Our structure in the Skylake processor test.
New graphics cores: Intel's HD 500 series
Intel Core i7 6700K in the test: Under the sounding code name Skylake, Intel in the beginning of September 23 desktop processors of the sixth core generation and the platform of the same name officially pile. In issue 10/2015 of the PC magazine, we discussed the important process details and the currently only chipset for the Skylake CPUs: the Intel Z170. Before we get down to the tests, we'll give you a brief summary of the main Skylake properties.
Easy: Play four 4K videos in parallel
Intel's sixth-generation core processors (Core ix-6xxx), like the fifth in 14-nanometer technology, use a new architecture and a new socket (socket 1151). A mainboard change is therefore essential for a Skylake system. Currently, there are only mainboards with the Z170 chipset. During the year, Skylake processors with more than four cores will be used alongside other Skylake compatible chipsets. Currently available are the quad core i5-6600K (3.5 GHz, turbo boost up to 3.9 GHz) and Core i7 6700K (4 GHz, turbo boost 4.2 GHz)
Benchmarks: Very good figure-eater, extremely high memory throughput
Like all core processors of the sixth generation, they support both DDR3 and DDR4 memory (up to 3,600 MHz) and are connected to the rest of the system via PCI Express 3.0. Compared to its predecessor Z97, Intel has expanded the Z170 chipset: 20 PCI-3.0 lanes each allow a bandwidth of 8 GBit / s. Three m.2 and six SATA III ports are available for internal mass storage. There are plenty of external interfaces: 10 times USB 3.0, 14 times USB 2.0, Gigabit LAN as well as Alpine Ridge chip USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3.
Sufficient Skylake: Lower Energy Consumption
In the Skylake CPUs, Intel is installing the graphics cores of the new HD 500 series. Internally, Intel designates the expansion stages with GT1, GT2, GT3 (e) and the top version with GT4 (e). In official data sheets, you will find them as HD 510, 515, 520 and 530 as well as the top models IrisGraphics 540 and 550. The GT4e will probably debut only in a few Skylake high-end models as Iris Graphics Pro 580. Compared to the predecessors in the fifth core generation (Broadwell), the number of execution units (EU) and the clock rates hardly changed. The HD 510 expects 12 EUs (300-950 MHz), the HD 515 to HD 530 with 24 EUs (300-1,150 MHZ) and the IRGraphics 540 and 550 with 48 EUs (300-1,100 MHz) Br>
Lesetipp: Intel releases Skylake CPUs
The HD 550 (GT3e) accelerates Intel even with 64 MB and the GT4e with 128 MB of eDRAM cache. In addition, the GT4e has much more execution units with 72 EUs than any other Intel GPU. Because the performance of an integrated graphics, but also the CPU and the memory used (DDR3 / DDR4) influence, the Skylake GPUs in the direct comparison with the Broadwell graphics are something, the GT4e even noticeably faster.
Apart from that, the HD-500 series in the Skylake CPUs brings new and improved features. Important for gamers and Windows 10 owners: The Skylake GPUs are DirectX 12 compatible (feature level 12_1) and can work with a discrete DirectX 12 graphics card (DirectX 12 Multiadapter) under Windows 10 - SLI mode. Intel also opted to build the graphics cache. If you like to watch high-resolution movies on your PC or notebook, you will be happy with the support of the video codec H.265 (HEVC) in hardware and 4K support.
Lesetipp: Intel or AMD - CPU purchase advice
According to Intel, the simultaneous playback of four 4K videos weighs the Skylake processor at only 20 percent. This is pure theory, however, because the HD 500 series supports parallel "only" three 4K displays with 60 Hz via the DisplayPort or a DisplayPort-HDMI 2.0 converter. In lower resolution, you can send videos wirelessly via Miracast and Intel WiDi to displays.
For our Skylake test, we use the Asus motherboard Z170 Gaming Pro as the basis, in the socket 1151 of which we put an Intel Core i7 6700K (4 GHz, turbo boost up to 4.2 GHz). The high-performance Thermaltake Frio Extreme Silent 14 Dual was used for cooling. The memory system consisted of a 16-gigabyte kit PNY Anarchy X DDR4 (2.800 MHz) and the Plextor SSD M6 Pro with 256 GB of storage space. The graphics processing took over either the integrated Intel HD 530, the Asus STRIX-R9390 (8 GB) or the MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G (4 GB). All the benchmarks ran in full-HD (1,980 x 1,020 pixels) under Windows 10 Pro (64-bit).
Although the Intel HD 530 is only the average version of the new graphics series, it is quite good: 9,607 points in the 3DMark Cloudgate and 1,117 points in the demanding 3DMark Firestrike show that the 3D performance is easy for older games and current browsergames. Much better than the GT2 in the Broadwell processors, however, it is not. We see a similar picture when combining the Core i7 6700K with the Radeon R9 390 from Asus or the GeForce GTX 980 from MSI. The results in the 3DMark are very high, but in our experience they are similar to a comparable system with a Broadwell CPU. Thanks to the DDR4 memory interface, the memory space of AIDA 64 shows extremely high data rates of about 39.2 GB / s while reading and 42.4 GB / s when writing.
Those who work with memory-intensive applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, or databases will benefit from this extremely high memory performance. For comparison: A system with a Core i7 of the fourth (Haswell) or fifth generation (Broadwell) and standard DDR3-1600-RAM is in this test well a third slower than the Intel Core i7 6700K. In order to test his abilities as a numerator, we used the video transcoder handbrake in the first pass. The Skylake CPU transcoded a 600 MByte 4K video (MKV) once with the Android-Tablet-Preset (720p) and a second time with the high-profile preset set to Full-HD in MP4 format
Intel Core i7 6700K to 4.8 GHz overclocked
The first task was done by the processor on average with 51 fps, the more demanding second task with 22.1 fps. Both results are impressive and our experience is significantly higher than Intel's older Quadcore CPUs. In the CPU benchmark of the Cinebench R15, the Intel Core i7 6700K scores 847 points and the OpenGL test 54.53 fps. With both of these results, he should pass a four-core Core i7 of the fifth generation.
Apart from the performance measurements, the values for the energy consumption and the operating temperature were also very good. With Minimallast and integrated GPU, the Skylake test system consumed only 30 watts. Full load only 56 watts. For a high-end system this is quite little. One reason for this efficient handling of the energy is the optimized power management. It now allows extremely fast transitions from the active state of the processor to one of the finely graduated current saving modes. Broadwell processors require only 30 milliseconds for these changes, which occur several times per second. Skylake CPUs, however, shorten it to a millisecond.
Conclusion
All core processors with a K-suffix are officially released by Intel for overclocking. Following the invitation, we ventured an over-temptation attempt with air cooling. The Giant Thermaltake Frio Extreme Silent 14 Dual (two 14 cm fans and 2 x 6 heatpipes) used for cooling was always in turbo mode, but more than a quiet noise was never heard. The UEFI user interface of the Asus Z170 Gaming Pro offers a lot of settings for overclockers. We have only changed the multiplier and the core voltage (Vcore) for the fast overclocking attempt. The base clock was at 100 MHz. With a core voltage of 1.35 volts and a 45 multiplier, the Core i7 6700K reached a maximum clock speed of 4.5 GHz (45 x 100 MHz base clock). He was never hotter than 65 ° C under full load.
It was different with the highest stable clock rate. At 1,485 volts (Vcore), a 48 multiplier and thus 4.8 GHz maximum clock, the temperatures at full load were in the dark yellow range: up to 92 ° Celsius. Power consumption also rose by as much as 33 percent: 39 watts with minimum load and 75 watts under full load. On the other hand, an increase of 800 MHz or 20 percent is the standard clock.
Lesetipp: Übertakten - the most important tools
The benchmark results in the overclocked state (4.8 GHz), however, are growing through. In the PCMark 8, leaner six percent and in the 3DMark Cloudgate jump around nine percent more power out. Users who use the Skylake CPU for video coding and rendering have a great advantage. For handbrake, we measure a performance boost of up to 18 percent and Cinebench R15 (CPU) even 23 percent.
Our tests show that Intel is in the right direction with the sixth core generation: More power with lower power consumption, 4K and DDR4 support are tempting reasons for changing to a Skylake system. Despite all the improvements, this is only worthwhile in two scenarios. Either you own a PC with an older CPU (fourth core generation and earlier), or you work with very memory-intensive applications. If a fifth generation (Broadwell) processor is present in your PC, you should consider the purchase of a Skylake system well. In this case, you only "feel" something from the investment when you switch to a higher processor class at the same time, for example, from a Core i3 to an i5.
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