSI Z87 Mpower Max (LGA 1150) Intel Z87 Express, BIOS 1.2B1

MSI Z77 Mpower (LGA 1155) Intel Z77 Express, BIOS 17.8

MSI X79A-GD45 Plus (LGA 2011) Intel X79 Express, BIOS 17.2

MSI 990FXA-GD80 (Socket AM3+) AMD 990FX/SB950, BIOS 13.2

MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 (Socket FM2) AMD A85X, BIOS 2.0
Memory
G.Skill 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600, F3-12800CL9Q2-32GBZL @ DDR3-1600 at 1.5 V
Hard Drive
Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB, SATA 6 Gb/s
Graphics
Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6 GB
Power Supply
Corsair AX860i, 80 PLUS Platinum, 860 W
System Software And Drivers
Operating System
Windows 8 Professional x64
DirectX
DirectX 11
Graphics DriverNvidia GeForce Release 320.18

Existing X79-based motherboards require a firmware update to support the processor. We had to seek this out specifically, but cannot say which platform was used for benchmarking the Ivy Bridge-E-based CPU.

Benchmark Configuration
Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe After Effects CS6Version 11.0.0.378 x64: Create Video which includes three Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously
Adobe Photoshop CS6Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Adobe Premeire Pro CS6Version 6.0.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion 10.4.1.10 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format 
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.98: Video from Canon Eos 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds
Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile)
TotalCode Studio 2.5Version: 2.5.0.10677: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Productivity
ABBYY FineReaderVersion 10.0.102.95: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Adobe Acrobat XVersion 10.0.0.396: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 and 2013
Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080
BlenderVersion: 2.64a, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1
Visual Studio 2010Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted
File Compression
WinZipVersion 17.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r"
WinRARVersion 4.2: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3"
7-ZipVersion 9.28: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5"
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark 11Version: 1.0.1.0, Benchmark Only
SiSoftware Sandra 2013Version 2013.01.19.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia / Cryptography / Memory Bandwidth / Cache Bandwidth
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  • 1 Hide
    MajinCry , 17 July 2013 10:44
    I wonder how the AMD proccies will perform in the synthetic benchmark when the CPUID has been masked with an intel CPUID. Wouldn't surprise me if the 8350 went neck and neck with the top i7.
  • 0 Hide
    mi1ez , 17 July 2013 12:23
    Wow. That was quite a disclaimer!
  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 17 July 2013 12:57
    Can the 5 watt saving really compensate for the huge cost of the upgrade? It would take a long time to pay that off.

    Quote:
    In fact, starting with our Haswell preview, the company started a policy of excluding us from certain discussions.


    Way to look mature and professional Intel. Make some real performance advances and you'll get more positive reviews.
  • 0 Hide
    JPNpower , 17 July 2013 15:04
    Maybe silicon is nearing the limit.
  • 1 Hide
    MajinCry , 17 July 2013 15:36
    @ Whoever thumbed my first comment down:

    I do suggest you do some homework. This would be a good start.
  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 17 July 2013 16:12
    Quote:
    @ Whoever thumbed my first comment down:

    I do suggest you do some homework. This would be a good start.


    Thanks for posting - really interesting read! I wonder how many developers are using the patched compiler... and I wonder if big developers like Gearbox get any encouragement from Intel to not use the patched compiler. Obviously it's beneficial for any developer if their software can reach a wider audience. I've neutralised the thumbs down on your first post by the way with a thumbs up :-)
  • 0 Hide
    bobwya , 18 July 2013 13:12
    Quote:
    @ Whoever thumbed my first comment down:

    I do suggest you do some homework. This would be a good start.


    Yeh, the Intel compiler continues to be a big issue... AMD CPUs will continue to be very popular for Linux users...
  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 18 July 2013 14:14
    Can the Intel compiler not be used to compile Linux binaries?
  • 0 Hide
    darksun9210 , 18 July 2013 14:53
    from a gaming point of view, i'm starting to wonder what i'd get out of an upgrade.
    last night I DOWN clocked my old C2Q9650 to 2Ghz (1333fsb, 6x multiplier) from it's overclock of 4Ghz. speedstepping takes that down further to a reported 1.3Ghz.
    power, heat, noise, are all much reduced.
    in yet skyrim, farcry3, yadda yadda are all fine?
    i've not actually run the numbers regarding frame rate, but 20% cpu useage on all cores, and 97% GPU useage on a GTX670. i think i see my bottleneck. and it doesn't seem to be the CPU.... i guess from my point of view, my CPU upgrade days are over?
  • 0 Hide
    MajinCry , 18 July 2013 15:04
    @darksun9210

    I'm not too sure about that. The next generation of games will be optimized for eight threads due to the relatively weak AMD CPU in the XBOX1 and PS4. But hey, it could be that all you really need is a quad core made in the past few years.

    We'll see.
  • 0 Hide
    bobwya , 18 July 2013 22:24
    Quote:
    Can the Intel compiler not be used to compile Linux binaries?


    The GNU compiler is slightly better value... :pt1cable: 

    Intel Linux Compiler Comparison chart
  • 0 Hide
    sam_p_lay , 18 July 2013 22:52
    Haha wow. I assumed a compiler would be a free tool.
  • 0 Hide
    mironso , 5 September 2013 11:34
    Well, after reading this, seeing charts, this couple of seconds does not urge me to switch from i7-3970X to i7-4770K. Call me stupid, but I want more to be ready to make a switch.