Intel Devils Canyon Processors Preview

Intel has just announced their brand new “Devil’s Canyon” processors today. These processors are part of the Haswell Refresh which we saw most of the processors come last month. The “Devil’s Canyon” processors are a bit different as they are designed for gamers and overclockers and have new features not found in other Haswell Refresh processors. To that end we present our Devil’s Canyon preview, which should give you all of the information that you need to know about the Devil’s Canyon processors.

Intel Devils Canyon

First let’s go over the two processors that make up the Devil’s Canyon lineup. First we have the flagship Core i7-4790K, which will effectively replace the Core i7-4770K. The big difference you will notice is the chart below is that this chip has a base frequency of 4.0 GHz. That is the first time we have seen a 4.0 GHz consumer chip from Intel! The turbo frequency of this chip will go up to 4.4 GHz.

Intel Core i7-4790K

The second chip is the Core i5-4690K, which will replace the Core i5-4670K. Now this chip does not have as large of a base clock boost, it moves up to 3.5 GHz from 3.4 GHz. The turbo frequency also receives a 100 MHz boost up to 3.9 GHz. Also both chips have a slightly higher TDP at 88W compared to 84W of the previous models. The Core i7-4790K will retail for $339 and the i5-4690K for $242.

Intel Core i5-4690K

Besides the change in core and turbo frequencies these new processors are also outfitted with new Next-Generation Thermal Interface Material (NGPTIM). This should really help improve thermals and operating temperature of the chip. This should lead to some pretty impressive overclocks, maybe even 5.0 GHz on air!

Intel Devils Canyon

Additional capacitors have been added as well for smooth power delivery to the die. Again this should help out with overclocking.

Talking about overclocking just like previous Haswell “K-Series” processors you have an unlocked multiplier, which allows for some pretty intense overclocking. Also you can easily overclock the processor independently from all other components in your system. Now if you want to bring your entire system up you can use the B-Clock ratios, which give you an overclocking experience much like you find in Intel’s high-end desktop platforms.

Intel Devils Canyon

Intel Core i7-4790K Performance

When it comes to performance Intel has compared the flagship Core i7-4790K to the Core i7-2700K that was released back in Q4 of 2011. As you can see from the graphic below that the i7-4790K is 34% faster at productivity, 65% faster at media creation, 35% faster at multi-tasking and 30% faster at 3D modeling. Also we have faster I/O, faster storage and better display options.

Intel Devils Canyon

Intel also did a test comparing the Core i7-4790K to a 5 – 6 year old PC. As you can see the i7-4790K is much 291% faster!

Intel Devils Canyon

Of course these are all Intel’s numbers. Once we get a processor on hand we will be doing our own tests to see how well the Core i7-4970K performs.

So just as a recap the new “Devil’s Canyon” or K-Series unlocked processors from Intel will bring 4-core 4.0 GHz to the desktop, with better thermals and robust overclocking capabilities. If you want the best performance on the Z97 chipset these are the processors to get!

Intel Devils Canyon

Both the Core i7-4970K and the Core i5-4690K are officialy compatible with Intel 9-Series (Z97/H97) motherboards. Intel’s Devils Canyon processor are expect to ship this month, but we do not have an exact date as to when they will be available.

If you have any questions about Intel’s new Devils Canyon be sure to leave them in the comments below!

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