Intel Core i7-4770K loaded with BIOSTAR Z87X 3D overclocking share

[windwithme]

At the beginning of June this year, Intel released a new generation of framework as scheduled, with the model name of Haswell
The pin of the last two generations is LGA 1155. It is the biggest difference that the new platform is changed to LGA 1150.
In a short time, Intel Core i series has advanced to the fourth generation of framework with better specification for each generation
The code of the most advanced chipset is Z87, bringing out the six SATA3 interfaces which have been waited for by many people for a long time
And CPU has recovered to the ability to exceed external frequency in the first generation of Core i, while the two aspects are both good improvements

The MB is BIOSTAR Z87X 3D, imitating design of Hi-Fi material as well
PCB uses black mist side material, cooling fin is blue, and color of appearance is similar to that of a middle and advance-level Z87

Hi-Fi Z87X 3D uses Z87 chipset, price of which is relatively fair compared with other brands in material and design
At present, BIOSTAR launches two Z87s in Z series, the other is Hi-Fi Z87W, belonging to a cheaper version

Intel has entered the fourth-generation framework of Core i series, names of CPU also begin with 4
The testing focus is the most advanced Core i7-4770K in Haswell framework, the codes followed by k all have function of adjusting doubling frequency
The CPU radiator is on the right, for 4 Cores CPU, Intel all uses radiators with copper material at the bottom

Total frequency of 4770K is 3.5GHz, supporting Turbo Boost technology, and top performance can reach 3.90GHz
Entity 4 Cores is integrated with Hyper-Threading technology, which can reach 8 threads in total, called 4C8T for short
It has the same 22nm manufacturing process with Ivy Bridge, with higher consumption of 84W, and 8MB of L3 Cache in total

Lower left of the main board
2 X PCI-E X16 3.0, supremely supporting AMD CrossFireX/nVIDIA SLI technology, and bandwidth is X8 + X8
1 X PCI-E X16 2.0, bandwidth is X4
3 X PCI-E X1
Network chip is Realtek RTL8111F
Sound chip is Realtek ALC898, highest to 8 sound channels of Blu-ray Audio and THX TruStudio Pro technology

Lower right of the main board
6 X black SATAs, offered by Z87 chipset, in the specification of SATA3
The above can establish RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 in a mix way, the maximum performance of which depends on the SATA device installed
Power / Reset button and LED debugging light signal, black of the upper part is a front USB 3.0

Upper right of the main board
4 X DIMM DDR3, supporting DDR3 1066~1600 / 1866~2800(OC)
DDR3 can supremely support 32GB，supporting Extreme Memory Profile technology, and 24-PIN power input is on the right

Upper left of the main board
CPU on both sides have enhanced passive thermal modules, and 8PIN power input is on the upper side

IO
1 X PS/2 keyboard
1 X D-Sub / DVI-D / HDMI
4 X USB 2.0(black)
2 X USB 3.0(blue)
1 X RJ-45 network hole
6 X Audio sound holes

 

[windwithme]

BIOSTAR changes to the design style of the new version in UEFI interface
Some data of the current hardware are shown on the left,
the background is also changed to red which has the sense of speed, and the resolution is 1024X768
It offers English and simplified Chinese for switching

Main page of overclocking and effect adjusting

Main page of CPU effect adjusting
External frequency of 4770K is fixed at 45, i.e. 4500MHz
It closes CPU C status energy-saving technology, the lower part is the clock rate and options of built-in GPU

DDR3 uses CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 2800C11
It is able to reach stable high efficiency of DDR3 2800 easily after opening XMP technology

Voltage page
CPU voltage adopts options of increasing or decreasing, the CPU Voltage Offset(mV) is set as 120 overclocking of 4.5GHz
Then, CPU voltage will turn to 1.284V shown on the left

Without CPU of K version, it can also use external frequency for overlocking in the framework of Haswell, which is an advantage of the new platform
The above sets CPU and DDR3 respectively to 4500 / 2800MHz through the overclocking method for conducting doubling frequency and increasing voltage to 4770K
Because overclocking frequency of Haswell does not reach the stable level as the Ivy Bridge of the last generation which can reach 4.8GHz in the same air-cooled environment
While the following test will compare the performance of the two different frameworks once again, for the frequency is possibly not equal to efficiency after all

Testing platform
CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K
MB: BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D
DRAM: CORSAIR Dominator Platinum CMD16GX3M4A2800C11
VGA: Intel HD Graphics 4000
HDD: Samsung 830 Series 128GB SSD
POWER: XIGMATEK Tauro 400W Bronze
Cooler: Thermalright Archon SB-E X2
OS: Windows8 64bit

Intel Core i7-4770K overclocking performance
CPU 100 X 45 => 4500MHz 1.284V
DDR3 2800 CL11 14-14-35 2T 1.668V

Hyper PI 32M X8 => 10m 30.456s
CPUMARK 99 => 781

It compares performance of CPU through 3770K OC 4.8GHz and 4770K OC 4.5GHz
4770K is 3.6% higher in CPUMARK 99

Nuclearus Multi Core => 33835
Fritz Chess Benchmark => 36.37/17456

3770K is 2.7% higher in Fritz Chess Benchmark

CrystalMark 2004R3 => 412719

CINEBENCH R11.5
CPU => 9.86 pts
CPU(Single Core) => 1.96 pts

4770K is 2.9% higher in multiplexing CPU performance
3770K is 4% higher in CPU (Single Core)

 

[windwithme]

FRYRENDER
Running Time => 3m 49s
x264 FHD Benchmark => 29.9

4770K is 12.4% higher in x264 FHD Benchmark

PCMARK7 - 7596

Windows8 WEI - CPU 8.3

The frequency of stable running for the new generation of Intel i7-4770K in air-cooled environment is about 4.5GHz
It can be seen that most testing data are a little bit better than the last generation of i7-3770K overclocking 4.8GHz in performance
We can conservatively consider the highest air-cooled stable frequency of the two generations of 4770K 4.5GHz and 3770K 4.8GHz to be equivalent
The above is the performance comparison after overclocking, while defaults of the two types of CPU are 3.5GHz for the same, highest to 3.9GHz
Default performance of i7-4770K is more or less improved than that of the last generation, which is similar to advancement extent of each generation of Core i framework

DRAM bandwidth test
DDR3 2800 CL11 14-14-35 2T
ADIA64 Memory Read - 33686 MB/s
Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 31243 MB/s
MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 32187 MB/s

The following is comparison between the two frameworks of Haswell and Ivy Bridge
Frequency is still set to DR3 2800 2T
i7-4770K is about 20% higher in Sandra Memory Bandwidth
i7-4770K is about 13% higher in MaXXMEM Memory-Copy
i7-4770K DDR3 2800 2T compares i7-3770K DDR3 2400 1T
ADIA64 Memory Read is about 27% higher, we are sorry for data contrast about ADIA64
Bandwidth data of 3770K DDR3 2800 1T is not tested before, estimating that it won?t exceed 27000 MB/s even for the same setting
Haswell framework has obvious progress in DDR3 bandwidth, and it is possible for the highest frequency to reach over 3000 if further adjusted

Intel HD Graphics 4600 performance test
GPU frequency is UEFI BIOS, 1400MHz by default
3DMark Vantage => P7553

StreetFighter IV Benchmark
1280 X 720 => 135.90 FPS

FINAL FANTASY XIV
1280 X 720 => 2440

For Haswell framework, it is the built-in CPU that is improved the most in performance
Compared with the built-in HD4000 of the last generation of i7-3770K,
HD4600 increases 31% in 3DMark Vantage, and 17% in StreetFighter IV
FINAL FANTASY XIV also increases about 39%, which is an advantage for users who need built-in 3D
In environment of 1920X1080 high resolution, it can be used smoothly except for advanced 3D GAME or too many special effects enabled

Power consumption test
System standby - 64W

It operates IntelBurn Test to make CPU operate at full speed - 172W

4770K 4.5GHz with same 22nm manufacturing process is lower in power consumption than that in 3770K 4.8GHz
It can be considered the same power consumption, because the difference is only about 3~5W, and performance is similar, too

The radiator uses Archon SB-E X2 launched by Thermalright before
It is located on the advanced CPU radiator, supporting a fan of12~14cm on left and right sides
For users of LGA 1150 platform, it may make a fan stuck easily if working with the DDR3 with a high order cooling fin
This won?t occur if LGA 2011 platform works with the DDR3 with general height

 

[windwithme]

The bottom uses C1100 pure copper nickel plating, the other parts use aluminum fin material, the design technology of Thermalright is quite excellent
Overall quality of Archon SB-E X2 is the best one I?ve used, of course the price of which falls on high level market naturally
Length, width and height are respectively 150mm X 55mm X 170mm, loaded with 8X 6mm heat pipes to enhance capacity of heat conduction

Temperature behavior (room temperature is about33?)
System standby - 45~50

It operates IntelBurn Test to make CPU operate at full speed - 74~89

To pass IntelBurn Test, it needs to increase CPU voltage to 1.292V
Like Ivy Bridge, the temperature of Haswell framework after overclocking will be higher than that of the last two generations
For users of overclocking, it is suggested working with the middle and advanced CPU radiator, so that it is possible to reach stable 4.5GHz
It is hoped that temperature can be lower except that Intel pursues progress of manufacturing process in the future

BIOSTAR has launched Hi-Fi Z77X since Z77 in the last year, Z87X-3D launches more progressed Puro Hi-Fi 3D
Non-Polarized Electrolysis Electric audio capacitors
Metal-oxide film resistors carries front sound effect amplifying chip of headphones, which adopts multiple designs of audio grade
It is designed with a BIOSTAR Logo metal shied right above the sound effect chip, which will emit red light with power on

The sound effect is equipped with THX software supporting Creative THX technology
Multi-Channels Calibration could provide the function of adjusting multi-channel PC loudspeaker effect.
The following Samrt Ear 3D software is a power amplifier software specially designed for headphones
Many sound stage modes are also provided for users to select, so it is a practical software capable of keeping sound quality

Difference of Hi-Fi Z77X and Hi-Fi Z87X-3D has been listened in ComputeX before
There is more obvious improvement in sound quality and articulation by using Z87X-3D of Puro Hi-Fi 3D technology
In the test, it uses the loudspeaker USHER S-520 of Hi-Fi at entry level, music CD is the international HI-END sound exhibition in Taipei
In the song of Pear Flower Fragrance, intermediate frequency vocal and high-pitched sounds are both fairly good
Performance of low frequency is also above the level, maybe localization of the loudspeaker in low frequency is not so heavy, while articulation is good as well
With good performance of built-in sound effect of Z87X 3D, along with the fair price, it should be high value added in MB


BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D
Advantages
1. Price is only a little higher than entry Z87, specification and material are similar to those of middle-level Z87 in other brands
2. All-Japanese solid capacitor, built-in Power / Reset buttons and LED debugging light signal
3. Visual impression of novel UEFI interface is good, with fast startup speed, rich options and wide range of voltage.
4. For built-in sound effect, it uses better Non-Polarized electrolysis Electric audio capacitors, in addition, sound effect range is also designed by dependent PCB
5. Main power supply includes 13 items, overclocking ability of CPU and DDR3 is also above level
6. It attaches with multiple sound effect softwares, used for users who need different sound fields or other environments

Disadvantages
1. There have been no BIOSTAR sales channels in Taiwan at present
2. It suggests using relatively advanced sound effect chip of Creative CA0132 or VIA Envy24MT
3. It is hoped to use gold plated material for built-in sound effect holes
4. UEFI BIOS is suggested being upgraded to high resolution of 1920X1080

Performance ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 82/100
Material ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 86/100
Specification ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83/100
Appearance ratio ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 83/100
Price-performance ratio ★★★★★★★★★☆ 88/100

Advantages of the Intel Haswell framework lie in that the Z87 chipset supports 6 sets of SATA3 devices
The built-in display HD4600 of the most advanced i7-4770K has 17~39% improvement in 3D performance
DDR3 bandwidth performance and the highest overclocking frequency are also improved again, which are all progresses
While temperature control and overclocking pulse have not been better on contrary, which are pitiful
Fortunately, default performance of CPU has been improved, overclocking to 4.5GHz is similar to overclocking to 4.8GHz of the last generation in air-cooled condition
For consumers who have had Ivy Bridge platform, Haswell framework is not so attractive
But for users who want to buy a new PC host machine, it suggests choosing Haswell framework directly

Price of BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D falls around 150 US dollars, which can be a Z87 MB with a quite fair price
Considering the market of Z87, the price is only a little higher than that of entry Z87, material and specification are similar to Z87 with a price of more than 200US dollars
Especially in design and material of built-in sound effect chip, it is beyond many middle Z87 level, and sound quality performance is impressive
CPU 4.5GHz and DDR3 2800 have stable overclocking performance, which can also reach the supposed performance level of Z87 MB.
BIOSTAR is hoped to launch more products with fair price and stronger overclocking in the future, which brings more competition to the consumer market

The paper is also published on my Blog WIND3C, 3C fans are welcome to visit and give advice or comments