IT News Head Lines (AnandTech) 03/06/2013

Hit the Road, Jack: Intel’s Mobile Quad-Core Haswell SKUs

For those who are just looking for information on the various processor models with their associated features, we wanted to put together a short list of all the parts being launched today to go along with our architecture and performance testing (among other things). Similar to the previous two launches, Intel is starting off with their quad-core parts, to be followed at a later date by dual-core offerings. We’ll actually be going into the Ultrabook parts sooner rather than later, but for now there are no Core i3, Pentium, or Celeron Haswell chips. We’ve got a separate article going over the desktop SKUs, and our focus here will be on the mobile offerings.

Intel 4th Gen Core i7 M-Series Mobile Processors
Model	Core i7-4930MX	Core i7-4900MQ	Core i7-4800MQ	Core i7-4702MQ	Core i7-4700MQ
Cores/Threads	4/8	4/8	4/8	4/8	4/8
CPU Base Freq	3.0	2.8	2.7	2.2	2.4
Max SC Turbo	3.9	3.8	3.7	3.2	3.4
Max DC Turbo	3.8	3.7	3.6	3.1	3.3
Max QC Turbo	3.7	3.6	3.5	2.9	3.2
TDP	57W	47W	47W	37W	47W
HD Graphics	4600	4600	4600	4600	4600
GPU Clock	400-1350	400-1300	400-1300	400-1150	400-1150
L3 Cache	8MB	8MB	6MB	6MB	6MB
DDR3/DDR3L	1600	1600	1600	1600	1600
vPro/TXT/VT-d	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Intel SBA	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Price	$1096	$568	$378

On the mobile side of the fence, other than some slight changes to the naming scheme relative to Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge (there’s no more “20” suffix on most of the initial models and they’re now “MQ” instead of “QM”), the mobile Haswell rollout is what we expected. There are actually two quad-core mobile processor families, with the M-series being the “traditional” models while the H-series gets some iGPU upgrades and other tweaks.
Along with the traditional Extreme part at the top of the hierarchy, we now get a 4900MQ, 4800MQ, and 4700MQ in place of the previous 3820QM, 3720QM, and 3610QM that we saw with Ivy Bridge. The 4800MQ, 4702MQ, and 4700MQ are 6MB L3 cache parts, so only the 4900MQ and 4930MX get the full 8MB L3. Other than the clock speed variations and the lack of vPro/TXT/VT-d on the 470x chips (which at the same time also get the distinction of being part of the Intel Small Business Advantage platform—basically, for non-managed networks), the parts all have HD 4600 Graphics. That means slightly better iGPU performance than HD 4000, but these are GT2 (20 EUs) rather than GT3/GT3e (40 EUs).
TDPs are up 2W relative to Ivy/Sandy Bridge models, but how that will actually play out in practice remains to be seen. Considering the max TDP is rarely hit under mobile workloads, we don’t expect any major changes, and Haswell is introducing a host of other improvements all aimed at delivering better battery life. Dustin has at least one Haswell notebook in for review, with a high-end CPU and dGPU. It won’t be a great representation of battery life, but at least we can get some idea of how much things have changed relative to the 3^rd Generation Core i7 processors.

Intel 4th Gen Core i7 H-Series Mobile Processors
Model	Core i7-4950HQ	Core i7-4850HQ	Core i7-4750HQ	Core i7-4702HQ	Core i7-4700HQ
Cores/Threads	4/8	4/8	4/8	4/8	4/8
CPU Base Freq	2.4	2.3	2.0	2.2	2.4
Max SC Turbo	3.6	3.5	3.2	3.2	3.4
Max DC Turbo	3.5	3.4	3.1	3.1	3.3
Max QC Turbo	3.4	3.3	3.0	2.9	3.2
TDP	47W	47W	47W	37W	47W
HD Graphics	Iris Pro 5200	Iris Pro 5200	Iris Pro 5200	4600	4600
GPU Clock	200-1300	200-1300	200-1200	400-1150	400-1150
L3 Cache	6MB	6MB	6MB	6MB	6MB
DDR3/DDR3L	1600	1600	1600	1600	1600
vPro/TXT/VT-d	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Intel SBA	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Price	$657	$468

Here’s where things get interesting, the mobile H-Series processors. CPU clocks are down slightly relative to the above M-series, and all of these are 6MB L3 cache parts. To make up for that, Intel has equipped the top three HQ parts with their Iris Pro 5200 iGPU. While having faster integrated graphics may not really matter much on a desktop if you have a discrete GPU, on notebooks we generally always like having the faster iGPU available—you don’t always need a full discrete GPU for some tasks, but the cut-down GT1 of the previous generation sometimes fell short. Heat and noise are also more of a concern with notebooks, so running off the iGPU whenever possible is generally a good thing.
Intel has targeted roughly the level of performance offered by NVIDIA’s GT 650M with their Iris Pro 5200 graphics, or roughly a two-fold increase in performance over HD 4000, and that should be enough for everything short of high-quality, high-resolution gaming. What’s even more interesting is that there’s the potential for a reasonable gaming experience with the CPU and iGPU combined still drawing less than 47W of power; GT 650M may still be a better gaming chip, but the combined CPU + dGPU power draw is quite a bit higher than 47W. Of course, even on a 90Wh battery a load of 45W means you’d still get less than two hours of battery life. We’ll see about testing this as soon as we get more time with the hardware.
What I’m not quite getting is the role the 4702HQ and 4700HQ are supposed to fill; they’re still equipped with HD 4600 graphics, just like their MQ relatives, so we’ve asked Intel for clarification. Best guess right now: the MQ and HQ parts are different packages, so the 470xHQ chips are lower-echelon offerings for OEMs/users that don’t necessarily need/want Iris Pro 5200. It’s a way for an OEM to have one laptop that can support a range of processors, rather than locking all the HQ parts into higher-cost CPUs. Maybe down the road, we’ll even see some Core i5 H-Series CPUs, but we don’t have any concrete information on that yet.
For those interested in the desktop side of things, we’ve broken out those parts into a separate Pipeline article.


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Gigabyte's 8-Series Haswell Motherboard Tour [video]

Today is all about Haswell and Gigabyte is kicking things off with a video tour of some of their Haswell motherboard lineup. Colin from Gigabyte stopped by a couple of weeks back to show off some of the latest innovations implemented in Gigabyte's line of 8-series motherboards.
With Haswell the name of the game from the motherboard makers is really polish. With the exception of FIVR (Fully Integrated Voltage Regulator), the 8-series platform is very similar to those that came before it. This gave the motherboard makers time and encouragement to focus on improving user experience as much as possible. As a result we saw tons of attention paid to improving things like UEFI, software utilities and ease of use. Check out the video below to see what Gigabyte did this round.

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Intel’s Haswell: Quad-Core Desktop Processor SKUs

Intel’s Haswell is here, or at least the first salvo of quad-core parts has arrived. Just like we saw with Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, Intel will be releasing Haswell in stages, starting at the high-end and trickling down from there. Today, we can tell you about the quad-core desktop and mobile parts, and we have several other articles going into greater detail on the performance and features you’ll get. These two Pipeline posts are going to strip out all the other stuff and just focus on the processors being launched today. We’ll have a few short tables showing the currently-announced quad-core SKUs for desktops and mobile, and we’ll have another similar post covering the dual-core parts when those are officially announced.

Intel 4th Gen Core i7 Desktop Processors
Model	Core i7-4770K	Core i7-4770	Core i7-4770S	Core i7-4770T	Core i7-4770R	Core i7-4765T
Cores/Threads	4/8	4/8	4/8	4/8	4/8	4/8
CPU Base Freq	3.5	3.4	3.1	2.5	3.2	2.0
Max Turbo	3.9 (Unlocked)	3.9	3.9	3.7	3.9	3.0
Test TDP	84W	84W	65W	45W	65W	35W
HD Graphics	4600	4600	4600	4600	Iris Pro 5200	4600
GPU Max Clock	1250	1200	1200	1200	1300	1200
L3 Cache	8MB	8MB	8MB	8MB	6MB	8MB
DDR3 Support	1333/1600	1333/1600	1333/1600	1333/1600	1333/1600	1333/1600
vPro/TXT/VT-d/SIPP	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Package	LGA-1150	LGA-1150	LGA-1150	LGA-1150	BGA	LGA-1150
Price	$339	$303	$303	$303		$303

Starting at the top of the product and performance stack, we have the desktop Core i7 parts. All of these CPUs feature Hyper-Threading Technology, so they’re the same quad-core with four virtual cores that we’ve seen since Bloomfield hit the scene. The fastest chip for most purposes remains the K-series 4770K, with its unlocked multiplier and slightly higher base clock speed. Base core clocks as well as maximum Turbo Boost clocks are basically dictated by the TDP, with the 4770S being less likely to maintain maximum turbo most likely, and the 4770T and 4765T giving up quite a bit more in clock speed in order to hit substantially lower power targets.
It’s worth pointing out that the highest “Test TDP” values are up slightly relative to the last generation Ivy Bridge equivalents—84W instead of 77W. Whether that reflects a change in how they determine TDP or if it’s simply to give more headroom to the top performing parts isn’t clear. On the desktop, this is probably not particularly important—7W in TDP could often end up being just 1-2W in practice—so we’re not really concerned. Mobile TDPs are a different matter, and as we’ll discuss elsewhere they’re all 2W higher, but that could also be thanks in part to the higher performance iGPU.
Nearly all of these are GT2 graphics configurations (20 EUs), so they should be slightly faster than the last generation HD 4000 in graphics workloads. The one exception is the i7-4770R, which is also the only chip that comes in a BGA package. The reasoning here is simple, if flawed: if you want the fastest iGPU configuration (GT3e with 40 EUs and embedded DRAM), you’re probably not going to have a discrete GPU and will most likely be purchasing an OEM desktop. Interestingly, the 4770R also drops the L3 cache down to 6MB, and it’s not clear whether this is due to it having no real benefit (i.e. the eDRAM functions as an even larger L4 cache), or if it’s to reduce power use slightly, or Intel may have a separate die for this particular configuration. Then again, maybe Intel is just busily creating a bit of extra market segmentation.
Not included in the above table are all the common features to the entire Core i7 line: AVX instructions, Quick Sync, AES-NI, PCIe 3.0, and Virtualization Technology. As we’ve seen in the past, the K-series parts (and now the R-series as well) omit support for vPro, TXT, VT-d, and SIPP from the list. The 4770K is an enthusiast part with overclocking support, so that makes some sense, but the 4770R doesn’t really have the same qualification. Presumably it’s intended for the consumer market, as businesses are less likely to need the Iris Pro graphics.

Intel 4th Gen Core i5 Desktop Processors
Model	Core i5-4670K	Core i5-4670	Core i5-4670S	Core i5-4670T	Core i5-4570	Core i5-4570S
Cores/Threads	4/4	4/4	4/4	4/4	4/4	4/4
CPU Base Freq	3.4	3.4	3.1	2.3	3.2	2.9
Max Turbo	3.8 (Unlocked)	3.8	3.8	3.3	3.6	3.6
Test TDP	84W	84W	65W	45W	84W	65W
HD Graphics	4600	4600	4600	4600	4600	4600
GPU Max Clock	1200	1200	1200	1200	1150	1150
L3 Cache	6MB	6MB	6MB	6MB	6MB	6MB
DDR3 Support	1333/1600	1333/1600	1333/1600	1333/1600	1333/1600	1333/1600
vPro/TXT/VT-d/SIPP	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Package	LGA-1150	LGA-1150	LGA-1150	LGA-1150	LGA-1150	LGA-1150
Price	$242	$213	$213	$213	$192	$192

The Core i5 lineup basically rehashes the above story, only now without Hyper-Threading. For many users, Core i5 is the sweet spot of price and performance, delivering nearly all the performance of the i7 models at 2/3 the price. There aren’t any Iris or Iris Pro Core i5 desktop parts, at least not yet, and all of the above CPUs are using the GT2 graphics configuration. As above, the K-series part also lacks vPro/TXT/VT-d support but comes with an unlocked multiplier.
Obviously we’re still missing all of the Core i3 parts, which are likely to be dual-core once more, along with some dual-core i5 parts as well. These are probably going to come in another quarter, or at least a month or two out, as there’s no real need for Intel to launch their lower cost parts right now. Similarly, we don’t have any Celeron or Pentium Haswell derivatives launching yet, and judging by the Ivy Bridge rollout I suspect it may be a couple quarters before Intel pushes out ultra-budget Haswell chips. For now, the Ivy Bridge Celeron/Pentium parts are likely as low as Intel wants to go down the food chain for their “big core” architectures.
For those interested in the mobile side of things, we’ve broken out those parts into a separate Pipeline article.


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Intel Iris Pro 5200 Graphics Review: Core i7-4950HQ Tested
We review what's quite possibly the most exciting Haswell SKU available at launch: the Core i7-4950HQ equipped with Intel's new Iris Pro 5200 graphics.


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The Haswell Review: Intel Core i7-4770K & i5-4670K Tested
This is a very volatile time for Intel. In an ARM-less vacuum, Intel’s Haswell architecture would likely be the most amazing thing to happen to the tech industry in years. In mobile Haswell is slated to bring about the single largest improvement in battery life in Intel history. In graphics, Haswell completely redefines the expectations for processor graphics. There are even some versions that come with an on-package 128MB L4 cache. And on the desktop, Haswell is the epitome of polish and evolution of the Core microprocessor architecture. Everything is better, faster and more efficient.


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