Intel i7-2700K has arrived

[jaquith]

The performance of an i7-2600K 3.40GHz/3.80GHz Turbo vs i7-2700K 3.50GHz/3.90GHz Turbo is (nearly) identical, both are unlocked CPUs so increase the i7-2600K CPU Ratio (+1) = i7-2700K (SAME) CPU.

Further, unless you have Applications that actually use Hyper-Threading, e.g. Rendering, then neither the i7-2600K or i7-2700K will game better than the i5-2500K clock-per-clock. Differences vs i5-2500K are the Default CPU Multipliers (+1) for i7-2600K or (+2) for i7-2700K.

For an extra $55 does it makes no sense to get the i7-2700K? You decide.

NewEgg:
$370 Intel Core i7-2700K - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115095
$315 Intel Core i7-2600K - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070
$215 Intel Core i5-2500K - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

TigerDirect:
$370 Intel Core i7-2700K - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1380569&CatId=6991
$315 Intel Core i7-2600K - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073159&CatId=6991
$220 Intel Core i5-2500K - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7073161&CatId=6988

MicroCenter:
$___ Intel Core i7-2700K - N/A yet ; will update
$280 Intel Core i7-2600K - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354587
$180 Intel Core i5-2500K - http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

review - http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1751/1/

 

[jiyung]

0.1 GHz diff for 55$ while the Phenom 9XX has 0.2 clock diff for 20$... the 2700K's price should go down.

 

[IG-64]

How much extra overclocking would you be able to push out of the i7-2700K compared to the 2600K? I do rather intensive rendering and I'm looking for the best CPU I can get for my money in the $300-$400 range. Would it make sense for me to go for the 2700K or is it just not worth the extra money at all?

 

[jitpublisher]

If I was buying, and I used my computer for more than a just a fancy gaming console, yeah I'd probably spend the extra money. I spend more than that for gas, beer, cigars and bait for a morning on the water fishing, its no big deal. However, if all I did was game, then I would stick with the 2500K for certain.

 

[cygone]

i7 2700K is a complete! waste of money over the i7 2600k. After all its a 'K' processor, so anyone buying these will be doing so because they want to OC.

The limiting factor of an OC is the temp/volt that is required. The 2700 and 2600 have the same TDP, so they will OC the same as each other, maxing out at about 4.5ghz on air (milage may vary).

Also measuing the performance of a i7 vs anything AMD is just pointless, the AMD offerings regardless of clock/clock are completly worthless.

 

[cyberkuberiah]

yeah but i read somewhere that 2700 uses lower default voltage than 2600 for the same clock +100 mhz ... i am wondering does that mean better overclockability for pushers ?

 

[cygone]

Their are some chips that use lower vCore but you dont know if you have a good chip untill you use it.

 

[cyberkuberiah]

ok

 

[thebski]

i7 2700K is a complete! waste of money over the i7 2600k. After all its a 'K' processor, so anyone buying these will be doing so because they want to OC.

The limiting factor of an OC is the temp/volt that is required. The 2700 and 2600 have the same TDP, so they will OC the same as each other, maxing out at about 4.5ghz on air (milage may vary).

Simply not true. If you're buying a chip and wanting to run it at 4-4.5 Ghz then yes, the 2700K probably has 0 benefit over the 2600K, but if you're going for big OC's then the 2700K is probably for you. The 2700K should be the best Sandy Bridge chips Intel produces. They pull their best chips and tag them as 2700K's. That's why a lot of the times a 2700K will be at a considerably lower voltage stock than the 2600K. This means there should be more headroom for overclocking.

Now, is this true 100% of the time? Absolutely not. As most of you know, buying a chip is kind of like a shot in the dark. You may get a good one. You may get a not so good one. At the end of the day though, on average, a 2700K will clock higher than a 2600K, and if you're going for a stable 4.5 Ghz+ OC then I'd put my money on a 2700K before a 2600K.

As always, it just depends on what you're doing.

 

[Mousemonkey]

For an extra $55 does it makes no sense to get the i7-2700K?

No.

 

[jaquith]

I guess the (no) sense was a Freudian slip vs (any) sense... I agree 'No'.

 

[Mousemonkey]

I guess the (no) sense was a Freudian slip vs (any) sense... I agree 'No'.

Having seen a few benchies I can't see how the 2700K would make sense for anyone to buy, even hardcore OC'rs.

 

[jaquith]

Same CPU (Lithography) with different CPU Coding (ID and Multiplier). Took some CAD guy at Intel 10 minutes or less to change the plate.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Same CPU (Lithography) with different CPU Coding (ID and Multiplier). Took some CAD guy at Intel 10 minutes or less to change the plate.

:lol: Yeah, even if I was buying today I would still end up with a 2600K.

 

[fazers_on_stun]

IIRC Intel's tray price for the 2700K is something like $15 over the 2600K, so Newegg, Tiger etc are gouging with a premium on the new CPU at the moment. However I saw an article this morning on S/A or maybe BSN, that a lot of retailers jacked up their prices on the 2600K and 2500K after BD came out with poor reviews. At least the European retailers did.

 

[jaquith]

You know, I know and most should know ALL of these CPU are same CPU's with very minor 'tweaks' in the Lithography.

Same goes the the i7-9xx 45nm and 32nm families to their Xeon counterparts. I recently found out the (32nm) i7-990X (Xeon X5690) that Intel forgot to limit the RAM at least in the i7-990X 6x8GB works -> http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/298232-30-48gb-running-990x-1366-consumer

So what's the $300 vs $1,500 costs for a $20 hard cost, if that, CPU???

 

[swifty_morgan]

"Further, unless you have Applications that actually use Hyper-Threading, e.g. Rendering, then neither the i7-2600K or i7-2700K will game better than the i5-2500K clock-per-clock. Differences vs i5-2500K are the Default CPU Multipliers (+1) for i7-2600K or (+2) for i7-2700K. "

There is a difference. 2500k 4core 4 thread
26&27 4core 8 thread

Lots of things are multi threaded, games included. ( more than 4 thread )

 

[IG-64]

So.. it's a bit like gambling then? You front the extra $55 to increase the chances of getting a better part, but it's not guaranteed?

 

[jaquith]

I clearly stated - "Further, unless you have Applications that actually use Hyper-Threading..."

However, most ALL Games:
Games are affected, comparing Intel families, on: Frequency (GHz), Cores (real cores), and Efficiency i.e. lithography (nm). Beyond that obviously GPU(s), RAM (GB's and Frequency/CAS + BCLK), PCIe lanes (fractional differences x8 vs x16; Saturation - scaling), and Chipsets.

About the only game that I can think of that has shown any improvement with hyper-threading is Resident Evil 5, and then only a few FPS.

So $100 more for CPU <or> $100 more GPU?? Obviously, your money for GAMING' is better served, by far, upgrading your GPU $100 e.g. GTX 570 -> GTX 580 and NOT i5-2500K to i7-2XXXK.

So running for example running same clocks e.g. 4.0GHz on: i7-2600K, i7-2700K or i5-2500K "clock-per-clock" and same components: MOBO, RAM, GPU, PSU, etc. I challenge people to post 'Gaming Advantages' to the {i7-2600K, i7-2700K or i5-2500K}.

Obviously, ANY Applications that can use Hyper-Threading will see a variety of advantages to the Intel i7-2XXX with 4 cores / 8 threads.

Hyper-Threading:

Frankly, I fell on the floor with the Photoshop results. ±1FPS or ±0.5~±1.0 sec are within margins of error; repeat the tests.

 

[thebski]

So.. it's a bit like gambling then? You front the extra $55 to increase the chances of getting a better part, but it's not guaranteed?

Well yes, but that's all you're ever really doing. As I said, if Intel is binning these chips like I'm sure they are (or there literally is no point, and Intel is obviously not a stupid company), then the 2700K ON AVERAGE will clock higher than the 2600K. As a consumer, what should your expectation of achievable clocks be? Well, if you're a rational consumer your expectation should be the mean of the population. Therefore you expect the 2700K to clock higher than the 2600K.

Does this mean outliers don't exist? Hardly not. As with any random or pseudo-random process there will be outliers. Could you pull a 2600K outlier from the high side and a 2700K outlier from the low side and have the 2600K clock better than the 2700K? Sure, but as a consumer what else can you bet on other than the average?

Also, like pointed out in this thread the Intel price difference between the 27 and 26 is like $15 I think. Probably due to Bulldozer being all but a flop e-tailers are jacking prices. And I don't want to hear this crap about Bulldozer being ahead of it's time and optimized for future applications. AMD should spend more time worrying about now and less about the future.

Whether the 2700K is worth it or not depends on how well these chips clock compared to a 2600K on average. If the average 2600K can achieve 4.5 Ghz on air and the average 2700K can achieve 4.7 Ghz on air and the difference is $55 then it's probably not worth it. But if in 2 months the average 2700K can hit 5 Ghz and the prices are down to the intended $15 by Intel then I'd definitely buy the 2700K.

Again, it just depends on what you're trying to do and what the difference between these chips actually proves to be. I don't think there's any way you can sit here today and definitavely say yes it's worth it or no it's not. Intel is not a stupid company, and they aren't going to put out something that has just zero rational sense.

 

[swifty_morgan]

we all lived without hyperthreading and I'm not going to say it isn't useful but, when programs use more than four cores/threads, I'd like to know that my processor can deliver.

I can think of 3 games off hand that benefit from them and a few other software suites. ......... BC3/FarCry2/Crysis2....and then the modeling apps and others.

 

[jaquith]

GHz Obtainable:

There's no difference between the i7-2600K and the i7-2700K with the exception of encoded CPUID info. If you took (10 - 20 - etc) of each CPU then there will be overlapping vCores with no discernible Standard Deviations especially as the sample numbers increase.

To achieve the best, i.e. lowest vCore, OC then purchase a good MOBO with at least 12 Phases or more on the LGA 1155 (LGA 1366 the magic number was 16 Phases).

---

Hyper-threading + Games:
BC3 Little data is available.
Crysis 2: (1 FPS due to 3.3GHz vs 3.4GHz)

FarCry 2:

Great link -> http://www.overclock.net/intel-general/671977-hyperthreading-games.html

 

[thebski]

GHz Obtainable:

There's no difference between the i7-2600K and the i7-2700K with the exception of encoded CPUID info. If you took (10 - 20 - etc) of each CPU then there will be overlapping vCores with no discernible Standard Deviations especially as the sample numbers increase.

So, are you saying that if you pull a sample of 100 2700K's randomly and 100 2600K's randomly and clock them to their highest stable clock given a 75C max temp, there will be no statistical difference (i.e. mean and std. deviation are equal)? If that's the case then Intel either doesn't bin their chips, or their binning process is completely (and randomly) wrong. I do not work for Intel so I can't say you're incorrect.

If that's the case then this chip has been released for no other reason than headlines=buzz=sales.

 

[thebski]

Also, if that's the case then I'll be slightly disappointed as I was considering picking one up in hopes of clocking the bejesus out of it.

 

[jaquith]

Any CPU will have both vCore ranges and obtainable high OC ranges; production imperfections. Meaning only a few will have Thermally obtainable (vCore) >5.0GHz. So if I took the time to OC 100 of i7-2600K and 100 i7-2700K then correct the 'Bell Curve' of both GHz to vCore would match; i.e. no discernible Standard Deviations.

Small sampling:

MOBO...... CPU....GHz vCore
P8P67 Pro 2600k 5.1 1.30
P8P67 Pro 2600k 5.0 1.344
P8P67 Pro 2600k 5.0 1.32
P8P67 Pro 2600k 5.0 1.34
P8P67 Pro 2600k 4.8 1.47
Averages 4.98GHz 1.35v

P8P67 Pro 2500k 4.8 1.33
P8P67 Pro 2500k 4.8 1.30
P8P67 Pro 2500k 4.8 1.32
P8P67 Pro 2500k 4.8 1.248
P8P67 Pro 2500k 4.5 1.49
P8P67 Pro 2500k 4.5 1.50
P8P67 Pro 2500k 4.5 1.495
Averages 4.67GHz 1.38v

Overall Average 4.8GHz 1.37v