The Intel Core i7-7700K (91W) Review: The New Out-of-the-box Performance Champion
by Ian Cutress on January 3, 2017 12:02 PM ESTProfessional Performance: Windows
Agisoft Photoscan – 2D to 3D Image Manipulation: link
Agisoft Photoscan creates 3D models from 2D images, a process which is very computationally expensive. The algorithm is split into four distinct phases, and different phases of the model reconstruction require either fast memory, fast IPC, more cores, or even OpenCL compute devices to hand. Agisoft supplied us with a special version of the software to script the process, where we take 50 images of a stately home and convert it into a medium quality model. This benchmark typically takes around 15-20 minutes on a high end PC on the CPU alone, with GPUs reducing the time.
Here we report the overall time to complete the test – sub-test results can be found in Bench.
Here’s another instance where a stock Core i7-7700K can overcome an overclocked Devil’s Canyon. Agisoft spends a good time of its workload using cache heavy threads, showing that large core parts do really well, however the i7-7700K is on par with the six-core Core i7-3960X, showing that extra IPC and frequency can make up for a core or two.
Cinebench R15
Cinebench is a benchmark based around Cinema 4D, and is fairly well known among enthusiasts for stressing the CPU for a provided workload. Results are given as a score, where higher is better.
While Cinebench R15 is more a synthetic, it remains a popular test to measure professional performance and is free to use. For single threaded performance, the Core i7-7700K hits the top of the pile. With the Skylake and Kaby Lake parts both at 4.8 GHz, there’s almost nothing between them, showing the identical IPC. In multithreaded mode the 7700K is on top of all the mainstream processors as expected, and when overclocked can mix it up with some of the extreme processors as well.
HandBrake v0.9.9: link
For HandBrake, we take two videos (a 2h20 640x266 DVD rip and a 10min double UHD 3840x4320 animation short) and convert them to x264 format in an MP4 container. Results are given in terms of the frames per second processed, and HandBrake uses as many threads as possible.
The LQ video emphasizes IPC due to its low cache overhead, meaning that the i7-7700K wins again, and when overclocked, performs the same as the 6700K at the same frequency.
The higher resolution video however means that cores with frequency dominate. The i7-7700K stands above processors such as the i7-5820K, the i7-4930K and the i7-3960X, which is no small feat. But if you really want performance here, the big boys are still top performers (if you can afford them).
Hybrid x265
Hybrid is a new benchmark, where we take a 4K 1500 frame video and convert it into an x265 format without audio. Results are given in frames per second.
Our Hybrid test is somewhat similar to the HandBrake HQ test, showing the i7-7700K sitting tall as the mainstream champion.
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HardwareDufus - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
This is exactly what I was thinking. Why didn't they add the eDRAM to this K-Series chip. Maybe we will see another higher clocked variant with Iris Pro.... I would buy that. Meanwhile, I'll keep using my I7-3700K CPU.Vash63 - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
It's mentioned in the article that Linux doesn't support Speedshift. That seems to be at odds with the p-state driver documentation on kernel.org:https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/cpu-freq/...
"If the processor is capable of selecting its next P-State internally, then the driver will offload this
responsibility to the processor (aka HWP: Hardware P-States). If not, the driver implements algorithms to select the next P-State."
Looks like they call it HWP instead of 'Speedshift', marketing names don't often make it into the kernel. This was added in Nov 2014: https://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/5246361/
oranos - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
so basically if you have a 6700k you good to goBrokenCrayons - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
Or anything as old as a 2500K apparently as long as you don't have a need for some of the features included on more modern motherboards. Honestly, the last six or so years have been pretty dull ones for x86 processors.iwod - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
To American viewers, ( which i expect many would be on Anandtech ), and dont know who Jerermy Clarkson is, He is a former host of UK BBC's Car / Motoring Show "Top Gear", and current host of Amazon's The Grand Tour.And in case you dont know the show, you should watch it :P
P.S - Why specifically American? Because Top gear is the world most watched TV shows ( Non-Drama ) and it is popular is everywhere in the world EXCEPT America.
stardude82 - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
...Except it's been canceled. I hear you can watch some blowhard prattle on about rich boy toys on this little American website called Amazon.com.stardude82 - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
Oh wait... The was a British version?Manch - Thursday, January 5, 2017 - link
What are you on about? Top Gear was quite popular in the states among gearheads and their ilk. So popular, they made a US version which sucks.fanofanand - Thursday, January 26, 2017 - link
Manch is correct. Americans "in the know" about car stuff all know about and revere Top Gear. The American version was awful, and I haven't watched the Amazon version but heard the first episode was impressive, the others not so much. I like Jeremy Clarkson but the other two hosts made the show, IMO.iwod - Wednesday, January 4, 2017 - link
So the i7700K gets you 8% more clock speed for the same power usage. And you get roughly 10% more performance due to clock speed and slight IPC improvement.