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New kid proves itself to be the new standard bearer
For our testing, we used a Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H motherboard using the new Z77 “Panther Point” chipset. To this, we added a 3.5GHz Core i7-3770K and installed a fresh copy of 64-bit Windows 7 Professional along with 8GB of DDR3/1600, a GeForce GTX 580 card, and a 150GB Western Digital Raptor. For benchmarks, we reached for the same set of mostly CPU-dependent benchmarks that we’ve used to review the last few rounds of processors.
For direct comparisons, we decided to pit the new 3770K against the Core i7-2600K and Core i7-3820. Why not the Core i7-2700K, which is the same clock as the Core i7-2600K? First, there’s but a 100MHz difference between the Core i7-2600K and the new Core i7-3770K and both are priced the same. The Core i7-2700K has always been a bit of an odd duck part to us. You pay $25 over a 2600K and really only get 100MHz more megahertz. Why bother? Obviously, the LGA2011 Core i7-3820 can’t be tested in the same board as Core i7-3770K, so we used our old standby: the Asus P9X79 Deluxe.
For reference, we also included in our chart the performance numbers of the Core i7-3960X, AMD’s octo-core FX-8150, and the classic Corei7-990XE “Gulftown.” While the last two platforms also had to use different motherboards, we tried to normalize as much as possible by clocking the RAM the same and using the same graphics cards and drivers.
The test suite includes everything from 3D modeling tests, to video editing and video transcoding, to several synthetic benchmarks and a few gaming tests with the resolutions cranked down low enough to take the graphics card out of the equation.
While we included six-core and eight-core processors in the chart, this is really about Intel’s quads. Three scenarios come up: Do you buy a Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge for your new build? Should you upgrade from your Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge? Should you just bypass Ivy Bridge for Sandy Bridge-E or a hexa-core chip?
Click to enlarge
When we look at all three quad cores it’s clear that Ivy Bridge has a performance advantage over the Sandy Bridge part in just about every benchmark. Across the board, we generally saw from 5 to 15 percent in favor of the Ivy Bridge. In fact, the only place where Ivy Bridge was slower was in 3DMark’s GPU test and Dirt 2. Why? Frankly, we don’t know. We actually expected the scores to be fairly close, with Ivy Bridge slightly ahead of the pack, but for baffling reasons it was slower in these tests. Even more baffling, an exact duplicate of our configuration at Gigabyte HQ put the numbers where they should have been. What’s going on? We’re not sure, as we swapped every component possible in an attempt to find out where the gremlin was but could not root it out.
Despite these two anomalies, it’s pretty clear that Ivy Bridge is faster over the similarly priced Sandy Bridge part. The real shocker was its competiveness with the Core i7-3820 in some benchmarks. We thought the Core 7-3820’s base clock advantage of 200MHz and quad-channel memory would put it in front, but that wasn’t always the case. In some benchmarks, the Core i7-3770K was ahead by a small, but measurable margin of 3 to 6 percent.
One interesting benchmark to examine here is the Cinebench 10 Single Core test. That’s where we have Cinebench 10 render runs only on a single core instead of across all cores. This is probably the best indication of how efficient Ivy Bridge’s cores are against the different generations of chips here: Sandy Bridge, Westmere, and Bulldozer. It’s just no contest. Ivy Bridge’s core is about 15 percent faster than Sandy Bridge’s, 9 percent faster than Sandy Bridge-E’s, 34 percent faster than Westmere’s and an incredible 73 percent faster than Bulldozer’s here. Don’t think that gives Ivy Bridge a definitive edge over the big boys, though. Despite each core being faster, more cores still matter if your application uses them. Even the ancient Core i7-990XE has an edge over the Core i7-3770K in many of our multithreaded benchmarks. We will be honest, though—the margin isn’t as great as we would have expected.
But let’s get back to our questions: Do you buy a Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge for your new build? This one’s easy. Ivy Bridge, my friend. With the price of 2600K and 3770K exactly the same, there’s really no reason to buy a 2600K unless you’re limited by your motherboard’s support for it.
Should you upgrade from your Sandy Bridge to an Ivy Bridge? No. It would be foolish to think that just because Ivy Bridge is here your Sandy Bridge chip is a piece of junk. The only reason we could see upgrading is if you’re coming from a lower-end, limited Sandy Bridge chip or need better integrated graphics, but otherwise, Sandy Bridge has plenty of life left in it.
Should you just bypass Ivy Bridge for Sandy Bridge-E or a hexa-core chip? That question can’t be answered by us. It has to be answered by your computing needs. While we think Ivy Bridge is a hell of a chip, it’s not faster than a hexa-core, even an older one, on thread-heavy tasks like 3D rendering and modeling, video encoding, and other content creation jobs. We still recommend that if you compute for a living, using thread-heavy tasks, it’s worth the stretch for a hexa-core chip such as the Core i7-3960X or Core i7-3930K. All that aside, we think the Core i7-3770K is the new king of the midrange. Yes, it’s hard to have the same enthusiasm we had when the Core i7-2600K first arrived and wiped the floor with all other CPUs, but you shouldn’t discount Ivy Bridge. It’s fast, it’s cheap, and it’s cool. What more could you ask for?
Comments are closed on this article
kerrycarney
April 30, 2012 at 6:48pm
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aferrara50
April 28, 2012 at 8:51am
This give me great hope for Ivy Bridge Extreme come late this year or early next. Hopefully intel leaves all 8 cores functional instead of disabling two like with the 3960X
JohnP
April 27, 2012 at 4:40pm
The 1st preorders just appeared for the i7-3770K. Keep an eye out if you are in the market as I have a feeling that they are just going to evaporate off the shelves come Monday afternoon. IB and Kepler are going to hard to get for while...
Eagle70ss
April 25, 2012 at 9:23pm
Gordon,
You forgot to do a section on Intel's vampiric DRM technology(Intel Insider) built into Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge. Intel bowed down to their MAFIA(RIAA) masters and installed hardware encryption for 1080p video streams. It's basically Intel telling you what you can and can't do with your hardware when it comes to digital media. Remember, it's all for your safety.
Strhopper
April 25, 2012 at 7:20pm
I don't know if I am getting my issue late (which is a possibility)just arrived today.
But I'm a little disappointed that the non subscribers got this article before me :-(
Heh
I can't stay mad at you ;-)
stringboi
April 25, 2012 at 8:07pm
Mmmm...I noticed this happening quite often to me a while back, and is why I cancelled my sub. The magazines were just stacking up in my room, began to feel like I was wasting my money for info I once cherished. I understand they gotta make money off the ads n such, but all the good stuff was right here....often before I even got my magazine.
stringboi
April 25, 2012 at 9:17am
So, I waited to upgrade my 1366 socket when 1155, 1156 came out....thinking that by the time I did, a new one would be on its way leaving me in the dust. My 1366 still seems pretty fast to me...maybe because I have nothing to compare it to. Is it time to upgrade to IB or do you think this will just be here long enough to hang on to the socket another year or so before 2011 totally takes over, or even something newer?
gordonung
April 25, 2012 at 9:42pm
You didn't say what CPU you're running and at what clock (Bloomfield/Gulftown?) I'm typing this on my ancient LGA1366 box at home right now but I am in need of an over haul. Moving to something new: LGA1155/2011 gives you two SATA 6 speeds if you run a modern SSD and also very high Turbo Boost overclocks if you're not an overclocking kind of person. So IVB is very fast, very affordable and can be an actually nice performance boost over LGA1366 (depending on what you are running.) The only problem with IVB and LGA1155 is if you want to run Haswell. Haswell will bring a new socket and IVB will be the last chip the socket sees. So, if you're the kind of person who likes to run a motheboard into the ground with chip upgrades, LGA2011 has longer legs.
RosEaten
April 25, 2012 at 9:02am
I want to know if Ivy Bridge will play nice with discrete GPU's. If both Ivy Bridge and a discrete GPU are installed, will Ivy Bridge enhance the performance of a discrete card by sharing the graphics load?
Strhopper
April 25, 2012 at 7:23pm
I would say no. I don't think these work the same as AMD's APUs. Since crossfire is a AMD thing. So no a discrete card will handle the whole load. Unless it's a laptop using Nividias (don't remember name) tech which switches off discrete card under low load
gordonung
April 27, 2012 at 10:16am
Correct. Ivy Bridge does not support any type of Hybrid CrossFireX support that AMD has on its parts. Generally AMD has better 3D support, slower x86 cores, Intel has better x86 (and also encoding using QuickSync) but somewhat worse graphics. Optimus does work with Ivy Bridge. There is also Virtu on most higher end boards which lets you run integrated graphics and discrete graphics.
THE_REAL_MAVERICK
April 25, 2012 at 8:41am
I find it harder and harder to justify an upgrade for a CPU. With a core i7 870 in a 1156 socket there is little to no benefit to upgrading, especially when you consider the costs. New mobo, new CPU... Just can't justify the cost. Plus, I don't rely on CPU much as I mostly play games like BF3. New cpu aint gonna help that much. Plus just upgrading a GPU gives me more FPS and is just one part.
aferrara50
April 28, 2012 at 8:54am
new cpus actually help quite a bit, especially with rather taxing games, but that really only applies if your cpu has created a bottleneck for the gpus. Going from a 920 to a 3960x I saw a 25% graphics performance increase in benchmarks, like vantage and 3dmark 11, and a ~15% increase seemingly across the board in games.
Vano
April 26, 2012 at 4:36am
I also thought the same before upgraded to 2600K. I now have to turn on heater at winter time...
Maggard
April 24, 2012 at 9:52pm
My only question is it finally worth it to upgrade from an i7-920 @ 3.8GHz or should I still wait for another leap?
aferrara50
April 28, 2012 at 8:55am
wait for Ivy Bridge Extreme. The 6 and 8 core processors will be very tempting.
punditguy
April 25, 2012 at 5:12am
I've got an i7-920 @ 3.6 and it's finally starting to feel a little long in the tooth when doing Handbrake encodes. I think I'll skip this tick and wait for the next tock, though.
EthicSlave
April 24, 2012 at 11:45pm
imho wait for tock maggard, this is tick or tick+ some say
wait for tock
TechGoudy
April 24, 2012 at 3:55pm
IB isn't a bad platform. I believe once they release updated graphics drivers for it, it will become an outstanding platform for integrated graphics.
As for the processing power, the 5-15% gains are not worth it in my opinion. So I agree with this article.
New PC Builds should go with IB instead of SB since their isn't a huge difference at all in the price and the performance is notable
Deciding on whether or not to upgrade from SB to IB? Not worth it at the moment.
Perhaps the next launch of 4th Gen Core iX Processors will give us a bigger leap in graphical and computational processing power.
PhuxAche
April 24, 2012 at 3:06pm
I just wish x86 or 32Bit - what ever you want to call it - would kindly fcuk off once and for all!
Dxcv
April 24, 2012 at 1:36pm
So, if I am building a new Ivy Bridge rig should I add the 3770k or the 3570k? In most benchmarks they look to be almost the same. (I know one has more L3 cache and is hyper threaded, but it makes me question if I need to drop the extra cash)
gordonung
April 24, 2012 at 3:39pm
That's a good question. We only had the 3770K to play with, not the 3570K. I suspect, however, that the info provided by Intel had a typo which we have since continued with. The Core i5-3570K likely is the equivalent of the famous Core i5-2500K/2550K part and does NOT have Hyper-Threading. If you are building a gaming machine the extra $100 is better spent on a fatter GPU. If you are building a general purpose machine and WILL do anything that needs the extra threads, Hyper-Threading is generally well worth it. For example, a Core i7-2600K with HT will often come very close to a Core i5-2500K in multi-threaded tasks even if the 2500K has a 800MHz-900MHz advantage. Since most games are still optimized for two or four cores, you won't see it, but if you do Handbrake encodes or RAW conversion or 3D modelling, HT is worth it. So base your choice on what your needs are.
Dxcv
April 24, 2012 at 4:43pm
Thanks Gordon! I probably don't need the HT then. I rarely use handbrake, so the i5 should do just fine. Do you guys have a recommendation on a mobo? I was looking at the ASUS Maximus V Formula board, but would one of their other boards be better?
AdeptHavok
April 24, 2012 at 12:28pm
I was kind of hoping for a comparison to one of AMD's APU offerings. The way I see it, AMD beats Intel in graphics, but Intel beats AMD in processing power. If either one of the companies catches up to to other on either one of these fronts, we've got a killer processor on our hands.
acidic
April 24, 2012 at 12:30pm
http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i7-3770k-and-3750-review-with-z77/23
praetor_alpha
April 24, 2012 at 12:22pm
"Fortunately, that isn’t the case, which you can see in our chip showdown on page 41."
"Detailed info about Ivy Bridge’s graphics capabilities is on page 38..."
Ugh. MaxPC editing has reached new lows. This is the raw print version, for the unenlightened.
JohnP
April 24, 2012 at 4:50pm
Oh great! Here is a magazine that I pay for giving out the review online BEFORE I get the print copy. So when I get the print copy, I have already read the damn thing.
Actually, it isn't so bad as I hate looking at charts and block diagrams on a web page. Also NOT to have a IB review up on launch day was bad enough, one day behind is so-so, no review while waiting for the magazine to get into subscribers hands is not good at all.
After having read oh, 20 or so reviews in the past 24 hours, its hard to see anything new here. Nothing at all about how well it o/cs either, which most articles had in abundance.
fearsythe
April 25, 2012 at 5:45am
You have a serious problem if you've read 20 reviews for the same product. I understand being thorough but that is an obsession. Especially since you were going to by it regardless of what you read.
JohnP
April 25, 2012 at 10:43am
LOL! I agree. I need to check into the Betty Ford Center for Ivy Bridge addiction. Actually, I do that with pretty much ANY major CPU or GPU releases. I did it for GTX580, AMD Bulldozer (I was rooting for it too, dammit), The 7970, GTX 680, etc. Only takes 3-4 hours to read through the reviews and I have the time.
However, with IB, I will be buying 3 of them in a few days and I am getting nervous about spending $1K on CPU chips. The same with the mobos (ASUS Z77 Deluxe). I have my fingers crossed that everything goes OK.
alexw1234
April 25, 2012 at 8:45pm
3 of these things?! Damn, I wish I had the money to upgrade all my rigs with one of these. My HTPC is still using an Athlon II x2.
mellamojay
April 24, 2012 at 1:03pm
Right, they should totally rewrite a review that they have had done for weeks to be specific to the web. I know it is so totally difficult for you to follow with those blaring errors. Come on dude. they are a PRINT magazine by nature and have created the website to satisfy the instant gratification we want. This is by no means "reach(ing) new lows." Until you are paying for a subscription to the web articles you should be happy with what you are getting for FREE that print subscribers are paying for. Also, quit being such a pretentious prick.
Or in terms you can understand.... QQ Moar.
praetor_alpha
April 24, 2012 at 2:27pm
Hmm, it seems that I was far too sarcastic, and broke your sarcasm detector.
Papaspud
April 24, 2012 at 11:55am
Not sure why IB was supposedly released yesterday, but is not available to purchase. If intel wasn't going to release to the consumer market until next week, that is when they should have "released" them..... can you say paper launch at this point???
Modred189
April 24, 2012 at 11:36am
I'm not sure if I am supposed to feel disappointed...
I mean, SB was such a phenomenal chip series, and IB is no slouch. It's still, in absolute terms, a fantastic platform, but I can't help but feel underwhelmed by the TOCK, in Intel's Tick-Tock system. I KNOW it's better by a little, but it just doesn't FEEL all that much better.I will be sticking with my 2500k for now, and for the foreseeable future most likely.
JohnP
April 24, 2012 at 4:52pm
Yeah, it is kind of a letdown. But I still will have that new chip flutters when it comes in the door next week (if I can get my hands on one that is).
tekknyne
April 24, 2012 at 1:30pm
Same here -- the power savings would be cool, but it would likely take 20 years to realize enough power savings to offset buying a $200 chip just for that. PASS
Vecna6667
April 24, 2012 at 1:20pm
Ivy Bridge is not is a tock in the cycle. It is a die shrink of Sandy Bridge and thus a tick. That is how Intel cadence works. The tick plus as Intel is refering to Ivy Bridge as comes from the graphics performance increase. It be fairer to wait for Haswell before making Sandy Bridge comparisons cause that will be a whole new microarchitecture. I do see the 2500k being like the Q6600 and lasting for a few years.
