I7 4th Gen Vs 8th Gen
Guess What?After wading through that heap of results, what's the verdict? In short, no, for gamers it's not worth upgrading from a fourth-gen Core i7 processor to the latest and greatest six-core, eighth-gen Core i7s. We're not seeing scenarios where a quad-core with Hyper-Threading can't deliver playable performance, in fact we're not even seeing scenarios where it's on the edge.Benchmarking was mostly conducted with the, which is currently the world's fastest gaming GPU. We tested titles 1080p and for the most part we weren't maxing out the visual quality settings, so in our opinion these results really show a realistic worst case - worst case would be a lower resolution with lower quality settings.So let's talk realistic settings with a GTX 1080 Ti.
Ashes of the Singularity is a good example for this because it fully utilizes six-core/12-thread processors and here the was quite a bit faster than the, even with the old fourth-gen Core i7 overclocked. The average frame rate was almost 33% greater for Intel's new chip, which is an incredible difference and honestly more than I was expecting to see.Using the same GPU with the extreme quality preset reduced the 33% margin to 17% as performance became more limited by the 1080 Ti.
That's not the highest visual quality preset however, which we also decided to test. When running Ashes of Singularity on 'crazy' quality, the 8700K comes out on top but only by 9% and that's thanks to the game's ability to take full advantage of higher end CPUs. This is really a best case result for the chip because most titles would see no difference performance using high quality settings. Total War: Warhammer II for example completely neutralizes the field when using the 'ultra' preset.While it's easy to get caught up in the CPU limited benchmarks, the reality is that most gamers will be far more GPU limited.
Remember, we're using a GTX 1080 Ti so even if you're the kind of gamer that will turn the quality settings down a little to boost graphics performance, doing so with a for instance will still result in a GPU limited scenario, unless you go excessively low that is.For example, I went back and tested Battlefield 1 using the GTX 1070 and compared the results to the GTX 1080 Ti using both the 'medium' and 'ultra' quality presets. At the top of the graph you can see both CPUs compared when equipped with the 1080 Ti using the medium quality settings and here the 8700K is 23% faster on average and 19% faster for the 1% low result.Swap to the GTX 1070 and now the 8700K is just 1% faster on average and 10% for the 1% low but again we're only using medium quality settings. Increasing visual quality with the 'ultra' preset and therefore GPU load, the 8700K was just 16% faster on average with the 1080 Ti and 19% faster for the 1% low.
The truly telling result can be seen when using the 'ultra' preset with the GTX 1070, at which point there is no distinguishing between the 8700K and 4770K, and you'd likely get the same results without overclocking the fourth-gen Core i7.In short, no, for gamers it's not worth upgrading from a fourth-gen Core i7 processor to the latest and greatest six-core, eighth-gen Core i7s.As a side note, you can of course overclock the 8700K for greater performance when not GPU bound, but as we mentioned, gamers are almost always GPU bound with high-end Core i7 CPUs. We hope that addresses questions about why we haven't complicated things by also overclocking the 8700K.To reiterate, we don't think upgrading from either the 4770K or 4790K to the 8700K is worthwhile and for the most part gamers wouldn't even notice the difference. Although decent gains were seen at times with the GTX 1080 Ti, you have to be playing at 1080p without upscaling or heavy anti-aliasing for example. There's also the fact that for those spending on a graphics card, buying a new CPU, motherboard and memory combo isn't a big deal anyway.Most gamers will be using mainstream cards on up to the GTX 1070 and as we just saw the circumstances where the 8700K will offer any kind of gain here is rare.Lastly, what about those looking to upgrade from a or? In our opinion, either buy a second-hand Core i7 or upgrade the entire platform and go with a Coffee Lake CPU, assuming you could buy one at or around the MSRP.Personally, I'd look for a second-hand Core i7 processor. They're currently selling for between on eBay with 'Buy it now' listings priced between $220 and $250. Considering that the 8700K has an MSRP of, it's a much more costly endeavor to buy one of these in addition to a Z370 motherboard and DDR4 memory.Upgrading to the is more cost effective but even then you're not gaining anything when it comes to gaming performance.
It will likely be a few years before the true value of these six-core/12-thread CPUs will be realized. That said, if you do anything else with your PC, as in productivity type work, maybe video encoding, then the Ryzen 5 1600 would be a worthwhile upgrade or perhaps even the.Shopping Shortcuts:. Intel Core i7-4770K on,. Intel Core i7-4790K on,. Intel Core i7-8700K on,.
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 on,. AMD Ryzen 7 1700 on.
This past April, when all the high-performance Windows laptops transitioned to Intel’s new, Apple fans were left scratching their heads. If it offers such a huge boost in performance.why isn’t Apple upgrading the MacBook Pro?Well better late than never, as they say. Apple’s bumping up the specs of the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro (with Touch Bar) to the 8th-generation Intel chips, plus adding a few other goodies that should help make them tear through your Final Cut and Photoshop tasks.We will test, benchmark, and thoroughly review the new MacBook Pros just as soon as possible, of course. While you wait, let’s dive into the specs, compare them with what we know from Windows laptops, and paint a picture of just how much better these new MacBook Pros may be. 4 is more than 2, and 6 is more than 4The chief benefit of the new 8th-generation Core processors from Intel is a boost in core count. In the 13-inch MacBook Pro, you’re jumping up from dual-core Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs to quad-core.Currently, the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar offers a Core i5-7267U at the low end up to a Core i7-7567U at the high end. These are processors with a 28-watt TDP.We don’t yet have the exact model numbers of the CPUs in the new MacBook Pros yet, but judging by the announced clock speeds and the similar TDP necessary, we expect to find a Core i5-8259U at the low end and a Core i7 8559U on the high end.This change would mean higher boost clock speeds (3.8GHz versus 3.5GHz on the low-end model, 4.5GHz versus 4.0GHz on the high-end model).
It also means 6MB of cache instead of 4MB. The Iris Plus 655 graphics processor is essentially the same as before, but with double the embedded DRAM, which should speed things up a bit at higher resolutions.For the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, we’re likely looking at a bump from the Core i7-7700HQ to the Core i7-8750H on the entry-level version, with the maxed-out configuration jumping from a Core i7-7920HQ up to Core i9 8950HK. Those processors all have a 45-watt TDP, but it’s a jump in maximum turbo speed from 3.8GHz to 4.1GHz on the base model and from 4.1GHz to 4.8GHz on the high end.Higher boost clock speeds are nice and all, but the biggest benefit is the higher core counts.
The powerhouse 15-inch MacBook Pros jump from 4 cores with 8 threads up to 6 cores with 12 threads. Those who like the more compact 13-inch model get an even bigger increase, jumping from 2 cores and 4 threads to 4 cores and 8 threads. Big performance in all appsOur friends at PCWorld 6-core processors back in April and came away very impressed. One would expect that more cores would equal more performance in heavily multi-threaded applications. Imagine their delight when the new processors delivered significantly better single thread performance as well.For example, here’s one of their WinRAR benchmarks showing the Core i7-8750H (the chip likely to be in the entry-level 15-inch MacBook Pro) blowing the doors off the Core i7-7820HK, a faster chip than the 7700HQ found in the current 15-inch MacBook Pro. IDGMore cores mean much faster multithreaded performance.But dial the test down to a single thread and it gets real interesting. The 8750H is still faster than the 7820HK, and much faster than the 7700HQ.
IDGEven with one thread, Intel’s processors are faster.That’s the magic of higher boost clock speeds and increased cache. If we look at Cinebench performance scaling from one thread up to twelve, we see that even on low thread counts we can expect the new generation to deliver around a 15 to 20 percent boost, with high thread counts up at 50 percent. Bottom line: Expect the 15-inch MacBook Pros to be 15 to 50 percent faster in CPU-limited tasks. IDGEven with low thread counts, the 8th-generation Core chips are much faster.And that’s just the jump from the 4-core to the 6-core chips. Imagine the boost we’ll see on 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, where the cache and boost clock speeds go up and the core counts double. Combined with the fact that more apps are able to effectively utilize 5 to 8 threads than 9 to 12 threads, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is likely to realize its potential more often than the 15-inch model.
Apple’s smaller MacBook Pro is going to realize a bigger performance increase, more often. Not just a CPU bumpThe new MacBook Pros benefit from more than just the impressive gains of Intel’s 8th-generation Core processors. There are quality-of-life improvements like True Tone displays (which we love on the iPad Pro, iPhone 8, and iPhone X), a new third-generation butterfly keyboard that isn’t quite so noisy, and you can load ‘em up with double the RAM (up to 32GB).But Apple also snuck the T2 chip (first found in the ) into the MacBook Pro. As, the T2 (and future T-series chips) are likely going to push down into all Macs over time. In the new MacBook Pros, the T2 chip does everything it does in the iMac Pro: It’s the audio processor, it handles image processing for the FaceTime camera, it controls storage (including offloading file encryption), it’s the secure enclave for Touch ID, and it provides secure boot and system management.Including the T2 in the new MacBook Pros makes it more than just a CPU upgrade.That means less work for the CPU, which should further boost performance just a little bit. It also means better FaceTime video quality and, finally, “Hey Siri” support on a Mac laptop.
Not everything gets a big boostUnfortunately, the new MacBook Pros don’t offer everything we hoped for. Even if it’s quieter, we suspect many users will still take issue with the butterfly keyboard. The USB-C-or-die port situation hasn’t improved.
And if you don’t like the Touch Bar, you’re stuck in the past—there are no upgrades at all in the 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar. Nor is the MacBook or MacBook Air getting an upgrade today, but we’ll hold out hope that we’ll see improvements for those before the end of the year.If there’s one area in which you shouldn’t expect a huge improvement in performance, it’s graphics. The Iris Pro 655 found in the 13-inch MacBook Pro isn’t much different from the Iris Pro 650 you find today.
The embedded DRAM has doubled, and that will help a bit at high resolutions, but the GPU still has 48 execution units and 384 shading units, and the maximum clock speeds only get a tiny little boost.The 15-inch model—which always included discrete graphics—includes a Radeon Pro 555x with 4GB of RAM. It’s nice that every model has 4GB of video RAM now instead of the entry-level version being equipped with only 2GB, but we’re otherwise looking at the same GPU here.
An upgrade to Vega-based graphics would have been great.
I7 4th Gen Vs 8th Gen Intel
I7 4th Gen Vs 8th Gen I7 Processor
Hi, I currently own an Alienware laptop that's my daily driver. With a 4th Gen i7 Processor, 16 GB RAM, and more, it lives up to any task thrown its way. But after 2 years, I'm wondering if I should start looking at options to trade it in for a newer model with a 6th or 7th Gen processor? Jul 25, 2018 i7 (7th Gen.) i5 (8th Gen.) i7 (6th Gen.) i5 (7th Gen.) i3 (7th Gen.) Having purchased a laptop just a few days ago, I can advise that you to go with the ones that are not looting your money in the name of Pre-built Windows and lifetime MS.