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The Intel 4th generation Core i5-4570 processor is based on the new 22nm Haswell Microarchitecture for improved CPU performance. Advanced power management innovations help keep power consumption in check. New compute instructions ensure enhanced performance per cycle. Improved Intel integrated graphics enable discrete-level graphics performance. Extract more power from your Haswell core-based processor.
Haswell Microarchitecture on 22nm processThe new Microarchitecture (code name Haswell) has a fully integrated voltage regulator (FIVR) for simplified motherboard design. It delivers improved CPU performance and enhanced overclocking over its previous generation Microarchitecture.
New 4th generation Intel Core processor family instructionsHaswell core-based processors come with Intel Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (Intel AVX2). Intel AVX2 expands integer data to 256-bit SIMD to increase the performance of integer operations. It also offers new capabilities such as Gather and FMA (Fused Multiply-Add). Additional new instructions accelerate key algorithms, including parallel extract/deposit, bit manipulation operations and new rotates/multiplies/shift. The AES-NI performance is also improved.
Intel processor graphics with Dx11.1 and OpenCL 1.2Haswell core-based processors offer improved integrated graphics. The integrated graphics supports DirectX 11.1 for optimized graphics performance and OpenGL 3.2 and OpenCL 1.2 for enhanced general-purpose computing in GPGPU-supported applications. It also features digital display repartition, where digital display ports are wired directly to the CPU, and analog displays are handled by a Random Access Memory Digital-to-Analog Converter (RAMDAC) located in the Platform Controller Hub (PCH). It supports up to three independent displays: HDMI, DVI, Display Port, VGA (via Lynx Point).
Haswell power-management innovationHaswell core-based processors offer advanced power management. It has 20x + improvement from prior generations and is automatic, continuous, fine-grained, and transparent to well-written SW.
Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0More intelligent, energy-efficient, and dynamic than previous generations, Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 gives you accelerating performance when you need it. It delivers an even greater automatic speed increase by allowing processor cores to run faster than the base operating frequency for demanding applications, if the processor is operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits.
Pros: It runs very cool while doing everything I need. I use my PC for 3D, video, and gaming. For my previous couple of builds, I opted for faster/more expensive components that are overclockable. This was great, but over time I ended up being unhappy with the heat and noise, both at idle and at load. This time I wanted to see how quiet I could go while keeping costs under $1000. I didn't want any hyper-threading, and decided to skip the overclocking this time since coming to the conclusion that it wasn't really as fun/rewarding as it used to be in the old days. I read reports that Haswell chips run hotter than Ivy Bridge, but also run cooler while idle. The latter seemed interesting, so I decided to try the i5 4570S, "S" for the 65Watt version. I paired it with a low power, mid-range discrete GPU and put them on an Asrock h87 board with a good SSD and a 400W fanless PSU. I modded both CPU and GPU heatsinks with bigger, ultra-quiet fans and ran everything at stock speeds. I gotta say, this is a new kind of joy. It's temp ranges from ~30C at idle to ~65C at full load torture test. The fans never go above 25% speed, and are barely audible. It may not be a hard-core gaming rig like we have at work, but it runs the latest games (Metro Last Light) at med settings very well and without moving much air. Just as an experiment, I unplugged the CPU fan entirely, and the idle temp stabilized at 40C. Running an older game like Skyrim took this up to 50% load and fanless it stabilized at 47C. I then tried running a fanless torture test and it tool over 5 minutes to reach 85C. Never would have tried any of that with my previous machines... Now I'm tempted to upgrade my GPU heat sink as well and see if I can have a completely passive gaming rig. Pros: Perf/Power ratio along the entire use range. Scales down power use really well while still being able to turbo boost to 3.6 GHz for more demanding applications.
Cons: Cons: For what I wanted, none. The integrated graphics and drivers are much better than they were, but for my needs are still not good enough to replace a dedicated GPU.
Overall Review: Wish I could get a CPU nowadays without the stock heatsink/fan. Oh well... O hey, I forgot to plug my CPU fan back in...