The Intel Broadwell-E Review: Core i7-6950X, i7-6900K, i7-6850K and i7-6800K Tested
by Ian Cutress on May 31, 2016 2:01 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Intel
- Enterprise
- Prosumer
- X99
- 14nm
- Broadwell-E
- HEDT
GRID: Autosport
No graphics tests are complete without some input from Codemasters and the EGO engine, which means for this round of testing we point towards GRID: Autosport, the next iteration in the GRID and racing genre. As with our previous racing testing, each update to the engine aims to add in effects, reflections, detail and realism, with Codemasters making ‘authenticity’ a main focal point for this version.
GRID’s benchmark mode is very flexible, and as a result we created a test race using a shortened version of the Red Bull Ring with twelve cars doing two laps. The car is focus starts last and is quite fast, but usually finishes second or third. For low end graphics we test at 1080p medium settings, whereas mid and high end graphics get the full 1080p maximum. Both the average and minimum frame rates are recorded.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
The final title in our testing is another battle of system performance with the open world action-adventure title, Shadow of Mordor. Produced by Monolith using the LithTech Jupiter EX engine and numerous detail add-ons, SoM goes for detail and complexity to a large extent, despite having to be cut down from the original plans. The main story itself was written by the same writer as Red Dead Redemption, and it received Zero Punctuation’s Game of The Year in 2014.
For testing purposes, SoM gives a dynamic screen resolution setting, allowing us to render at high resolutions that are then scaled down to the monitor. As a result, we get several tests using the in-game benchmark. For low end graphics we examine at 720p with low settings, whereas mid and high end graphics get 1080p Ultra. The top graphics test is also redone at 3840x2160, also with Ultra settings, and we also test two cards at 4K where possible.
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nevcairiel - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
Even if it is, its like 2 years and 2 generations late to the party then. By the time Zen is out, we have Kaby Lake, and they advertise being on-par with not the current, not the previous, but one gen even before that?Spunjji - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
Their claims (if true) would signify rough IPC parity with Broadwell, which Skylake outclasses by a mighty 2.3% according to this site. That was in turn a staggering 3.3% over Haswell so even matching that won't leave them far off the mark. We have no reason to suppose the Kaby Lake release will alter than pattern substantially.It's all big ifs, though, and of course it'll be compared to whatever's out when it finally arrives.
Flunk - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
We can hope I guess, I gave up hope long ago.maxxcool - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
If you are buying a 8 core cpu from EITHER vendor specifically 'game on' your a proper idiot, tool and dumbass.JoeyJoJo123 - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
If you are telling people what they can and can't do with their money along with slinging personal attacks, you're a proper idiot, tool, and you need to get a job so you can manage your own money, rather than someone else's.Seriously though. This is the internet. You should really stop caring about what other people spend their own money on. People much richer than these kids are spending money on sports cars and getting into a wreck a week later, often involving other vehicle(s) and/or innocent people.
I really couldn't care less if 10,000 people on this article's comments section thought the new extreme edition processor was a "good value" and bought one (or more). More power to them.
hoohoo - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
AMD is not a charity.AMD will charge as much as the market will bear.
Ninety percent of the performance probably costs about ninety percent the price.
Michael Bay - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
>supposed to be>Zen
At this point in time it`s not even remotely funny anymore.
Bulat Ziganshin - Saturday, June 4, 2016 - link
>Zen is supposed to be really, really close to Broadwell in IPC.are you really believe that AMD, who was a lot behind Intel back in 2008, and then lost a few years on Bulldozer development, in a miraculous way will jump over? i expect that Zen will be a little better than their last Phenom, and that their first implementation of SMT will be as inefficient as Nehalem one. And higher core count, as well as AMD huge lag in lowering-heat-dissipation technologies, will mean more heat and therefore stricter limits on frequency - the same limits as in 10-core Broadwell and probably even stricter. So it may be like 8-core Nehalem at 4 GHz (with best overclocking). That's better than i7-6700K for multi-threaded tasks, but of course slower for tasks with 1-4 threads, including most of games. Or you may continue to believe in Santa :)
jchambers2586 - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
you spend $434 on a CPU and it does not perform than a $ 250 6600K in gaming you would think spending more would get you better gaming performance. I don't' think spending $434 on the i7-6800K is worth it for gaming.beginner99 - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
This is the take-away. Useless for gaming for now. If 6-cores will actually benefit from DX12 remains to be seen. If I were I game developer I would focus on making use of the iGPU versus scaling above 4-cores because most of my user base has an idling iGPU and very few more than 4 cores.If it would at least have edram. For broadwell it's 5775c or else skylake for gaming.