Kabylake review from [H]. This is really bad :(

[iamgenius]

https://hardforum.com/threads/intel-kaby-lake-core-i7-7700k-ipc-review-h.1919542/


I can't believe we are in this state. A new CPU with no performance increase at all. And they call it a new CPU. For an enthusiastic, I'm really disappointed.

 

[frozentundra123456]

https://hardforum.com/threads/intel-kaby-lake-core-i7-7700k-ipc-review-h.1919542/


I can't believe we are in this state. A new CPU with no performance increase at all. And they call it a new CPU. For an enthusiastic, I'm really disappointed.

It is the same architecture. Obviously, when overclocked to the same clockspeed, they will have equal performance. Dont really know what you (or the authors) were expecting. Stock clocks are higher, and perhaps max overclocks will be a bit better. But again it is designed for laptops. Stock clocks are higher there and they seem to be able to better maintain boost speeds higher and longer.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Sigh. So it's exactly the same speed as a 6700K but uses 10 watts less power under load.

I was hoping for a decent bump in stock CPU performance if I waited until next year. Now there's really no reason to care. I might as well either buy Skylake now or wait a couple more years.

 

[iamgenius]

It is the same architecture. Obviously, when overclocked to the same clockspeed, they will have equal performance. Dont really know what you (or the authors) were expecting. Stock clocks are higher, and perhaps max overclocks will be a bit better. But again it is designed for laptops. Stock clocks are higher there and they seem to be able to better maintain boost speeds higher and longer.

If it is the same architecture and same everything else, why call it a new CPU. I will still be happy with the old name. I was expecting more performance increase. Monopoly is kicking in I guess.

 

[Arachnotronic]

If it is the same architecture and same everything else, why call it a new CPU. I will still be happy with the old name. I was expecting more performance increase. Monopoly is kicking in I guess.

Not the same performance, the speeds out of the box are higher. [H] even said that these things will overclock better than the 6700K.

What else were you expecting?

 

[SpaceBeer]

Power consumption is lower at same clocks. For some users (Notebook/Ultrabook, HTPC, SFF, thin clients...) that is much more important than raw perfrormance. It also brings new video decode/encode features. So it IS different (better) than the Skylake.

 

[coercitiv]

Sigh. So it's exactly the same speed as a 6700K but uses 10 watts less power under load.

From the review you supposedly read:

As you know we like to look at IPC (Instructions Per Clock) when a new processor releases as we know most of our readers never intend to run these CPUs at their stock speeds. We are comparing the Intel Core i7-7700K and Core i7-6700K processors, both at 4.5GHz locked clocks, with a 2666MHz DDR4 memory bus.

The 7700K has a stock turbo of 4.5Ghz while the 6700K has a turbo of 4.2Ghz. This is important to note since not only will Kaby Lake SKUs clock higher than Skylake SKUs, but on K models max overclocks will also be higher.

If it is the same architecture and same everything else, why call it a new CPU. I will still be happy with the old name. I was expecting more performance increase. Monopoly is kicking in I guess.

It's not entirely the same chip, some parts other than CPU are different - for example the media engine which is in charge of video hardware decoding. Had they kept the same 6xxx codes, we would have had a different problem: people might have wrongly assumed all Skylake chips support 10bit HEVC and VP9, hence people might have assumed all Skylake CPUs can run 4k Netflix.

Not changing the product name can actually be a bad thing when the feature set is different, just as bad as changing the name when nothing is different. (see recent dGPU rebrands)

 

[CentroX]

Intel done goofed. amd is coming for them.

 

[Borealis7]

obviously anyone with a 6700K should not upgrade.
I would still consider buying a 7700K, despite everything written here, since i have an aging CPU and the gains for me would be considerable.

 

[LTC8K6]

https://hardforum.com/threads/intel-kaby-lake-core-i7-7700k-ipc-review-h.1919542/


I can't believe we are in this state. A new CPU with no performance increase at all. And they call it a new CPU. For an enthusiastic, I'm really disappointed.

What are you talking about? It's exactly as expected. An improved SL with higher clocks.
All this expectation of better IPC baffles me.

Desktop KL was always going to be an improved SL, not a performance leap.

Mobile KL is a considerable improvement, due to being able to run at higher clocks for longer periods.

 

[iamgenius]

I'm a greedy bastard when it comes to cpu performance. Find me a cheap i7-6950X please !

 

[coercitiv]

Mobile KL is a considerable improvement, due to being able to run at higher clocks for longer periods.

Desktop users can just see Kaby Lake as a slightly higher clocked Skylake, and anyone looking for an upgrade from Intel only can simply buy whatever looks better from a perf/$$ between SKL and KBL in their country. I expect to see some decent deals on the "old" gen chips. Remember the marketing move of changing product name works both ways: may drive consumers into buying the new stuff, but also significantly reduces consumer interest in the old gen, driving prices down until inventory is cleared.

Mobile users shopping for a device fitted for media consumption may want to prioritize Kaby Lake though, the hardware codec stuff is kind of a must on mobile products that lack a modern dGPU.

 

[dark zero]

obviously anyone with a 6700K should not upgrade.
I would still consider buying a 7700K, despite everything written here, since i have an aging CPU and the gains for me would be considerable.

Heck, even with the 2700K you are done with it. This chip tried to atract SB users but still is recommended for Nehalem ones.

 

[PliotronX]

Hey at least performance didn't decrease in the shift in focus towards less power consumption.

 

[iamgenius]

So the trend and focus will now only be in less power consumption??? 😱

How can we enthusiasts live?

 

[raghu78]

Not the same performance, the speeds out of the box are higher. [H] even said that these things will overclock better than the 6700K.

What else were you expecting?

IPC improvements even if small (3-5%) would have been nice. Coming 15 months after Skylake Intel could have done more with Kabylake given the process has matured and yields are great. The reality is there is no competitive pressure from AMD and thus Intel can do what it wants.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation

I think this is the first generation in a very long time where there has been 0% IPC improvements. I think we have to look back probably more than 10 years to see such a thing occur with Intel. Even with Intel tick - tock cadence the tick which was a new process brought 2-5% improvements.

https://us.hardware.info/reviews/62...l-ivy-bridge-sandy-bridge-and-nehalem-results

 

[The Stilt]

This part should have been 6790K, not 7700K IMO.

 

[Arachnotronic]

I think this is the first generation in a very long time where there has been 0% IPC improvements. I think we have to look back probably more than 10 years to see such a thing occur with Intel. Even with Intel tick - tock cadence the tick which was a new process brought 2-5% improvements.

https://us.hardware.info/reviews/62...l-ivy-bridge-sandy-bridge-and-nehalem-results

Westmere was literally a shrink of Nehalem to 32nm. 2010 😛

Anyway, think of Kaby Lake as a "tick" -- new process (14nm+), same architecture. Except this new process is 100% performance/power focused, rather than die size/area focused.

 

[mikk]

This part should have been 6790K, not 7700K IMO.

I disagree. It would be confusing because of the different decoding/encoding feature support. Some people wouldn't understand that their 6770k can't decode or encode 10 bit HEVC content. Or VP9.

 

[NTMBK]

So basically, this is the same thing that AMD did with Godavari and Richland?

 

[Arachnotronic]

So basically, this is the same thing that AMD did with Godavari and Richland?

Not quite. It is more like what AMD did with Bristol Ridge. In fact, it is exactly what AMD did with Bristol Ridge...same architecture, but improved process efficiency to improve battery life.

 

[cytg111]

Yea, it should probably have been a Skylake refresh .. not its own generation.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Yea, it should probably have been a Skylake refresh .. not its own generation.

I disagree. On the whole Kabylake lineup delivers a bigger performance jump thanks to 14nm+ and other improvements than Skylake did over Haswell.

Even the 7700K that people are throwing eggs at delivers a bigger perf improvement over 6700K than the 6700K did over the 4790K.

People spend too much time worrying about how the performance/efficiency is delivered...but all that matters is that the performance/efficiency is delivered.

 

[cytg111]

I disagree. On the whole Kabylake lineup delivers a bigger performance jump thanks to 14nm+ and other improvements than Skylake did over Haswell.

Even the 7700K that people are throwing eggs at delivers a bigger perf improvement over 6700K than the 6700K did over the 4790K.

People spend too much time worrying about how the performance/efficiency is delivered...but all that matters is that the performance/efficiency is delivered.

I would disagree 🙂 .. All that matters is how the product is perceived. You can argue all you want after the fact, that people perceive it wrong, but at that point it is what it is. And the cpu arch IS the same, shoulda called it skylake-devils canyon

 

[Arachnotronic]

I would disagree 🙂 .. All that matters is how the product is perceived. You can argue all you want after the fact, that people perceive it wrong, but at that point it is what it is. And the cpu arch IS the same, shoulda called it skylake-devils canyon

The perception among most consumers is that the computer they're buying from Best Buy has a seventh generation Core processor, which sounds like a big improvement from the 2nd generation Core processor that they currently have -- a full five generation jump 😉

Also, 7700K is bigger jump than Devil's Canyon was in terms of the underlying chip design...DC had no process improvements, just "better" TIM and updated packaging tech. 7700K has the new media engine + better process (which leads to better average OCs).