The Core i7-4770K Review: Haswell Is Faster; Desktop Enthusiasts Yawn

By Chris Angelini
published

Intel's Haswell architecture is finally available in the flagship Core i7-4770K processor. Designed to drop into an LGA 1150 interface, does this new quad-core CPU warrant a complete platform replacement, or is your older Sandy Bridge-E system better?

HD Graphics 4600: BioShock Infinite

AMD gets the advantage again in BioShock Infinite. Only 1280x720 is playable at this title’s Low quality preset, and we see a nice progression down from Trinity to Haswell to Ivy Bridge to Sandy Bridge. Core i7-4770K does a respectable job narrowing the gap, but Intel just isn’t there yet.

A10-5800K dips under 40 FPS a few times, but manages a nice smooth run through BioShock’s built-in benchmark utility. In comparison, the Core i7-4770K flirts with 30 FPS on and off.

The fastest contender, AMD’s A10-5800K, dips under 20 FPS at 1080p. Everything else is slower than that, rendering this setting mostly unplayable.

Trinity and Haswell both deliver fairly even pacing through this test, though A10-5800K turns in notably better numbers.

The A10 doesn’t achieve great frame rates, but AMD manages to maintain consistent frame delivery using its Catalyst 13.6 Beta driver.

Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
431 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Novuake
    WELL FINALLY!! Now to read it!

    EDIT : LOL!!!!
    http://bupp-portal.com/pictures/fp.jpg
    Reply
  • thiemo56
    Dissapointing, not worth it to upgrade over sandy or ivy bridge.
    Reply
  • thiemo56
    And they overclock so low.
    Reply
  • Danny N
    Biggest question is if its worth upgrading my cpu i5 750 4.0ghz to Haswell or my gfx card ati 5870 to nvidia 7xx, my main pc use is for Maya, After FX and some fps gaming. Any input would be appriciated cause I'm leaning towards a cpu upgrade atm.
    Reply
  • swampfire
    whats scoket is it like lg1155
    Reply
  • refillable
    @Danny N
    You shouldn't ask here. Perhaps you should get an i7-4770k and a 7970(?) I heard that kepler cards does not perform that good in Maya and Aftereffects (In OpenCL).
    Reply
  • refillable
    Well unless you can get a 780, that's a whole different story.
    Reply
  • bergami
    I want to know more about Iris
    Reply
  • envy14tpe
    Seriously. What did people expect? Of course it's better but nothing out of the ordinary for Intel.
    Reply
  • enewmen
    For me it's not about the 10% gain over SB. It's more like a huge gain over a C2Q, floating point performance over SB (should matter later), and lower watts. I hope THG can expand the Power Consumption and Media Encoding later - check the Watts idle more and fast quick-sync media encoding quality loss. My 2 cents..

    EDIT:
    other sites have reported much lower watts idle, so a lot doesn't make sense or the 4770k has a very slow throttle.
    http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/56005-intel-core-i7-4770k-22nm-haswell/?page=15
    http://www.techspot.com/review/679-intel-haswell-core-i7-4770k/page13.html
    Reply