The Intel Broadwell Review Part 2: Overclocking, IPC and Generational Analysis
by Ian Cutress on August 3, 2015 8:00 AM ESTProfessional Performance: Windows
Agisoft Photoscan – 2D to 3D Image Manipulation: link
Agisoft Photoscan creates 3D models from 2D images, a process which is very computationally expensive. The algorithm is split into four distinct phases, and different phases of the model reconstruction require either fast memory, fast IPC, more cores, or even OpenCL compute devices to hand. Agisoft supplied us with a special version of the software to script the process, where we take 50 images of a stately home and convert it into a medium quality model. This benchmark typically takes around 15-20 minutes on a high end PC on the CPU alone, with GPUs reducing the time.
Cinebench R15
Cinebench is a benchmark based around Cinema 4D, and is fairly well known among enthusiasts for stressing the CPU for a provided workload. Results are given as a score, where higher is better.
HandBrake v0.9.9: link
For HandBrake, we take two videos (a 2h20 640x266 DVD rip and a 10min double UHD 3840x4320 animation short) and convert them to x264 format in an MP4 container. Results are given in terms of the frames per second processed, and HandBrake uses as many threads as possible.
Hybrid x265
Hybrid is a new benchmark, where we take a 4K 1500 frame video and convert it into an x265 format without audio. Results are given in frames per second.
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bernstein - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
personally i'd be very interested what intel could do if it would push it's tdp to GPU levels (200-300W) and use that thermal headroom for added GPU EUs.possibly as a "dual die on one interposer" solution, to keep costs down
darckhart - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
It looks like if you didn't upgrade before, may as well keep waiting. I'm on X58 with a X5650 and it looks like Skylake-E is the best bet for consideration.FlanK3r - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
Nice review Ian :)TallestJon96 - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
Not very compelling. All skylake needs to do is be indisputably the fastest, even if only by 10%, and it will seem like a huge upgrade.edlee - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
yes, anyone with sandy bridge and ivy bridge i5 and i7 already knows not to upgrade cpu anymore.I don't replace SB or IVY, I only add systems for different locations.
The only thing I care about now is GPU improvements, and with DX12 we should see less cpu constraints.
MattVincent - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
Nice Ian, Anyway we can get you to test the tdp down configuration? Intel states 37w can be achieved at 2.2ghz. As one that is looking this for an htpc processor upgrade the cpu performance is overkill for me, what Im interested in is the integrated graphics.Stuka87 - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
Well, glad I went with a Devils Canyon haswell instead of waiting for Broadwell to launch this past spring.Welsh_Jester - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
IPC is getting meaningless, I only upgraded to x99 a few months ago because I knew waiting wouldn't be worth it. And from what I've seen of Skylake and Broadwell, they're not worth the wait. Skylake wasn't even fairly benched in those leaked slides, so it had a 900mhz advantage over the 5820K. Clock both to 4ghz and I bet the Skylake chips are less than 10% faster overall.Imo 5820k is the best bet, 2 more cores where it matters and even DX12 may take advantage of them. Yes people are obviously going to go Broadwell or Skylake just for the IPC increase even if it is a very small increase, or people just want it literally for e-peen benchmarks where you wouldn't even see the difference in real life use.
Welsh_Jester - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
Also to add to this, I upgraded from x58 and it was completely worth it, over 40% faster in IPC terms.. Plus the new tech of the mobo, SATA 3, much faster bootup and UEFI bios. The stuff coming in Skylake-e will have all the same and is still a ways off, only a small IPC increase difference.Dribble - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
But so expensive, it's not just the cpu but a decent motherboard is easily twice the price of a non X99 one, and you really want quad channel DDR4 which also costs a lot.