The Intel Broadwell Desktop Review: Core i7-5775C and Core i5-5675C Tested (Part 1)
by Ian Cutress on June 2, 2015 7:45 AM ESTTest Setup
As we mentioned in our introduction, Intel's 9-series chipset were designed from the start to allow future compatibility with Broadwell. As a result with a BIOS update we're able to drop these processors into our existing MSI and ASUS Z97 boards, though not without some pre-release BIOS teething issues.
| Test Setup | |
| Processor | Intel i7-5775C, 4C/8T Intel i5-5675C, 4C/4T |
| Motherboard | MSI Z97A Gaming 6 ASUS Z97 Pro |
| DRAM | G.Skill RipjawsZ 4x4GB DDR3-1866 C9 at DDR3-1600 |
| Low End GPU | Integrated ASUS R7 240 2GB DDR3 Dual Graphics with R7 240 |
| Mid Range GPU | MSI R9 285 Gaming 2GB MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2GB |
| High End GPU | MSI R9 290X Gaming LE 4GB ASUS GTX 980 Strix 4GB |
| Power Supply | OCZ 1250W Gold |
| Storage Drive | Crucial MX200 1TB |
| Operating System | Windows 7.1 64-bit, Build 7601 |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Nepton 140XL CLC |
Many thanks to...
We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our test bed:
Thank you to AMD for providing us with the R9 290X 4GB GPUs.
Thank you to ASUS for providing us with GTX 980 Strix GPUs and the R7 240 DDR3 GPU.
Thank you to ASRock and ASUS for providing us with some IO testing kit.
Thank you to Cooler Master for providing us with Nepton 140XL CLCs.
Thank you to Corsair for providing us with an AX1200i PSU.
Thank you to Crucial for providing us with MX200 SSDs.
Thank you to G.Skill and Corsair for providing us with memory.
Thank you to MSI for providing us with the GTX 770 Lightning GPUs.
Thank you to OCZ for providing us with PSUs.
Thank you to Rosewill for providing us with PSUs and RK-9100 keyboards.
Load Delta Power Consumption
We'll start things off with a look at power consumption. Power consumption was tested on the system while in a single NVIDIA GTX 770 configuration with a wall meter connected to the OCZ 1250W power supply. This power supply is Gold rated, and as I am in the UK on a 230-240 V supply, leads to ~75% efficiency > 50W, and 90%+ efficiency at 250W, suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency.
We are reporting the power consumption difference when idle and during an initial OCCT load. This is slightly skewed by the adjustment up the efficiency chain of our power supply, showing lower power CPUs consuming a little more, but despite this the qualitative comparison is a still a good place to start.
Despite our test being almost qualitative, it is exciting to see that in our power consumption limit test both CPUs score around their TDP values.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
196 Comments
View All Comments
Jumangi - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
Completely worthless release for gamers and PC enthusiasts...another year goes by with no reason to upgrade to a new CPU. Were officially back to the dark days before AMD kicked Intel in the nuts with the Athlon64 and made them have to compete.So sad...
Peichen - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
Skylake is coming in 2 months for gamers. Today's release is for system builders that needs a stopgap. You shouldnt buy into AMD's PR campaign that you need to buy AMD to support innovation. Intel is doing that all by itself.PubFiction - Wednesday, July 1, 2015 - link
I agree 2500K and 2600K here haven't had a single reason to even be tempted to upgrade. The only good that has come of this is that now days I have gobs of cash to spend on GPUs, I guess this explains why NVidia can charge $999 for a GPU now and sell out.jjj - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
Sad that Krzanich continues with this strategy of making products nobody needs and abusing their monopoly to charge way too much.Seriously, just 4 cores and a GPU that can't even do 1080p at those prices? Same die they could have fitted 12 cores and no GPU but we'll never get that because Intel has no interest in making good chips and regulators are all dead.
They'll choke on it, it's unavoidable.
TallestJon96 - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
I only see this being good in all in ones and mini PCs. I fully expect Apple to announce a broadwell refresh for their iMacs before the year ends.Too bad, because I'm looking to upgrade from an i3-2120 to a low-ish power i5, and this fits the bill except that the integrated graphics drive the price through the roof. I'm hoping for a 65w vanilla i5 that performs well, and this is close, but not quite right.
MikhailT - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
I somehow doubt it. They already refreshed the iMac a bit and dropped the prices for the year. They doesn't update as often as everyone else, they're happy to wait.I expect Apple to go full Skylake next year.
Peichen - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
Well, AMD should pay or sue Intel to keep Intel from integrating GT3e GPU into sub $150 CPUs. That would kill all AMD's market above $80.MikhailT - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
WTF, or how about AMD complete to make better stuff instead.Peichen - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
AMD cannot compete. They are so far behind Intel on R&D and even vision and theories it has no chance of catching up to Intel any time soon. The CPU department is kept afloat by the GPU department and that isn't going well either.silverblue - Tuesday, June 2, 2015 - link
AMD doesn't have the money. The main reason it's behind the curve is because they couldn't exactly bring out something to replace Bulldozer and as such had to milk it for all it's worth so it wasn't a complete waste of time that could'v dragged them under. If AMD had the resources, I think we'd have seen a replacement for Bulldozer by now.AMD's GPU tech is hampered by the process node and the lack of eDRAM/HBM. Carrizo may make a large difference in terms of power consumption plus a lesser difference in terms of performance, but AMD stands to benefit a lot from throwing some memory on die. Coupled with better compression, they'll have a more competitive product, but I think Iris Pro 6200 has the leader for the next 12-18 months (even if Carrizo does come to the desktop, will its performance be that much improved over Kaveri? I'm not so sure).
I think we need high quality tests for the iGPUs to see how that makes a difference. Intel may lead by even more.