Intel 4th Generation ‘Haswell’ Processors

Intel has officially launched its 4th Generation Core chipsets under the codenamed Haswell which promises to provide the biggest ever jump in battery life, and double the performance in Ultrabooks.

Haswell  utilise a newly designed architecture and will be manufactured using the 22nm process. The chipsets are set to have a transistor count of 1.4 billion and Intel has released a number of different skews.

• Intel’s next-generation processors have been built from the ground up to deliver both improved performance and battery life. 
• Intel’s Haswell platform is based on the 22 nanometer architecture and is designed to double or even triple graphics performance with its integrated GPU.
• The chip consumes less power than Ivy Bridge processors and is said to improve battery life by up to 50% with no loss of performance, which roughly translates to 9.1 hours of HD video playback. 

Intel claims 

Haswell will deliver the biggest battery life increase in Intel history

The mobile processors will come in four varieties, and will have different capabilities depending on their suffix.

• H – The quad-core processors will have Intel’s highest graphics capabilities available – dubbed Iris Pro (5200).
• M – These traditional 2-chip models which will be available in quad-core/dual-core varieties.
• U – Designed specifically for Ultrabooks – these System-on-chip (SoC) processors will available in either 28Watt or 15Watt varieties. The 28W chip will have the highest available Iris Pro (5200) graphics capabilities and the 15Watt chips will have the Iris graphics (5100).
• Y – The lowest power Core-based processor will also have a System-on-chip design and will be designed for detachable products.

PERFORMANCE

• Twice the vector processing performance.
• A 10% increase in sequential CPU performance (eight execution ports per core versus six).
• Up to double the performance of the integrated GPU (Haswell GT3e vs Ivy Bridge's built-in Intel HD4000)
• In the various tests, Haswell showed significant improvement when it came to gaming, but commonly used tasks such as converting video, music and documents didn't show too much of an increase.

FEATURES 

• A 22 nm manufacturing process.
• 3D tri-gate transistors.
• A 14-stage pipeline (since the Core microarchitecture).
• Mainstream up to quad-core.
• Native support for dual channel DDR3.
• 64 KB (32 KB Instruction + 32 KB Data) L1 cache and 256 KB L2 cache per core.
• Haswell New Instructions (HNI, includes Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (AVX2), gather, bit manipulation, and FMA3 support).
• New sockets — LGA 1150 for desktops and rPGA947 & BGA1364 for the mobile market.
• New socket - LGA 2011-3 for for the Enthusiast-Class Desktop Platform Haswell-E. 
• Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX).
• Graphics support in hardware for Direct3D 11.1 and OpenGL 4.0.
• DDR4 for the enterprise/server variant (Haswell-EX).
• DDR4 for the Enthusiast-Class Desktop Platform Haswell-E. 
• Variable Base clock (BClk) like LGA 2011.
• Supervisor mode access prevention (SMAP)
• Fully integrated voltage regulator, thereby moving a component from the motherboard onto the CPU.
• New advanced power-saving system.
• 37, 47, 57 W thermal design power (TDP) mobile processors.
• 35, 45, 65, 84, and ~140 W (high-end, Haswell-E) TDP desktop processors.
• 15 W TDP processors for the Ultrabook platform (multi-chip package like Westmere) leading to reduced heat which results in thinner as well as lighter Ultrabooks, but performance level will be lower than the 17W version.
• Shrink PCH from 65 nm to 32 nm.
• A new cache design.
• Up to 32 MB unified cache LLC (Last Level Cache).
• Support for Thunderbolt technology.
• There will be four versions of the integrated GPU: GT1, GT2, GT3 and GT3e. Haswell's predecessor, Ivy Bridge, has a maximum of 16 EUs.

Intel 4th Generation Core Processor Core i7-4770K

Specifications & Features

• 8-Way Multi-Task Processing: Runs 8 independent processing threads in one physical package. 
• Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0: Dynamically increases the processor frequency up to 3.9 GHz when applications demand more performance. Speed when you need it, energy efficiency when you don’t. 
• Intel Hyper-Threading Technology: Allows each core of the processor to work on two tasks at the same time providing unprecedented processing capability for better multi-tasking, and for threaded applications. 
• Intel Smart Cache: 8MB of shared cached allows faster access to your data by enabling dynamic and efficient allocation of the cache to match the needs of each core significantly reducing latency to frequently used data and improving performance. 
• CPU Overclocking Enabled (with Intel Z87 Chipset): Fully unlocked core multiplier, power, base clock and DDR3 memory ratios enable ultimate flexibility for overclocking. 
• Graphics Overclocking Enabled (with Intel 8 Series Chipset): Unlocked graphics multiplier allows for overclocking to boost the graphics clock speed. 
• Integrated Memory Controller: Supports 2 channels of DDR3-1600 memory with 2 DIMMs per channel. Support for memory based on the Intel Extreme Memory Profile (Intel XMP) specification. 
• Chipset/Motherboard Compatibility: Compatible with all Intel 8 Series Chipsets 
• AES-NI: Provides processor instructions that help to improve performance for AES encryption and decryption algorithms. 
• Built-in Visuals: New enhanced built-in visual features deliver a seamless visual PC experience for doing everything from simple e-mail to enjoying the latest 3D and HD entertainment. The built-in visuals suite includes: 
• Intel Quick Sync Video Technology: Media processing for incredibly fast conversion of video files for portable media players or online sharing. 
• Intel InTru 3D: Stereoscopic 3D Blu-ray playback experience in full HD 1080p resolution over HDMI 1.4 with 3D. 
• Intel Clear Video HD Technology: Visual quality and color fidelity enhancements for spectacular HD playback and immersive web browsing. 
• Intel Advanced Vector Extensions 2.0 (Intel AVX 2.0): Increased performance for demanding visual applications like professional video & image editing. 
• Intel HD Graphics 4600: Significant 3D performance for immersive mainstream gaming on a broad range of titles. The dynamic graphics frequency ranges up to 1250MHz.

Pricing
Online vendors such as The PC SuperStore have put up a price list for Core i5 and i7 parts. Prices range from $197 for the Core i5 4430 to $368 for the high-end Core i7 4770K.

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