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An Evolution That Makes Sense, But Doesn't Impress

Intel Core i7-3770K Review: A Small Step Up For Ivy Bridge
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A group of journalists recently went to visit AMD in Austin (including one of our writers) and came back talking about the value of an “experience,” and how benchmarks can’t tell you if a given piece of hardware is “good enough.”

I believe benchmarks are important and will remain the lowest-level tools for quantifying one component’s value over another. They’re the most precise measure of “good enough.” You can look at performance numbers and generalize for a broad audience using hard data. It’s not as easy to tell how long you’ll spend compiling code based on one person’s opinion that a workstation is fine and dandy, though.

But that’s a conversation for another day. Regardless of which side of the fence you find yourself, Core i7-2700K is subjectively “good enough” compared to Intel’s Ivy Bridge-based Core i7-3770K. No question. If you’re die-hard about data, the numbers also make it objectively clear that there is no reason to upgrade a high-end desktop Sandy Bridge CPU to a high-end Ivy Bridge CPU.

Intel succeeds in bolstering the performance of its integrated graphics solution, but insofar as HD Graphics 4000 applies to gamers from any walk of life, you’d really be selling yourself short by not complementing a ~$300 CPU with an add-in card. Although AMD’s A8-3850 is nowhere near as fast as Core i7-3770K in processing workloads, the $130 APU does deliver better frame rates, if entry-level gaming is all you need.

Can Core i7-3770K catch a break with power users eager to overclock? Unless you’re using an extreme form of cooling, I’m afraid not. Our boxed Core i7-2700K hit a more aggressive frequency, nearly matching the -3770K’s performance in the process.

What if you saw the award that Core i5-2500K won last year in Intel’s Second-Gen Core CPUs: The Sandy Bridge Review but didn’t upgrade? What if you’re still stuck on an old Core 2- or Phenom-based platform and need something new? In that case, of course a desktop Ivy Bridge-based chip makes more sense than buying what is now last-generation hardware. The Core i7-3770K is one option, but we’d also be fairly confident in a Core i5-3570K for $100 less, too. Intel is actually being really reasonable on pricing, so you’ll pay less for the i7-3770K than you would have for a -2700K yesterday, and less for an i5-3570K than the -2550K. Not bad at all. 

A Little Perspective

Although Core i7-3770K, as one model in Intel’s line-up, is fairly easy for enthusiasts with modern machines to dismiss, don’t take our judgment as a cloud over the Ivy Bridge architecture.

An emphasis on integrated graphics performance and lower thermal design power points makes it clear that Intel is out to conquer smaller form factors like all-in-one desktops and thin/light notebooks.

Soon, the first wave of Ultrabooks based on Ivy Bridge, code named Chief River, will wash over the mobility-obsessed masses, more accurately representing the purpose of Intel’s newest family of processors.

But before that happens, we have more Ivy Bridge-based coverage planned, including our first round-up of Z77 Express-based motherboards driven by a Core i7-3770K, a look at how four different Ivy Bridge-based Core i5s compare at as many thermal ceilings, more depth on overclocking performance, and a review of mobile Ivy Bridge in a brand new notebook. Stay tuned!

For a chance at winning a Core i5-3570K-based PC, please click this link to enter our CyberPower PC/Tom's Hardware sweepstakes. The system's specs are as follows:

  • Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40 GHz (Overclocked 4.5GHz)
  • NZXT Switch 810 Hybrid Full-Tower Gaming Case
  • Asus P8Z77-V LX LGA 1155 ATX Mainboard
  • AMD Radeon HD 7770 1 GB PCI Express 3.0 Video Card
  • Asetek 570LX Liquid Cooling System w/ 240 mm Radiator and Dual Fans
  • Corsair Vengeance 8 GB DDR3-1600 Dual-Channel Memory Kit
  • Corsair Force Series 60 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD
  • 1 TB SATA 6Gb/s 32 MB Cache 7200 RPM HDD
  • NXZT 750 W Power Supply 
  • Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium  
  • 24x Dual-Layer Dual-Format Drive

The sweepstakes opens on April 23, 2012 9 AM PDT and closes May 7, 2012 9:00 AM PDT.

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Top Comments
  • 32 Hide
    verbalizer , April 23, 2012 4:37 PM
    OK after reading most of the review and definitely studying the charts;
    I have a few things on my mind.

    1.) AMD - C'mon and get it together, you need to do better...
    2.) imagine if Intel made an i7-2660K or something like the i5-2550K they have now.
    3.) SB-E is not for gaming (too highly priced...) compared to i7 or i5 Sandy Bridge
    4.) Ivy Bridge runs hot.......
    5.) IB average 3.7% faster than i7 SB and only 16% over i5 SB = not worth it
    6.) AMD - C'mon and get it together, you need to do better...

    (moderator edit..)
  • 30 Hide
    Maziar , April 23, 2012 4:08 PM
    Great review as always Chris! looks like I'm staying with my 2500k for a while!
  • 23 Hide
    sublime2k , April 23, 2012 4:47 PM
    Now I'm happy for buying 2500K instead of waiting for IB. :) 
Other Comments
  • 18 Hide
    tecmo34 , April 23, 2012 4:07 PM
    Nice Review Chris...

    Looking forward to the further information coming out this week on Ivy Bridge, as I was initially planning on buying Ivy Bridge, but now I might turn to Sandy Bridge-E
  • 30 Hide
    Maziar , April 23, 2012 4:08 PM
    Great review as always Chris! looks like I'm staying with my 2500k for a while!
  • 7 Hide
    jaquith , April 23, 2012 4:11 PM
    Great and long waited review - Thanks Chris!

    Temps as expected are high on the IB, but better than early ES which is very good.

    Those with their SB or SB-E (K/X) should be feeling good about now ;) 
  • 5 Hide
    xtremexx , April 23, 2012 4:11 PM
    saw this just pop up on google, posted 1 min ago, anyway im probably going to update i have a core i3 2100 so this is pretty good.
  • 7 Hide
    ojas , April 23, 2012 4:15 PM
    it's heeearrree!!!!! lol i though intel wan't launching it, been scouring the web for an hour for some mention.

    Now, time to read the review. :D 
  • -3 Hide
    zanny , April 23, 2012 4:18 PM
    It gets higher temps at lower frequencies? What the hell did Intel break?

    I really wish they would introduce a gaming platform between their stupidly overpriced x79esque server platform and the integrated graphics chips they are pushing mainstream. 50% more transistors should be 30% or so more performance or a much smaller chip, but gamers get nothing out of Ivy Bridge.
  • 5 Hide
    JAYDEEJOHN , April 23, 2012 4:23 PM
    It makes sense Intel is making this its quickest ramp ever, as they see ARM on the horizon in today's changing market.
    They're using their process to get to places they'll need to get to in the future
  • 32 Hide
    verbalizer , April 23, 2012 4:37 PM
    OK after reading most of the review and definitely studying the charts;
    I have a few things on my mind.

    1.) AMD - C'mon and get it together, you need to do better...
    2.) imagine if Intel made an i7-2660K or something like the i5-2550K they have now.
    3.) SB-E is not for gaming (too highly priced...) compared to i7 or i5 Sandy Bridge
    4.) Ivy Bridge runs hot.......
    5.) IB average 3.7% faster than i7 SB and only 16% over i5 SB = not worth it
    6.) AMD - C'mon and get it together, you need to do better...

    (moderator edit..)
  • 5 Hide
    Pezcore27 , April 23, 2012 4:45 PM
    Good review.

    To me it shows 2 main things. 1) that Ivy didn't improve on Sandy Bridge as much as Intel was hoping it would, and 2) just how far behind AMD actually is...
  • 1 Hide
    pacioli , April 23, 2012 4:45 PM
    I don't know what to say... I'm not feeling jittery about upgrading and blowing $ on a new system... That is good I guess.
    I would have liked to see a bigger jump in performance. I'm still very satisfied with the i5 2500K system I built last year... This may actually be bad for Intel as they simply didn't innovate as much as I thought they would...
  • 23 Hide
    sublime2k , April 23, 2012 4:47 PM
    Now I'm happy for buying 2500K instead of waiting for IB. :) 
  • 4 Hide
    MKBL , April 23, 2012 4:55 PM
    It has been rumored that Ivy Bridge will be more expensive than comparable Sandy Bridge because of limited launch supply for a while. Is that right that Intel really will set Ivy's price low?
  • -1 Hide
    duckwithnukes , April 23, 2012 4:58 PM
    I was more interested in the peak power consumption difference between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge while running the processors at full load. That's where the real savings in power will be attained.

    It's clear that while idling, there won't be much of a difference.

    Too bad Tomshardware dropped the ball on that one.
  • -7 Hide
    larkspur , April 23, 2012 5:01 PM
    Here is a more in-depth look at overclocking Ivy: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5763/undervolting-and-overclocking-on-ivy-bridge.
  • -6 Hide
    Pezcore27 , April 23, 2012 5:01 PM
    Quote:
    It has been rumored that Ivy Bridge will be more expensive than comparable Sandy Bridge because of limited launch supply for a while. Is that right that Intel really will set Ivy's price low?

    Ivy bridge's prices are expected to be lower than the current SB prices, yes.

    They have an expected pricing guide in the anandtech review.

    http://www.anandtech.com/show/5771/the-intel-ivy-bridge-core-i7-3770k-review/2
  • 0 Hide
    larkspur , April 23, 2012 5:05 PM
    Sry bad link, let's try again: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5763/undervolting-and-overclocking-on-ivy-bridge
  • 0 Hide
    halcyon , April 23, 2012 5:07 PM
    sublime2kNow I'm happy for buying 2500K instead of waiting for IB.

    I went with the 2500K too...but I kinda wish I'd gone with a 2700K...even if it is just for gaming. IB is beyond what I need right now...this month at least.
  • 6 Hide
    gti88 , April 23, 2012 5:10 PM
    I think, I'll upgrade my 775 to Sandy Bridge.
    I was waiting reviews just to be sure.
  • 3 Hide
    hellfire24 , April 23, 2012 5:15 PM
    it's not an 'upgrade',it's just an 'update'.
    don't regret yourself if you have a SB cpu!
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