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 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.
The presence of Crystal Well had a small effect on Photoscan, occurring mostly in the second phase of the calculation which is the one that also has an option to enable the GPU, indicating that memory bandwidth is an potential limitation in that segment.
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.
Cinebench is a historically CPU-limited benchmark, and the results show this again here. The fact that the 3.6GHz Broadwell-based i5-5675C performs so closely to the 3.9GHz Haswell-based i5-4690 is a promising sign here, as it means that despite being a mere "tick" in Intel's development efforts, there are tangible IPC increases on the desktop from Broadwell.
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.
While no obvious improvement was seen in the low quality conversion, the double UHD conversion put the i7 above what was otherwise expected.
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.
Unlike the Handbrake H.264 tests, the Hybrid x265 tests show a clear uptick in performance on the Broadwell processors. It is not fast enough to catch the i7-4790K and its 4.4GHz turbo clockspeed, but we see the i5-5675C shoot well past the i5-4690 despite the clockspeed deficit. Whether this is due to Broadwell architecture enhancements, Crystal Well acting as an L4 cache, or a combination of the two is difficult to determine, but the end result is substantial.
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.