Intel DZ77GA-70K and Core i7-3770K Review
Introduction
Published: 23rd April 2012 | Source: Intel | Price: |
Introduction
We had a look at a few of the features of the latest Z77 motherboards in our recent review of the ASUS P8-Z77V Pro. However, because we didn't have the 3rd Generation of Intel CPUs to hand it was more of a look as an upgrade. Today we're finally putting it all together in a review of the Ivy Bridge CPU on a Panther Point motherboard. As usual with new CPU releases we'll be looking at the stock performance on the Intel motherboard, and then taking our overclocking on with a third-party motherboard.
Those of you who follow the Intel release methodology will know that today's release is the Tick part of their Tick/Tock strategy, and that means the introduction of 22nm Process Technology. It was only 5 years ago that we first saw glimpses of the 45nm CPUs which were released in 2008 and only a couple of years ago we were graced with the Westmere 32nm CPUs. It's difficult to not be impressed at the amazing commitment to ensuring Moore's Law remains accurate. Although given that even Intel believe 16nm will be the limit of the possible die shrinking with current technology, this might be the penultimate Tick in the Intel release schedule. At least until we're having computers implanted in our heads.
So what's the big change between Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge?
Obviously the biggest change comes courtesy of the move from 32nm to 22nm, and that's energy efficiency and low power consumption. The major push with nearly all current hardware is more power, but in a manner than doesn't strip the planet of its resources in a heartbeat. It might seem one of those things whereby a small improvement can't really have an effect, but when you multiply the amount of CPUs currently working, if you can take away even 1 watt per hour you're saving an enormous amount.
The next big addition is the move from an HD3000 iGPU to the latest HD4000, which potentially has twice the performance of the integrated graphics currently residing on Sandy Bridge CPUs. We will be taking a look at that performance claim in another review, but for now the support for Direct X 11, an extra independent display (three instead of the two on the HD3000) and an upgrade from OpenGL 3.0 to OpenGL 3.1 should be plenty to whet the appetite of the casual gaming/on a budget crowd.
For us there is one main point of interest though, and that's the new overclocking options that we have with the 3rd Generation CPUs. Although it's only the extreme high-end that has more headroom, somewhere we'll never push to on air, the extra memory overclocking options and the theoretically lower voltage necessary for our normal "just under 5GHz" overclocking should at least bring some smiles to the party.
Remember when 1600MHz was quick and 2133MHz was blazing? Of course we'll be seeing what we can squeeze out in our overclocked tests, but for now let's move on to take a look at what is on offer in part one of our Z77/i7-3770K review.
Most Recent Comments
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Originally Posted by Ghosthud1
hell yes |
Happy to see it is indeed more power efficient ^^I will just sort my cooling out for my current 2700K and see what speed I can get at decent temps and voltages.
Might be worth keeping my eye out for the next revision if they do one that oc's better with better temps for the voltages.
I'm still on 1366. I'd only use MSI OC Genie to Overclock. For my upgrade, 2600K or 3770K? I can afford any of them.
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Originally Posted by PetrolHead247
Some of the new boards look sweet, but the IB chips are just slightly more efficient SB chips which don't OC as well. To the couple people above me saying they're going to upgrade from SB to IB i say do NOT do it. There's no performance gains upgrading from SB to IB apart from the fact you can run memory much faster. Watch Tom's video review on it, he covers it all perfectly. The only time i'd upgrade from SB to IB is if i had a locked chip on a H67 chipset and wanted to get an unlocked IB chip with a Z77 board |
I need to buy a new board and cpu. I understand that in this case I should get the ivy bridge cpu with a z77 board however they have sales on now for the 2600k or 2700k cpu. Would it be better to get the older chip with the z77 board or go with the Ivy bridge 3770k cput?
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Originally Posted by Night Crawler
Okay say and read the review however question for you. I need to buy a new board and cpu. I understand that in this case I should get the ivy bridge cpu with a z77 board however they have sales on now for the 2600k or 2700k cpu. Would it be better to get the older chip with the z77 board or go with the Ivy bridge 3770k cput? |
The z77 boards look nice though, they are a refinement of the 68s but again, not worth upgrading from 68s.
I totally agree with TTL, if you have SB/z68 stick with it, if you haven't then go IB/z77 unless the prices are more than about 15% greater in which case grab an SB/68 setup.
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Originally Posted by Master&Puppet
Well there we are, it's pretty meh really (kind of as we expected). I can't see a reason to upgrade from SB cpu to IB unless you are running 2x pcie3 cards, in which case you might actually use the extra bandwidth. You never will with one card. The z77 boards look nice though, they are a refinement of the 68s but again, not worth upgrading from 68s. I totally agree with TTL, if you have SB/z68 stick with it, if you haven't then go IB/x77 unless the prices are more than about 15% greater in which case grab an SB/68 setup. |
Aria are doing the 2600k for 209 at the mo,will be interesting in the least to see the price on Ivy,because unless I am missing a big something here,its a hard thing to justify going the extra.(those temps still have me worried,and yes I know its not the same thing,but they are still too high for me)
i´m still on 775
!would you recon a 3930k is better than a 3770k?
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Originally Posted by CPMFW
not what i expected... i´m still on 775 !would you recon a 3930k is better than a 3770k? |
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Originally Posted by Legacy-ZA
I was expecting way more from the Ivy Bridge processors. I don't notice any overclocking results, are they yet to come? |
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Originally Posted by yassarikhan786
Fantastic review as always Bryan No doubt the 3930k is better. You have to remember the 3770k is not competing with the 3930k so you can't really compare the two. The 3930k wins hands down and given the price difference (once we know IB prices) it would have to |
cheers mate!
i watched toms 2011 reviews again and the 3930k scores where higher then the 3770k ones!
are there different steppings or revisions for the 3930k?
thanks again
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Originally Posted by CPMFW
thanks for the quick response! cheers mate! i watched toms 2011 reviews again and the 3930k scores where higher then the 3770k ones! are there different steppings or revisions for the 3930k? thanks again |
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Originally Posted by yassarikhan786
There is a C2 stepping, which has some improvements (not exactly sure what's changed though). |
But i think we should reserve that gold sticker for when we get OCing results. I have seen a lot of other reviews where this chip gets VERY toasty when you put it past stock. It looks like they used TIM paste instead of fluxless solder between IHS and CPU die = 80's @ 4.6 while under water ( opposed to 50's/60's for a 2600k)
For an unlocked chip designed for OCing the temps have actually made this chip unappealing as an upgrade. People might as well pick up a 2600k cheap when the prices drop and they could get a higher clock = the same speeds over all. This is an enthusiast chip after all
Anyone who wants to upgrade should wait for another revision/ until they sort out the heat issues
SB is still an awesome processor hands down.
and only times will tell which is better. cause after watching Tom's review of the 3770k. im not so sure about the 3rd Gen.
Great review Bryan.
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Originally Posted by shortstrawfate
I don't like to be pedantic, because the general point is a good one... but the measure of Watts is already a rate (a measure of energy used per second), so saving "1 watt per hour" doesn't make sense. You're just saving one Watt. |
I know where you're coming from, but there are lots of people who don't know that - lots of people who find 'watts per hour' easier to understand.
And anyway, what about kWh?
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