Intel Haswell CPUs One Step Closer To The Grave

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With the release of Intel's Skylake processors, it was only a matter of time before Haswell would be at its end. Now, not only have Skylake CPUs become more readily available, but their prices are relatively low, and some of the Haswell SKUs look to be selling out.

To date, Intel has managed to get six of its desktop Skylake processors out to retailers. Although the enthusiast K-series processors are priced a little above their Haswell counterparts, the other Skylake processors are highly competitive against Haswell in terms of price, too. Right now, Newegg is running a sale on the Intel Core i5-6500 3.2 GHz Skylake processor, giving it an end price of $194.99. The Haswell equivalent with the same clock speed, cache and a much higher TDP, the Core i5-4570, sells for $199.99, making the i5-6500 an obvious choice between the two.

There is also the Intel Skylake Core i5-6400 priced at $189.99, just $5 above the cheapest Haswell Core i5 processor. Although the i5-6400 is clocked 300 MHz below the Haswell CPU, its much lower TDP, higher IPC and improved GPU make it a tempting alternative to Haswell.

The situation gets even worse for Haswell when you notice that some SKUs have sold out and likely won't be restocked. It is a common practice for Intel to shift production away from older CPUs after its latest generation of processors have arrived. Intel does this slowly to allow for its stock of the new CPUs to build up but ultimately ceases production entirely of the older processors.

Currently, two of the Haswell Core i5 CPUs, the i5-4440 and i5-4590, are showing as sold out, but they are likely just the first of many. If you are considering a Haswell-based system or a CPU upgrade to your current system, you should probably move to buy the processor sooner rather than later or prepare to do a full system upgrade to Skylake.

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Michael Justin Allen Sexton (or MJ) is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware. As a tech enthusiast, MJ enjoys studying and writing about all areas of tech, but specializes in the study of chipsets and microprocessors. In his personal life, MJ spends most of his time gaming, practicing martial arts, studying history, and tinkering with electronics.

Follow Michael Justin Allen Sexton @EmperorSunLao. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.

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Michael Justin Allen Sexton
Michael Justin Allen Sexton is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He covers hardware component news, specializing in CPUs and motherboards.
54 Comments Comment from the forums
  • firefoxx04
    Pointless article for more add revenue? Obviously Haswell goes away when Skylake comes to the table. Does that not make logical sense for most people? Does anyone actually care that Haswell is being phased out? Nobody loses here.

    Toms has already covered Skylake pretty well, this article really serves no purpose.
    Reply
  • bluestar2k11
    So basically skylakes in, haswells out.
    Not exactly news, unless their phasing out the haswell E's, their hexa/octa core chips. Which I don't think skylake has any yet, last I looked they were all quads and dual cores.

    But fair news to tell everyone.
    After all, if a chip dies, it's cheaper to just replace it, rather then then replace half the system, so for those with haswell sockets, this could be important news to know and be on the look out.
    Reply
  • IInuyasha74
    16880977 said:
    Pointless article for more add revenue? Obviously Haswell goes away when Skylake comes to the table. Does that not make logical sense for most people? Does anyone actually care that Haswell is being phased out? Nobody loses here.

    Toms has already covered Skylake pretty well, this article really serves no purpose.

    First, have you some how missed that Intel has had a supply issue getting these processors out the door? Apparently so, as there have been TONS of users ask when they would be more readily available. Intel stated later this year, and this article points out that is starting to happen.

    Not to mention that it is normal for the next generation of processors to cost a bit more than the out-going ones. The fact you can now buy a more advanced Skylake part for less than the older Haswell part is quite significant. A lot of people are still building Haswell systems, or might have older Haswell systems and waiting to upgrade, and I'm sure that they care to know Haswell is edging closer to being discontinued. Everyone knows it is going to happen at some point, it's knowing when it happens that is important. To ignore the removal of hardware from the market is foolish.
    Reply
  • nycalex
    they gotta stop changing the darn SOCKETS. really no big reason to change from 1156 to 1155, 1150, and now 1151.

    dirty way to get the consumer to swap out motherboards..........

    still on my 1155 i5 2500k. got it almost 4 years ago and it's still going very strong. i normally build new systems entirely every 2.5 years, but i don't see any major improvements on Intel chips for the past 4 years.

    we need AMD to get their sh!t together and give intel some competition
    Reply
  • warezme
    Still rocking OC'ed i7 920 Bloomfield. She just won't die.
    Reply
  • littleleo
    Some readers may find the article useful and it re-enforces what resellers have been telling them. What is pointless are posters attacking the article and the ironic thing is their posting is pointless and useless as they complain about the article being.
    Reply
  • SchizoFrog
    My main issue with this article is the statement that Skylake is good value. Prices have been driven up and up due to the lack of stock. In the UK the i5-4690K is £165 while the Skylake 'K' version is £225. The same goes for the i7 as the i7-4790 is currently £245 while the Skylake counterpart is a staggering £360. This trend continues across the board apart from the odd exceptions.

    So I ask, how the hell are Skylake processors prices 'relatively low'?
    Reply
  • logainofhades
    A part of me wants a skylake build, because of the lower power consumption, and improved IPC. I want to go mini-itx, and decent, Z77, mini-itx boards are practically impossible to find. Hopefully the skylake E3's will be out, by the time I am ready. I want i7 performance, for folding, but don't want to pay the high price.
    Reply
  • logainofhades
    16881631 said:
    My main issue with this article is the statement that Skylake is good value. Prices have been driven up and up due to the lack of stock. In the UK the i5-4690K is £165 while the Skylake 'K' version is £225. The same goes for the i7 as the i7-4790 is currently £245 while the Skylake counterpart is a staggering £360. This trend continues across the board apart from the odd exceptions.

    So I ask, how the hell are Skylake processors prices 'relatively low'?

    Did you even read the article? The K series chips are the exception, and they were talking US pricing.
    Reply
  • Sparktown
    But still Tom's Hardware's "Best Gaming CPUs" recommendation list doesn't actually include any Skylake recommendations and hasn't been updated since June. Soon the list will be recommending CPUs that people can't even get. At least please update recommendations for Skylake i5s.
    Reply