The Intel 6th Gen Skylake Review: Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K Tested
by Ian Cutress on August 5, 2015 8:00 AM ESTWhat You Can Buy: Windows Professional Performance
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.
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.
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.
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.
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mkozakewich - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
It's unlikely you'll be seeing doubles and doubles anymore. If you look at what's been going on for the past several years, we're moving to more efficient processes instead of improving performance. I'm sure Intel's end goal is to make powerful CPUs for devices that fit into people's pockets. At that point you might see more start going into raw performance.edlee - Wednesday, August 5, 2015 - link
i am not sure why conclusion to the review makes it seem i7-2600k users should upgrade to this.If you are a gamer, there is no 25% improvement in average or minimum frame rate, its 3-6% at best.
Is this the future of intel's tock strategy, to give very little improvement to gamers?
VeauX - Wednesday, August 5, 2015 - link
On the gaming side, you'll never see a speed bump if you are not CPU Limited. Once you have a decent CPU, just put your money in GPU, period.Nagorak - Wednesday, August 5, 2015 - link
CPU is almost irrelevant for games at this point. As games start to take advantage of more cores, older processors are utilized more efficiently, further negating the need to upgrade. DX12 may improve this further.I sort of wonder if Intel isn't on a path to some trouble here. There's basically no point for anyone to upgrade their CPU anymore, not even gamers. Other than a few specialized applications the increase in performance just doesn't really matter, if it exists at all.
AndrewJacksonZA - Thursday, August 6, 2015 - link
I also sometimes think that, but then I remember that we developers *WILL* find a way to make use of more computing power.Having said that, I still can't quite justify me upgrading from my E6750 and 6670 @ 1240 x 1024. I slapped in an SSD in February last year and it was like I got a brand new machine.
Chrome and Edge on Win10 lag a teeny tiny bit though, maybe I can use that as my justification... Perhaps a 5960X or a 5930K though - more cores FTW? Or perhaps a 6700K and get it to 5GHz for the rights to claim some "5GHz Daily Driver" epeen... ;-)
Zoomer - Friday, August 14, 2015 - link
Exactly, I reached the opposite conclusion as Ian. There is no point in upgrading even from SB. If you do, stick to DDR3. Only GTA5 benefits from DDR4.It's interesting to see if regular DDR3 sticks can run on Skylake, perhaps by bumping the Vsa, voltages. Not clear if Ian's overclocking tests were with the IGP disabled - would be interesting to see if disabling the IGP / reducing Fgt, Vgt helps overclocking any.
StevoLincolnite - Wednesday, August 5, 2015 - link
I'm still happily sitting with my Sandy-Bridge-E. Still handles everything you could throw at it just fine... And still gives Intel's $1,000 chips a run for their money whilst sitting at 5Ghz.mapesdhs - Wednesday, August 12, 2015 - link
Yup, that's why my most recent gaming build was a R4E & 3930K, cost less than a new HW build, much quicker overall. My existing SB gaming PC is 5GHz aswell (every 2700K I've tried handles 5.0 just fine).leexgx - Monday, August 10, 2015 - link
hmm maybe i can upgrade from my i7-920 now (really any of the newer intel cpus are faster then it)sheeple - Thursday, October 15, 2015 - link
DON'T BE STUPID SHEEPLE!!! NEW DOES NOT ALWAYS = BETTER!