Intel Core i7-4770K Review

I suppose there will be reason to upgrade just for the "new toy" aspect. I didn't need to move up to the 8150 from my 1090 but it was a lot of fun learning a new CPU and finding it's limits. The same could be said for somebody moving from a 3570K to a 4670K. But then again I didn't have to buy a new motherboard either so maybe the "new toy" aspect isn't worth the extra $150 for a new mobo.
I agree.^_^
 
nice review Tom - thanks

4770k worthy of a Gold award though ? compared with Ivy doesn't seem to have moved on that much to me.

No mention of BLCK overclocking ? (a new feature for Haswell over Ivy I believe ?)

cheers
 
Interesting review! I'm especially curious about that voltage, whatever one was running at 1.788V (can't remember the name and I just watched the video, DOH!).
 
So stay with 3770K then ?

I would, unless you just want something new to overclock. 5-10% improvement isnt bad at all but the heat this thing puts off and the average 4.5 GHz overclocks that reviewers seem to be getting, unless you can swing the cash for a new i7, motherboard and possibly copy of Win7, I dont think it would be worth it.
 
It's all about what you do with it. If you just game, game and more games, then no it isn't worth the upgrade and your cash is better spent on GPU horsepower. If you use your computer with the entirety of things it has to offer, it might be worth the upgrade from anything less than the 2600 and certainly worthwhile for anything based around the X58 or from the AMD studios.

But we don't review solely based upon what one person does with it. We review based largely upon "I have nothing, is this worth my cash", and usually try and mention the upgrade options in the conclusion. Or include sufficient information in our graphs for you to make your own mind up.

We're enthusiasts, and know our audience is intelligent enough to connect the dots and utilise the wealth of reviews and information we have before laying down their cash on an upgrade, although we try to point you roughly in the direction of our considered opinion wherever possible.

The i7-4770K is the best Intel chip around. Bar none. Now if the finest CPU from the manufacturer of the most powerful CPUs isn't worthy of a gold, what would be?
 
It's all about what you do with it. If you just game, game and more games, then no it isn't worth the upgrade and your cash is better spent on GPU horsepower. If you use your computer with the entirety of things it has to offer, it might be worth the upgrade from anything less than the 2600 and certainly worthwhile for anything based around the X58 or from the AMD studios.

But we don't review solely based upon what one person does with it. We review based largely upon "I have nothing, is this worth my cash", and usually try and mention the upgrade options in the conclusion. Or include sufficient information in our graphs for you to make your own mind up.

We're enthusiasts, and know our audience is intelligent enough to connect the dots and utilise the wealth of reviews and information we have before laying down their cash on an upgrade, although we try to point you roughly in the direction of our considered opinion wherever possible.

The i7-4770K is the best Intel chip around. Bar none. Now if the finest CPU from the manufacturer of the most powerful CPUs isn't worthy of a gold, what would be?

thanks for the reply - and ok - now you've explained in those terms - I can see why it got a Gold award and agree its worthy- its hard not to think comparatively with previous versions as an upgrade so to speak

thanks :)
 
This is less than a 10% performance gain and it gets gold? :mellow:
It even overclocks the exact same :mellow:
 
Because it costs roughly the same as the i7-3770K and is about 10% better. You remember the i7-3770K, it was a bit better than the i7-2600K. Indeed the i7-3770K was so good you brought one. Soooo.

I am confused as to why this makes it not worthy of a Gold. Otherwise we could take that argument to the logical conclusion that the 386 was only slightly better than the 286 so not worth a gold, and the 486 was a tiny bit better than the 386 so not worth a gold, and ... etc etc until nothing ever gets awarded anything and the hardware review business becomes the equivalent of the Financial Times.

If our award offends you so much, just read all the pages but the last one and then stick a post it on your monitor with "Brass Award" on it.

Sheesh.
 
I went from i5 2500k to i7 3770k because I heard this was gonna be the same crap happy I did.

I don't remember Ivy getting a gold? Why is this one a gold? It's inconsistent. I'm not bothered your the one having your feathers rustled btw. Am I missing something here? Did everyone turn into greeny hippies over night or something?
 
Very nice review indeed Tom! :D

I will be getting this as ive already held off upgrading to ivy bridge last year.
And yes people, this will be worth every penny. From a Yorkfield Q8300 to a Haswell 4770k, this will be a colossal jump indeed.

Now only thing to wait for is Tom's review on all of the motherboards (hopefully he does Asus ones especially the Sabertooth) and to finally decide on my colour scheme for my new build :lol:

EDIT: When are they available in shops by the way-Does anybody know?
 
Last edited:
So let me get this straight as Tom has stated in his most recent video review the only difference is 4.8Ghz on Ivy bridge and the equiviliant is 4.6 Ghz on Haswell. And with a top of the range CPU cooler you will hit 90 degrees with a big overclock. So IHS issue again with the Ivy bridge CPU's.
Intel doesn't like people overclocking much do they?
Pay premium for an unlocked CPU and then there was that daft overclockers insurance from them.
And then release a CPU with really bad temps for overclockers.
This is why I am tempted to upgrade to Sandy bridge, I know behind the times slighly but frankly I enjoy my overclocking.
Unless something changes, I won't be changing my mind any time soon.:rolleyes:
And yes I know Tom had an engineering sample so the final CPU released to consumers maybe slightly better temps wise but I doubt by a good marginal better.
Don't support them, Just get a FX 8320/50. Time to boycott.

BTW I posted on this forum a few month back that I would give away my current i7 3770k + Maximus IV Extreme Z if this was capable of a proper 5ghz 24/7 OC with 15% IPC improvement. I really did want to upgrade.. Massively gutted. a 15% IPC improvement isn't really even asking much, We didn't get ether the hell.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the review Tom.

While a very capable CPU, it's little to nothing of an upgrade over Ivy Bridge, certainly not upgrading if you're rocking the previous generation. The temperature problems are also still there in all their glory.

But really, Haswell was never "meant" for the desktop. The focus was always going to be mobile, which is what you're seeing with the improved IGPU and power usage. Some people are going as far as saying that the desktop chips are just failed mobile ones. :p
 
Nice review, I guess I'm one of the few who finds the haswell line quite impressive.

Not necessarily this chip in particular, although unless you have a 3770K , as an upgrade its going to be a very significant performance improvement as far as I can see, but the line in general.

My gaming and performance PC isnt the one i use most. My file server, media PC and laptop get more use for work and general entertainment.

For the two former of those, Haswell presents significant advantages over either of the last two generations, the power savings alone make it worthwhile for either application, an I5 quad core that can get total system power usage in the 60w or so levels when using the on board graphics is hugely impressive.

For me, I dont think this is the generation to replace my gaming rig, that will be the next one when they amp up per clock performance, but for work and media PCs, this generation seems a huge leap forwards to me.
 
Intel do have it all figured out, just as the other modern manufacturers do. Make 10% improvement and every now and again, force the whole mobo upgrade.

Think it's right to get a Gold award. Out of all the new cpus out there, and based on someone buying with no kit, it-is the gold choice.

People do need to seriously think about what their existing kit is and what they do/intent to do with it tho. You don't just buy one of these because it's the new thing... well not everyone does :p

The aesthetic benchmarks give this cpu a solid gold rating for me. But they aren't real world to a great extent and to be fair, cpus don't need to be that-powerful if you're a strict gamer.

Workstations will love the injection of the new Intel goodness tho.

How good is this HD4600 ?
 
Well I'm a bit disappointed about Haswell, its great CPU, but not so much better than my 2600k. Many people will be not happy about the temps after OC as well, cus its not all right that NHD-14 cannot keep the processor cool on 1.3 V.
So I'll be not buying Haswell, I better get new SSD or some other goodies:)
 
So as I can read, it's not worth to buy this new socket if you came from last Ivy's?
Not even from a 3570k? :confused:
 
Back
Top