Intel to renew commitment to desktop PCs with a slew of new CPUs

[wizpig64]

Intel just announced a bunch of stuff regarding desktop CPU products in 2014, and it seems like they've been listening to enthusiast feedback. There's some stuff that we already knew about (Haswell-E will have 8 core desktop variants, DDR4), but a lot of cool things as well.

 

Some highlights, as reported by Scott Wasson of The Tech Report: http://techreport.com/review/26189/intel-to-renew-commitment-to-desktop-with-slew-of-new-products:

 

I spoke briefly with [intel's new GM and VP of its Desktop Client Platforms Group, Lisa Graff] at CES about her plans, and she observed that high-end desktop processor sales had been fairly flat in recent years—but when she looked at the performance numbers, the reason was clear. Intel hasn't given enthusiasts much of a reason to upgrade since Sandy Bridge.

 

The most exciting of those products may be the one based on current Haswell silicon. Intel desktop processors since Ivy Bridge have had limited overclocking headroom due to excessive heat, and over time, enthusiasts have pinned much of the blame on the combination of packaging and thermal interface material (TIM) used in newer CPUs. Folks have even taken to de-lidding their brand-new processors in order to recover some of the clock speed headroom. Intel will address that problem head-on with a new unlocked Haswell part code-named "Devil's Canyon," coming in mid-2014. Devil's Canyon will have redesigned packaging and an improved TIM meant to increase overclocking headroom.

 

Also coming in mid-year is an anniversary edition of the Pentium to "celebrate" 20 years of that brand. 

...

Two, the anniversary edition Pentium will be unlocked to enable overclocking.

 

A third upcoming product Graff highlighted tackles several beefs we've had with Intel's product plans. The 14-nm Broadwell refresh of the Core i3/i5/i7 has largely been pegged as a mobile chip, but Graff revealed Intel will be producing a socketed version of Broadwell that will drop into desktop boards based on 9-series chipsets. Not only that, but it will be unlocked to make overclocking straightforward.

 

And, amazingly, this CPU will include Intel's Iris Pro graphics technology.

 

We noted in our trippy Ivy Bridge-E review that Intel has been holding back on core counts and cache sizes for its Extreme CPUs. Xeons that fit into the same socket have twice the core count and L3 cache capacity of their thousand-dollar desktop counterparts. The upcoming Haswell-E part looks to rectify that deficit somewhat by finally raising the core count from six to eight. Those cores will be better fed with the addition of DDR4 memory, a first on the desktop. Also, this new Core i7 Extreme will come with a new chipset, dubbed X99, that hopefully packs more USB 3 and SATA 6 ports than the aging X79.

 

When got our first look at Haswell, we were surprised to find out that much of the power-saving mojo intended to reduce power consumption at idle just didn't do much for our desktop test rigs. That's evidently because those features weren't enabled on desktop systems.

 

Graff indicated that Intel is moving to correct that oversight by introducing something called Ready Mode Technology, which is a combination of hardware and software. Ready Mode requires the support of the motherboard and a separate piece of software provided either by Intel or the PC maker, and it enables the new low-power C7 sleep states built into Haswell silicon. When it's enabled, the power consumption of a desktop system at idle should drop to 10W or less.

[Bluuz]

If these are true, it's going to be a very exciting time for cpu overclockers in the next few months.

she observed that high-end desktop processor sales had been fairly flat in recent years—but when she looked at the performance numbers, the reason was clear. Intel hasn't given enthusiasts much of a reason to upgrade since Sandy Bridge.

 

Am I the only who found this quote incredibly refreshing? Considering nearly everybody else would have come to the conclusion "it must be because the PC market is dying." 

[mr moose]

If these are true, it's going to be a very exciting time for cpu overclockers in the next few months.

 

Am I the only who found this quote incredibly refreshing? Considering nearly everybody else would have come to the conclusion "it must be because the PC market is dying." 

Sort of, It instilled some sort of hope that we were about to see more significant performance improvements, but I fear that the current slump has as much to do with hitting a technological wall than lack of devolpment from Intel,  After all AMD have been in the same boat as far as not bringing better performing chips to the table and I doubt they are ignoring enthusiast. 

 

I would dearly love to know just how much of their market is actually enthusiasts though (as opposed to workstation and business machines), I would not be surprised if enthusiasts are not the driving force people think we are.

[Equlix]

"redesigned packaging and an improved TIM" 

what is redesigned packaging? less resin between the pcb and heat spreader? more cherry picking for k parts? what does that mean? a flashier box maybe?

[TheNinjaNextDor]

I'm liking the sound of this.

[JLCitadel]

as long as they're not trying to paint shit gold and sell it to me i'll be happy. which until i see the changes it how it sounds

[bob345]

If these are true, it's going to be a very exciting time for cpu overclockers in the next few months.

 

Am I the only who found this quote incredibly refreshing? Considering nearly everybody else would have come to the conclusion "it must be because the PC market is dying." 

that is somthing i have been waiting to hear for a while. This seems pretty awesome

[totjup5]

Awesome, finally.

[CarlosRex]

An Intel CPU with proper TIM & Packaging does sound more compelling.
But another unlocked i7 Haswell at 340$ is just stupid. The unlocked Pentium does sound exciting.

[qwertywarrior]

doubt it

intel doesnt care about us anymore

 

they can sell a hot pile of crap and we will shove down out throats because there is NO one else

 

this is a scary future

[Imabigmac]

OH great! Intel goes, hey here is a market where we make a new cpu and slap a "E" on the end of the product name and sell it for extra $100. 

[lhikary]

for those who have the 2500k and 3570k like me
the best time to upgrade is next year with 8 core cpu's imo

[Curemylife]

for those who have the 2500k and 3570k like me

the best time to upgrade is next year with 8 core cpu's imo

Can't really see that as a straight forward conclusion though, most i5 users probably have it because it fits their needs and beacause it doesn't cost 350$+ and all of a sudden everyone is willing to upgrade to a chip that will probably cost around 1000$ with a motherboard starting at 200-250$....

 

And just to remember it's still based upon the Haswell arcitecture so only considering IPC and core performance it's not that amazing, i5 users (home builders) are probably a majority of gamers so the extra price+cores will SUCK when compared performance/price.

 

But hey, what do I know? That's just the way I see it and I'm from Sweden where we usually throw money at overpriced hardware

[lhikary]

Can't really see that as a straight forward conclusion though, most i5 users probably have it because it fits their needs and beacause it doesn't cost 350$+ and all of a sudden everyone is willing to upgrade to a chip that will probably cost around 1000$ with a motherboard starting at 200-250$....

 

And just to remember it's still based upon the Haswell arcitecture so only considering IPC and core performance it's not that amazing, i5 users (home builders) are probably a majority of gamers so the extra price+cores will SUCK when compared performance/price.

 

But hey, what do I know? That's just the way I see it and I'm from Sweden where we usually throw money at overpriced hardware

next year is not broadwell? what

[Kamina]

I'm excited to see x99 and 8-core Haswell-E!

 

My sister has been in need for a workstation PC so these would be great components if the price is right.

[Curemylife]

next year is not broadwell? what

Well since you where talking about 8-cores my mind instantly thought of Haswell-E since that's whats next in line...

 

And broadwell is mostly focused on i-GPU, thermals and low power consumption so we probably won't see the next 8-core extreme processor until 2016-2017 and by then we will have out sights on Skylake.

 

As you know Intel's tick tock, Broadwell will be the tester for 14nm and is mostly built on the Haswell arcitecture so Skylake is the 14nm CPU "performance arcitecture".

 

EDIT:

hmm.. That might have been a bit unclear, but just as written in the OP, Broadwell was for awhile considered to not be available for desktops unless used in a BGA "socket", therefore I'm not really anticipating a 8-core broadwell.

[lhikary]

Well since you where talking about 8-cores my mind instantly thought of Haswell-E since that's whats next in line...

 

And broadwell is mostly focused on i-GPU, thermals and low power consumption so we probably won't see the next 8-core extreme processor until 2016 and by then we will have out sights on Skylake.

 

As you know Intel's tick tock, Broadwell will be the tester for 14nm and is mostly built on the Haswell arcitecture so Skylake is the 14nm CPU "performance arcitecture" for 14nm.

nah not gonna spend 1k$ on 8 core cpu

 

[Curemylife]

nah not gonna spend 1k$ on 8 core cpu

 

Then you're probably gonna have to wait for quite som time

 

Just as the 980X(2010) was the first 6-core chip in the true consumer market and we still don't have 6-cores in the mainstream platform(2014) unless you consider 3930k and 4930k but they're still at about 600$. 

[Kuzma]

Then you're probably gonna have to wait for quite som time

 

Just as the 980X(2010) was the first 6-core chip in the true consumer market and we still don't have 6-cores in the mainstream platform(2014) unless you consider 3930k and 4930k but they're still at about 600$. 

ummm 6300? Phenom x6?

[Dragonvader]

Sadly  i feel this is more of a needed upgrade for workstations. I mean, there is really not that many games that are CPU bound. And with mantle and DX12 around the corner a strong CPU seems less needed than ever for us gamers.

[Curemylife]

ummm 6300? Phenom x6?

On the intel side of things of course

 

And honestly, i like AMD but in no way are Intel and AMD's six cores comparable (when I say this I mean in many ways, price, performance, power, arcitecture)  :unsure:

 

(I even had a 1090t in my main build before the 1366 release.)

 

Edit: To make myself even more clear.. or to make it worse, Intel side of things + only mainstream/highend consumer (Intel CORE), otherwise we have xeon 10cores/(12-15)... And just realised we have "phi" too so.. 61cores...

[Kuzma]

On the intel side of things of course

 

And honestly, i like AMD but in no way are Intel and AMD's six cores comparable (when I say this I mean in many ways, price, performance, power, arcitecture)  :unsure:

 

(I even had a 1090t in my main build before the 1366 release.)

 

Edit: To make myself even more clear.. or to make it worse, Intel side of things + only mainstream/highend consumer (Intel CORE), otherwise we have xeon 10cores/(12-15)... And just realised we have "phi" too so.. 61cores...

Not saying they're comparable cause they're REALLY not but I'm just saying they're still 6 cores. (I like AMD too but still have my Xeon )

[KakaoDj]

@Slick

Why is this linked in the 290X Lightning video?? 

[MeltyMoon]

doubt it

intel doesnt care about us anymore

 

they can sell a hot pile of crap and we will shove down out throats because there is NO one else

 

this is a scary future

AMD still is a thing you know

[sand0oski]

I gotta give Intel some credit with Devils Canyon.  We have been complaining about mainstream CPU overclocking since Ivy bridge first came out, and they are finally starting to listen.  In a perfect world i guess ALL of their unlocked chips would follow this thinking, but...babysteps lol.