Introduction The Intel processor microarchitecture update for this year, which resulted in Skylake, could not be called typical or ordinary. Although from the point of view of desktop users, these CPUs did not bring any particularly significant improvements in performance or frequency potential, their arrival on the market showed completely different things. Namely, Intel first encountered serious problems following its tick-to-tack principle, and these problems could not be resolved in the foreseeable future. In other words, modern technological processes have reached that qualitative barrier, overcoming of which with the introduction of finer production standards requires such serious efforts that the launch and debugging of the mass production of chips began to take much more time than was previously required. We saw all this in full growth in new processors, for the production of which 14-nm technology with three-dimensional transistors of the second generation should be used. First, there was a delay and the actual cancellation of desktop Broadwell, and then the current Skylake processors fell, the supply of which still occurs with noticeable interruptions. As a result, Intel even started talking about the fact that Moore’s interpretation of the law should be weakened, and new processor designs will now come out not every year, but about once every year and a half.
For us, all this means that living with the Skylake microarchitecture will take significantly longer than with its predecessors. According to the global plans shared by Intel, the arrival of the next generation of microarchitecture, Cannonlake, will now take place no earlier than the second half of 2017. And next year, only a kind of Skylake Refresh - Kaby Lake processors, for the production of which the same 14-nm process technology will be used, will be presented to users.
And this is already enough to give Skylake a little more attention than usually the share of certain new processors. Three articles have already been published on our website, to one degree or another, discussing processors for desktop personal computers built on the Skylake microarchitecture:
Core i5-6600K and Core i5-6500 processors review: acquaintance with Intel Skylake;
Five generations of Core i7: from Sandy Bridge to Skylake. Benchmarking;
Dual-core Skylake: Core i3-6320, Core i3-6100, and Pentium G4400 Processors Overview.
However, we again decided to return to the Skylake topic and separately consider those desktop processors that we have not talked about in detail before: this article will focus on quad-core processors that are not oriented to an overclocking audience and do not offer unlocked multipliers.
Such processors are interesting today for at least three reasons. Firstly, they are slightly cheaper than the Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K, which in the current economic conditions is a very noticeable advantage that can attract a rather large audience of buyers to their side. Secondly, due to problems with the 14-nm process technology, the flagship Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K are in short supply. This is not very noticeable in the assortment of Russian stores (due to the low demand for expensive CPUs), but in the global market, the supply of senior overclocker Skylake is very limited. Therefore, even if the older Skylake and come in retail, then their prices are higher than the recommended Intel values. And thirdly, it suddenly turned out that even overclockers can be satisfied with the younger four-core processors. Major motherboard manufacturers have found a loophole that allows overclocking any Skylake processors by increasing the base frequency of BCLK. As a result, LGA 1151 processors, which were initially considered completely unsuitable for this, now have the ability to operate at a frequency significantly higher than the nominal one.
That is why the main characters of our next testing of processors we made the neo-Wroclaw Quad Core i7-6700, i5-6600, i5-6500 and i5-6400. As part of this material, we look at what these CPUs can offer their owners against the background of the predecessors of the Haswell generation and in comparison with the flagship processors Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K, discussed in our materials earlier.
What is wrong with Intel's 14nm process technology
Half a year soon, Intel introduced its 14nm Skylake processors aimed at an audience of enthusiasts: the Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K. However, during this time the question of their widespread availability has not been resolved. This problem is most acute in Western European countries and North America, which is easy to track in the assortment of the largest online stores. For example, at the time of writing, both of these flagship processors were not available on Newegg.com, and the last items from stock were sold on Amazon.com. This situation, which is somewhat strange for Intel products, has been going on since the summer - unfortunately, Intel still has not succeeded in providing everyone with older Skylake desktops.Moreover, the lack of sales of the required product quantities of Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K leads to the fact that sellers begin to sell them at prices that are significantly higher than recommended. Recall that officially for this pair of processors, prices are set at $ 339 and $ 242, respectively. In reality, in order to buy one of these products, you need to significantly overpay. Moreover, here we are talking not only about foreign stores, but also about domestic stores: as you can easily see, the effect of short deliveries has had a global impact.
What is the root cause of the described negative phenomena? Unfortunately, even Intel itself cannot answer this question shortly and clearly. At all the reporting events held by the company, officials confidently say that the introduction of 14-nm technology is going according to plan, and the output of suitable Broadwell and Skylake crystals is gradually approaching the level that the previous 22-nm technology provides.
However, this graph, which shows the proportion of suitable crystals produced by different technological processes, does not actually describe the full picture. The fact is that against the background of a shortage of senior overclocker Skylake, we see no difficulties with the supply of processors designed for lower clock speeds. And this means that the problem that hit Intel's 14-nm process does not concern the yield of suitable crystals in general, but only the older high-frequency models.
In other words, it seems that the deficit of Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K arises at the stage of selection of the most successful semiconductor crystals. The share of Skylake chips capable of operating at relatively high frequencies with acceptable supply voltage levels, that is, those that can be the basis of flagship processors for enthusiasts, is too low to meet demand. As a result, Intel is quite able to cope with the supply of the required quantities of ordinary quad-core processors, but the Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K, which not only have higher clock speeds, but also have to have some “margin of safety” demanded by overclockers, are given to the microprocessor giant with very hard work. And this, by the way, is very similar to the repetition of the situation that occurred with the 14-nm processors of the Broadwell generation. After all, the 14-nm processors of the first generation also showed clear signs of imperfection of the technical process: after numerous delays in output, they not only received lower nominal frequencies compared to their predecessors, but also poorly accelerated.
All this once again indicates that the main problem with the release of high-speed Skylake lies not so much in the microarchitecture as in the production process. And according to some experts familiar with the situation, Intel seems to have gone too far this time with scaling the process. Moreover, we are talking not so much about the key parameter - the size of the transistors, but about too aggressive a decrease in the pitch in the thickness of the metallization layers compared to the 22-nm process technology.
Indeed, earlier, with each transition to more “thin" production standards, the thickness of the metallization layers decreased by about 1.4 times. However, with the introduction of 14-nm standards, Intel decided to change the step more aggressively in order to reduce the cost of chips, and reduced it by about 1.5 times compared to the 22-nm process. And this desire to reduce costs turned into unexpected problems for Intel. The share of semiconductor crystals capable of operating at high frequencies in the total volume of production decreased markedly, and their cost, on the contrary, became higher.
All this ultimately led to the described situation. In order to produce Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K processors, especially high-quality semiconductor crystals with a good combination of frequency potential and power consumption are needed. But Intel still fails to get them in the right amount.
However, speaking about the problems, it is impossible to mention that Intel is optimistic about the future and pretends that shortages of flagship Skylake are not able to affect the global picture. High-performance gaming systems will continue to be one of the main priorities of the company, and in 2016 Intel expects significant growth in this segment, which should reach 26 percent.
True, it will probably be satisfied not with Skylake processors, but with their predecessors of the Haswell generation. In the light of the current situation with the supply of flagship modifications of the latest processors, their 22-nm predecessors of the Haswell generation are offered to customers with significant discounts. And the echoes of these discounts can often be seen on the price tags in retail stores, which in certain situations can be a good argument in favor of acquiring a computer based on a previous generation CPU.
However, do not forget that systems built on the basis of desktop Skylake are interesting not only due to the new microarchitecture and the 14-nm process technology. Introducing this generation of processors to the market, Intel paid considerable attention to improving the entire platform, which gained support for faster DDR4 memory and high-speed interfaces for connecting additional components. That is why, against the backdrop of a shortage of flagship Skylake, user interest may well shift towards the sixth-generation quad-core, initially not oriented to overclocking. From this position we will try to look at them.
Simple Quad-Core Skylake-S: Details
So, the main characters today are the most common Skylake processors in LGA 1151-performance, not focused on overclocking experiments, but having nevertheless quite advanced characteristics: four processor cores with or without Hyper-Threading technology and having a cache of the third level of 8 or 6 MB. From the point of view of their basic structure, these processors are similar to the predecessors of the Haswell generation - with the introduction of a new microarchitecture and with the transition to the advanced 14-nm process technology, Intel has left its familiar characteristics intact. Thus, the core i7 line continues to include four-core processors with an 8-megabyte L3 cache, capable of executing eight threads at a time, while the core i5 family includes four-core processors that are simpler - without virtual cores and with a 6 MB cache. At the same time, any Core i7 and Core i5, unlike their younger brothers, also have Turbo Boost auto-acceleration technology, and are also equipped with a ninth-generation Intel HD Graphics 530 integrated graphics core.In other words, we are dealing with the very variety that is commonly referred to as Skylake-S. Such processors are based on a processor crystal described by the formula 4 + 2 - four computing cores and graphics of the GT2 class.
As is well known, the flagship processors Core i7 and Core i5, which are positioned as solutions for enthusiasts, have unlocked multipliers, and this allows you to freely change their operating frequency, memory frequency and graphic core. Such overclocking models can be easily distinguished by the presence of the letter K at the end of the model number. The usual common Core i7 and Core i5 models do not have any letters in the name, and for them overclocking through a change in the multiplication coefficients is blocked by hardware.
However, the lack of freedom in setting multipliers is not the only sign that distinguishes the “ordinary” quad-core Skylake processors from their overclocking counterparts. In fact, they are characterized by lower clock frequencies. Moreover, the difference can be quite significant. For example, in the case of Core i7 processors it is as much as 600 MHz, and for Core i5 it is 200 MHz. True, this advantage has a downside: processors that are not related to the overclocker series are more economical. For them, Intel declares a rather modest 65-watt thermal package, while the calculated heat emission of the Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K is 91 watts. To this we must add that the K-series processors are deprived of the support for vPro technology necessary for the maintenance and security of computers in large enterprises. A very noticeable difference in price completes the picture. Even according to the official price list of the offer for enthusiasts, it’s about 8-15 percent more expensive than the older general-purpose Core i7 and i5. Which, most likely, will become the main reason why buyers may want to give preference to the younger quad-core processors without overclocking functions.
Skylake family of ordinary neo -clocker quad-core family oriented to use in classic desktop systems includes four processors. Three chips belong to the Core i5 series and one belongs to the Core i7 series. Such a set of models is intended to completely replace the Haswell Refresh line of offerings, the number of “regular” quad-core in which was exactly the same. In order to emphasize the continuity of the model series, Intel installed the same prices on processors of the same class, but of different generations. In other words, Core i7-6700 replaces Core i7-4790, Core i5-6600 - Core i5-4690, Core i5-6500 - Core i5-4590, and Core i5-6400 - Core i5-4460. A complete picture of the new model range can be obtained from the following table, in which we put together the characteristics of all neokerklokersky Skylake with four computing cores.
Apart from the more modern microarchitecture, which has sixth generation Core processors, there are actually not so many differences between new products from similar LGA 1150 processors. However, both frequencies and heat dissipation have changed. Moreover, compared to Haswell, the frequencies unexpectedly became lower, which, in all likelihood, will be compensated by a more advanced microarchitecture, and there should be no noticeable drop in performance. As for typical heat dissipation, it also decreased. This is due to the fact that in the new processors the integrated voltage regulator has moved from the processor to the motherboard, and to an increase in energy efficiency, which ensures the transition to 14-nm technology.
Let’s see how all this affected real consumer qualities - performance in applications and thermal power parameters.
How we tested
The main goal of this test was to compare the four-core Skylake non-WLOCK processors for desktop computers with the flagship counterparts belonging to the K-series. However, in addition to various LGA 1151 processors, we also included Haswell generation processors among the participants in the tests, which should provide the main background for the main characters in the tests. In addition to this, on the final diagrams you can also find the results of the AMD senior processor - FX-9590, which at its recommended price has gone down to the level of $ 240 and therefore can be considered as an alternative to the Intel quad-core processors.As a result, the list of components involved in the testing turned out to be quite extensive:
Processors:
Intel Core i7-6700K (Skylake, 4 cores + Hyper-Threading, 4.0-4.2 GHz, 8 MB L3);
Intel Core i7-6700 (Skylake, 4 cores + Hyper-Threading, 3.4-4.0 GHz, 8 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-6600K (Skylake, 4 cores, 3.5-3.9 GHz, 6 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-6600 (Skylake, 4 cores, 3.3-3.9 GHz, 6 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-6500 (Skylake, 4 cores, 3.2-3.6 GHz, 6 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-6400 (Skylake, 4 cores, 2.7-3.3 GHz, 6 MB L3);
Intel Core i7-4790K (Haswell, 4 cores + Hyper-Threading, 4.0-4.4 GHz, 8 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-4690K (Haswell, 4 cores, 3.5-3.9 GHz, 6 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-4590 (Haswell, 4 cores, 3.3-3.7 GHz, 6 MB L3);
Intel Core i5-4460 (Haswell, 4 cores, 3.2-3.4 GHz, 6 MB L3);
AMD FX-9590 (Vishera, 8 cores, 4.7-5.0 GHz, 8 MB L3).
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U14S.
Motherboards:
ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger (LGA 1151, Intel Z170);
ASUS Z97-Pro (LGA 1150, Intel Z97);
ASUS M5A99FX Pro R2.0 (Socket AM3 +, AMD 990FX + SB950).
Memory:
2x8 GB DDR3-2133 SDRAM, 9-11-11-31 (G.Skill F3-2133C9D-16GTX);
2x8 GB DDR4-2666 SDRAM, 15-15-15-35 (Corsair Vengeance LPX CMK16GX4M2A2666C16R).
Video card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (6 GB / 384-bit GDDR5, 1000-1076 / 7010 MHz).
Disk subsystem: Kingston HyperX Savage 480 GB (SHSS37A / 480G).
Power supply: Corsair RM850i \u200b\u200b(80 Plus Gold, 850 W).
Testing was performed on the Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise Build 10240 operating system using the following driver package:
AMD Chipset Drivers Crimson Edition;
Intel Chipset Driver 10.1.1.8;
Intel Management Engine Interface Driver 11.0.0.1157;
NVIDIA GeForce 355.98 Driver.
And before proceeding directly to the test results, we give screenshots of the diagnostic utility CPU-Z taken for all processors - the heroes of this review. Using them, you can once again clarify the characteristics of the four-core Skylake, not related to a series of overclocking processors.
Core i7-6700 Core i5-6600 Core i5-6500 Core i5-6400
Performance
Overall performanceTo assess the performance of processors in common tasks, we traditionally use the Bapco SYSmark test package, which simulates the user’s work in real common modern office programs and applications for creating and processing digital content. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe test is very simple: it produces the only metric that characterizes the average weighted speed of a computer in everyday use. After the release of the Windows 10 operating system, this benchmark was updated once again, and now we will use the latest version - SYSmark 2014 1.5.
Naturally, there can simply be no surprises in the performance of the quad-core Skylake generation. Firstly, due to the lower clock speed, they are somewhat slower than their overclocking counterparts. In particular, the Core i7-6700 is 8 percent behind the Core i7-6700K. However, at the same time, the Core i5-6600 runs at almost the same speed as the Core i5-6600K - the difference in the frequencies of these processors is not so noticeable. Secondly, Skylake generation processors are generally slightly more productive than Haswell processors. Their advantage is not fundamental in nature, but an approximately 3 percent difference between their results can be traced. Consequently, the new microarchitecture really compensates for the slightly reduced frequencies of new products.
However, you need to keep in mind that the indicator in SYSmark 2014 1.5 is a certain weighted average performance metric and in some situations the situation can radically differ. And we will see this later, in tests in applications.
A deeper understanding of the results of SYSmark 2014 1.5 can provide an introduction to the performance estimates obtained in various system usage scenarios. The Office Productivity scenario simulates typical office work: word processing, spreadsheet processing, email, and browsing. The script uses the following set of applications: Adobe Acrobat XI Pro, Google Chrome 32, Microsoft Excel 2013, Microsoft OneNote 2013, Microsoft Outlook 2013, Microsoft PowerPoint 2013, Microsoft Word 2013, WinZip Pro 17.5 Pro.
The Media Creation scenario simulates the creation of a commercial using pre-captured digital images and videos. The popular packages Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 and Trimble SketchUp Pro 2013 are used for this purpose.
The Data / Financial Analysis scenario is dedicated to statistical analysis and investment forecasting based on a certain financial model. The scenario uses large amounts of numerical data and two applications Microsoft Excel 2013 and WinZip Pro 17.5 Pro.
In the scenarios of Media Creation and Office Productivity, we see exactly the picture that we already described when analyzing the overall performance rating in SYSmark. However, the Data / Financial Analysis scenario brings some variety to the results. It arises due to the fact that with the intensive mathematical calculations that are simulated in this case, the senior Devil’s Canyon processor, Core i7-4790K, does a good job. And here it will be appropriate to recall that older Core i7 processors, aimed at an overclocking audience, traditionally receive significantly higher frequencies than the rest of the line. Like the Core i7-6700K, its predecessor, Core i7-4790K, has a clock frequency that has exceeded the 4-GHz mark, which distinguishes such processors in its families. However, despite all this, the Core i7-6700 is able to compete with the Core i7-4790K on an equal footing, which once again indicates the significance of the microarchitectural improvements made in Skylake.
Gaming performance
As you know, the performance of platforms equipped with high-performance processors in the vast majority of modern games is determined by the power of the graphics subsystem. That is why when testing processors, we select the most processor-dependent games, and we measure the number of frames twice. The first pass tests are performed without turning on smoothing and setting far from the highest resolutions. Such settings allow us to evaluate how well processors with game load work in principle, and therefore, allow us to speculate on how the tested computing platforms will behave in the future, when faster versions of graphics accelerators appear on the market. The second pass is performed with realistic settings - when choosing FullHD-resolution and the maximum level of full-screen anti-aliasing. In our opinion, such results are no less interesting, since they answer the frequently asked question about what level of gaming performance processors can provide right now - in modern conditions.
However, in this test we put together a powerful graphics subsystem based on the flagship graphics card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti. And as a result, in terms of games, the frame rate showed a dependence on processor performance even in FullHD resolution.
Results in FullHD resolution with maximum quality settings
Generally speaking, the gaming performance of systems based on Intel's quad-core processors does not differ too much. Still, the main influence on the frame rate in games is not provided by the central processor, but by the video card. And the power of modern quad-core processors (provided, of course, they were not designed by AMD engineers) is enough to unleash the performance of an arbitrarily expensive gaming single-processor video card.
However, some differences in gaming performance among the heroes of today's review can still be found. So, the Core i7 and Core i5 processors of the Skylake generation are able to produce a slightly higher frame rate compared to the equivalent processors of the Haswell generation. However, the senior from Devil’s Canyon still does not intend to give up his positions - his performance is higher than that of any non-excluser Skylake. As for the difference in speed of the new LGA 1151 processors with overclocking capabilities and without them, it is completely homeopathic in nature. And this means that for gaming systems, choosing a processor with the letter K in the name is only if you are going to do serious overclocking experiments.
Low Resolution Results
Decreased resolution allows you to see the game processor dependence more clearly. And, looking at these results, we can definitely say that the four-core Skylake processors are generally faster than their predecessors with equal prices. The gap is such that the youngest of the sixth generation Core i5 reaches the older Core i5 Haswell series in terms of speed. And the Core i7-6700 competes quite successfully with the Core i7-4790K.
It is also necessary to note a couple of noteworthy facts. The regular Core i5-6600 processor offers almost exactly the same level of gaming performance as its Core i5-6600K overclocking brother. However, such a parallel for the Core i7 can no longer be drawn. The flagship LGA 1151-processor Core i7-6700K is ahead of the only neo-Wclocker model of this series, Core i7-6700, by an average of 9 percent.
Testing in real games is completed by the results of the popular synthetic benchmark Futuremark 3DMark.
In the 3DMark test application, which has a rather noticeable processor dependence, the picture is slightly different. Overclocking Core i7 generations of Haswell and Skylake hold first places here, and Core i7-6700 only comes nearer to their result from below. In the Core i5 series, the difference in performance indicators between the representative of the K-series and his brother with the same number is much smaller. However, here you can also note the relatively small advantage that processors of the Skylake generation can offer. While during the tests of the older processors, representatives of the Skylake generation could boast about a 10% increase in performance compared to the predecessors of the Haswell generation, then in the case of the younger quad-core this gap is clearly less. The fact is that the rather strict scope of the heat package and problems with the production process have limited the clock speeds of the new quad core. As a result, their superiority is not too noticeable.
Application Tests
In Autodesk 3ds max 2016, we test the speed of the final rendering. Measures the time taken to render in 1920x1080 resolution using the mental ray renderer of one frame of a standard Hummer scene.
Another test of the final rendering is carried out by us using the popular free package for building three-dimensional graphics Blender 2.75a. In it, we measure the duration of the construction of the final model from Blender Cycles Benchmark rev4.
The performance of websites and Internet applications built using modern technologies is measured by us in the new Microsoft Edge browser 20.10240.16384.0. For this, the specialized test WebXPRT 2015 is used, which implements the algorithms actually used in Internet applications in HTML5 and JavaScript.
Performance testing when processing graphic images takes place in Adobe Photoshop CC 2015. The average execution time of a test script is measured, which is a creatively processed Retouch Artists Photoshop Speed \u200b\u200bTest, which includes the typical processing of four 24-megapixel images taken with a digital camera.
At the request of many amateur photographers, we tested performance in the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.1 graphics program. The test scenario includes post-processing and export to JPEG with a resolution of 1920x1080 and a maximum quality of two hundred 12-megapixel RAW-format images made by a Nikon D300 digital camera.
Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015 tests non-linear video editing performance. The time of rendering to the H.264 format of a Blu-ray project containing an HDV 1080p25 video sequence with superimposing various effects is measured.
To measure the speed of processors during information compression, we use the WinRAR 5.3 archiver, with which we archive a folder with various files with a total compression ratio of 1.7 GB with the maximum compression ratio.
The x264 FHD Benchmark 1.0.1 (64bit) test is used to estimate the speed of transcoding video to H.264 format, based on measuring the encoding time by the x264 encoder of the original video to MPEG-4 / AVC format with a resolution [email protected] and default settings. It should be noted that the results of this benchmark are of great practical importance, since the x264 encoder is the basis of many popular utilities for transcoding, for example, HandBrake, MeGUI, VirtualDub and so on. We periodically update the encoder used for performance measurements, and the r2638 version took part in this testing, which supports all modern instruction sets, including AVX2.
In addition, we added a new x265 encoder to the list of test applications designed to transcode video to the promising H.265 / HEVC format, which is a logical extension of H.264 and is characterized by more efficient compression algorithms. To assess performance, use the original [email protected] Y4M video file that is transcoded to H.265 format with medium profile. The release of the coder version 1.8 took part in this testing.
There are no surprises when testing the quad-core Skylake in demanding applications. Due to support for Hyper-Threading technology, Core i7 processors are noticeably faster than Core i5 processors, outperforming them by about 30 percent on average. At the same time, the Core i7-4790K, which belongs to the Haswell generation, looks quite good against the background of the new Skylake. Not only is it noticeably ahead of any six thousandth Core i5 series, but it also turns out to be able to compete with the Core i7-6700. However, the flagship Core i7-6700K is still clearly faster: the difference in average performance between it and the analog without the letter K at the end of the name is somewhere around 7 percent.
If we compare the processors inside the Core i5 series, then the difference between the overclocker flagship and the older CPU with a locked multiplier is almost invisible. And when comparing the performance of Haswell and Skylake, it is easy to see the following empirical principle: Skylake are similar in performance to Haswell from the next price step. That is, the Core i5-6500 is comparable to the Core i5-4690, and the Core i5-6400 is comparable to the Core i5-4590. The progress is small, but still pleasant: for the same price, Intel allows you to get about 6-8 percent higher performance than before.
Energy consumption
When measuring performance, we again did not see any cardinal differences between Haswell and Skylake. Yes, the performance of new products has become higher, but in general, it’s absolutely impossible to name the gain they received as cardinal. However, from the point of view of energy characteristics, changes can be much more noticeable. There are several prerequisites for this. Firstly, a more modern 14-nm process technology with second-generation three-dimensional transistors is used to manufacture Skylake processors. Secondly, the power converter, which was previously in the processor, has moved to the motherboard, which allows for more efficient circuits.From the point of view of formal characteristics, the calculated heat dissipation of the four-core Skylake is less than that of Haswell, by as much as 19 watts. Due to this, by the way, in the current CPU lineup, a series of processors with the letter S at the end of the model number has been eliminated. All regular Core i7 and Core i5 (with the exception of overclocking models) now have a TDP set to 65 watts. Previously, such processors formed a separate series, which processors were assigned artificially low frequencies. However, as we know, Intel TDP is a value that describes the actual power consumption and heat dissipation of processors only indirectly. How things are in reality, our traditional field experiment will show.
The new Corsair RM850i \u200b\u200bdigital power supply that we use in the test system allows us to monitor the consumed and supplied electric power, which we use for measurements. The following graph shows the total consumption of systems (without a monitor), measured “after” the power supply and representing the sum of the energy consumption of all components involved in the system. The efficiency of the power supply itself is not taken into account in this case. For the correct assessment of energy consumption, we activated the turbo mode and all the energy-saving technologies available for the processors.
Thanks to the introduction of deeper energy-saving modes, platforms built on Skylake processors began to consume significantly less than their predecessors even in idle conditions.
Profitability Skylake is also visible under load. However, when transcoding the video of the same 19-watt difference, which is promised in TDP, between Haswell and Skylake is not visible. Platforms based on the new quad core can save up to 10 watts at best.
The following diagram shows the maximum consumption under load created by the 64-bit version of LinX 0.6.5 utility with support for the AVX2 instruction set, which is based on the Linpack package, which is characterized by exorbitant energy appetites.
But with the heaviest load, the difference in the consumption of processors of different generations becomes more obvious. Even the Core i7-6700 is more economical than the Core i5-4690K, and the Core i5-6600 is inferior in consumption to the youngest four-core Haswell.
All this means that Skylake processors are significantly better than their predecessors in specific productivity in terms of each watt of energy consumed. And furthermore, if we compare the sixth generation quad-core processors we tested on this indicator, then the youngest representatives in the Core i5 and Core i7 series, that is, the Core i5-6400 and Core i7-6700, will be the best options.
Overclocking
If you follow what is happening on the overclocking arena, then you probably know that recently the attention of enthusiasts has turned to Skylake processors that are not related to the K-series, that is, that do not have unlocked multiplier coefficients. Previously, these processors were considered completely overclockable, but recent events have turned this view upside down. The fact is that leading motherboard manufacturers were finally able to figure out how to control the BCLK frequency of any Skylake processors, and not just overclocker versions. As a result, for some motherboards based on the Intel Z170 chipset, experimental versions of firmware appeared, in which the long-awaited possibility of overclocking any CPU through changing the frequency of the base generator was added.The history of the issue is as follows. In the latest generations of its processors, Intel began to allocate special overclocking products, the list of modifications of which is very limited, and the cost is higher than that of commonly used counterparts. Such processors are distinguished by the fact that their multipliers, by which the operating frequency is formed, are not blocked at the hardware level and due to this they can be changed through the BIOS Setup of the motherboard at the request of the user. Non-overclocking CPUs are deprived of such an opportunity.
However, do not forget that the clock frequency at which the processor operates is a product of two parameters - the multiplier and the base frequency. And while the multiplier in conventional processors that are not intended for overclocking is tightly blocked, there still remains an alternative way for overclocking - by increasing the base frequency of the BCLK. The only problem is that in the latest Intel platforms for Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge and Haswell processors, the BCLK frequency is tightly connected with other frequencies in the system, for example, the DMI and PCI Express bus frequencies, which even lose a little deviation from the nominal values to normal work. As a result, increasing the BCLK frequency by more than 3-5 percent usually leads to a distortion of the data transmitted over the buses and causes instability or complete inoperability of the system.
But with the release of Skylake processors and the LGA 1151 platform, the familiar situation has changed. In this platform, the PCI Express bus and the chipset are allocated in a separate domain, the frequency of which remains fixed regardless of how the BCLK changes. Only in-processor components remained rigidly tied to the base frequency BCLK: computing cores, cache, integrated graphics core, memory controller and other Uncore-components that can carry its noticeable increase.
However, the first experiments on overclocking Skylake processors that are not related to the K-series did not bear any fruit. Despite all this, Intel was able to implement BCLK overclocking protection, which with conventional Skylake processors did not allow raising the base frequency above 103-104 MHz. But fortunately, as it turned out now, this protection is not hardware in nature, and can be bypassed at the software level. In other words, motherboard manufacturers, with a certain desire, can bypass this protection through BIOS.
The first breakthrough in this direction was made by Supermicro - it was on the C7H170-M motherboard of this company that the fundamental possibility of working with Skylake non-WLC processors with a greatly increased BCLK frequency was demonstrated. And after Supermicro, other companies quickly implemented similar functionality. To date, almost all the flagship motherboards ASUS, ASRock, Biostar and MSI have acquired experimental BIOS versions, which add the full ability to control the BCLK frequency for non-K processors.
However, not everything is so simple. Obviously, at the moment, the overclocking function of neo -clocker processors is still not fully developed. In particular, increasing their BCLK frequency leads to blocking some of the energy-saving opportunities and not only. Moreover, the list of unresolved problems is by no means small. Here's what catches your eye when overclocking non-K processors in the first place:
The processor ceases to switch to energy-saving states (C-states) and always operates at the maximum frequency and at the maximum supply voltage. Intel Enhanced SpeedStep technology also turns out to be inoperative.
The possibility of temperature monitoring using the sensors integrated in the CPU disappears. Any tools that allow you to control the thermal regime of the processor always return a temperature of 100 degrees for its cores.
Turbo Boost technology loses its functionality.
The graphics core integrated into the processor refuses to work.
Stability is lost at high memory frequencies.
Significantly reduced execution speed of AVX / AVX2 instructions. The speed of the algorithms actively working with these vector commands can even drop several times.
In addition, there is a non-zero probability that many of these problems cannot be resolved in principle. And overclocking processors that were not originally intended for overclocking will still not be as simple and efficient as in the case of using special CPUs related to the K-series. Nevertheless, we nevertheless decided not to ignore the promising opportunities that were discovered and tried to overclock our test processors by increasing the frequency of BCLK. Fortunately, a specialized unofficial version of the firmware has recently been released for the ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger motherboard that we use in the test system, which allows using overclocker processors to overclock by manipulating the base frequency.
Let’s make a reservation right away, our acceleration tests through changing the BCLK frequency were of an approximate nature. For the lack of an official release version of the BIOS, talking about some final overclocking results is clearly premature. In addition, it causes certain problems and checking the stability of the system. If temperature control is still somehow possible with the help of sensors available on the motherboard, creating extreme processor load is far from simple. All common stability checking tools like Linpack or Prime95 actively use AVX instructions, since it is vector commands that make the processor heat up especially hard. However, when overclocking non-K processors, such instructions are executed at a slower pace and no longer generate high CPU heat. Therefore, relying on stability in ordinary resource-intensive applications such as final rendering, but stable operation in them does not give a full guarantee of stability.
Nevertheless, despite all these problems and the fact that we didn’t especially try to squeeze out all the juices from the available CPU instances, the overclocking results were very encouraging.
Core i7-6700 with an increase in the frequency of BCLK to 136 MHz and an increase in the supply voltage to 1.36 V was able to work at a frequency above 4.6 GHz.
Core i5-6600 with a similar increase in supply voltage subdued the frequency of 4.5 GHz. In this case, the BCLK frequency was the same 136 MHz.
The Core i5-6500 has a slightly worse overclocking potential. He at a voltage of 1.36 V worked stably only at a frequency of 4.4 GHz. The frequency of BCLK was 138 MHz.
It would seem that the above results indicate problems with increasing the base frequency above 136-137 MHz, but the Core i5-6400 has denied this. This processor was able to work stably during overclocking to 4.5 GHz, which, given its low multiplier, required an increase in the BCLK frequency to 167 MHz.
I must say that the results of overclocking neo-Wclocker CPUs in absolute terms turned out to be slightly worse than typical K-series processors. However, the difference is very small. More importantly, overclocking processors like the Core i5-6400 is still much more profitable in relative terms. As experiments show, the frequency of the younger quad-core can be increased by more than one and a half times. In other words, the true effective overclocking is back!
conclusions
Initially, the testing of the younger quad-core generation of Skylake promised to be completely pass-through material. Just think, what could be of interest in processors that are inferior to Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K in clock frequency and also do not support overclocking? However, interesting, as it turned out, a lot of them.First of all, it should be said about performance. The younger Core i5 processors of the Skylake generation, which are the Core i5-6400 and Core i5-6500, received slightly lower clock speeds compared to Haswell's four-core predecessors. However, despite this, they still give the best performance, which is ensured by their more advanced microarchitecture. According to testing, if you compare Skylake and Haswell at the same cost, LGA 1151-new products offer about 6-8 percent superior in speed. As for the Core i5-6600, it can be swung even higher - in terms of performance it is almost equivalent to the Core i5-6600K, which is $ 19 more expensive.
The oldest of the non-overclocker quad-core reviewed today, Core i7-6700, fits into the overall picture a little differently. It is about 7 percent inferior in speed to the flagship Skylake, Core i7-6700K. However, this is actually a good result: support for Hyper-Threading technology makes the Core i7-6700 an offer of a higher class compared to any Core i5, including compared to the Core i5-6600K. At the same time, the price of the Core i7-6700 is lower than that of the Core i7-6700K, very significantly - by $ 38.
In addition to good performance, neo-claster quad-core processors also boast their remarkable cost-effectiveness. Their TDP is set to 65 watts for a reason. Previously, processors with such heat dissipation could even be classified as a special S-class, but now better than usual energy efficiency can be obtained in ordinary models for the LGA 1151 platform. As a result, the younger Skylake with four computing cores we are confidently fighting for the rank of processors with the best performance to date, in terms of each watt of energy expended.
But the most interesting: the processors Core i7-6700, Core i5-6600, Core i5-6500 and Core i5-6400 can even be overclocked! Of course, with this procedure, they are not so simple as the K-series overclocking processors: special boards are required, some functions must be sacrificed, and the overclocking result is slightly lower. But nevertheless, for many enthusiastic users it may be quite enough the capabilities available for the younger four-core CPUs, especially since overclocking with obstacles is even more interesting. Therefore, the younger quad-core can significantly save even when building configurations aimed at overclocking.
In conclusion, it remains only to add that Intel does not have any problems with mass deliveries of Skylake generation processors with four cores. They are widely represented on sale, and their prices are not inflated by sellers, as is often the case with the Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K. In other words, if you are going to switch to Skylake and want to build a productive system with a quad-core CPU, you should not write off options like Core i7-6700, Core i5-6600, Core i5-6500 and Core i5-6400.
The Core i5-6400 processor, the price of a new one on amazon and ebay is 12 821 rubles, which is $ 221. It is marked by the manufacturer as: BX80662I56400.
The number of cores - 4, is produced by 14 nm process technology, Skylake architecture.
The base frequency of the Core i5-6400 cores is 2.7 GHz. The maximum frequency in Intel Turbo Boost mode reaches 3.3 GHz. Please note that the Intel Core i5-6400 cooler should cool processors with a TDP of at least 65 watts at standard frequencies. When overclocking, requirements increase.
Motherboard for Intel Core i5-6400 must be with FCLGA1151 socket. The power system must withstand processors with a thermal package of at least 65 watts.
Thanks to the integrated Intel® HD Graphics 530 video core, the computer can work without a discrete graphics card because the monitor is connected to the video output on the motherboard.
Price in Russia
Want to buy a Core i5-6400 cheaply? See a list of stores that already sell a processor in your city.Family
ShowIntel Core i5-6400 Test
The data is obtained from tests of users who tested their systems both in overclocking and without. Thus, you see the average values \u200b\u200bcorresponding to the processor.
Numerical speed
Different tasks require different CPU strengths. A system with a small number of fast cores is perfect for games, but gives way to a system with a large number of slow cores in a rendering scenario.
We believe that a processor with a minimum of 4 cores / 4 threads is suitable for a budget gaming computer. At the same time, individual games can load it 100% and slow down, and the performance of any tasks in the background will lead to a drawdown of the FPS.
Ideally, the buyer should strive for a minimum of 6/6 or 6/12, but keep in mind that systems with more than 16 threads are now applicable only in professional tasks.
The data was obtained from tests of users who tested their systems both in overclocking (maximum value in the table), and without (minimum). A typical result is shown in the middle; in the color bar, the position among all tested systems is indicated.
Accessories
motherboards
- HP Specter x360 Convertible
- Microsoft surface go
- Asus P8H77-V LE
- Dell Latitude 7280
- HP Laptop 14-cm0xxx
- Cyberpoer MEGABOOK
- Acer Aspire E1-530
Video cards
- No data
RAM
- No data
SSD
- No data
We have compiled a list of components that users most often choose when assembling a computer based on the Core i5-6400. Also with these components the best test results and stable performance are achieved.
Most popular config: motherboard for Intel Core i5-6400 - HP Specter x360 Convertible.
Specifications
The main
| Manufacturer | Intel |
| Description Information about the processor, taken from the official website of the manufacturer. | Intel® Core ™ i5-6400 Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.30 GHz) |
| Architecture The code name for the generation of microarchitecture. | Skylake |
| Date of issue The month and year the processor appeared on sale. | 01-2016 |
| Model The official name. | i5-6400 |
| Cores The number of physical cores. | 4 |
| Streams The number of threads. The number of logical processor cores that the operating system sees. | 4 |
| Base frequency Guaranteed frequency of all processor cores at maximum load. Performance in single-threaded and multi-threaded applications, games depends on it. It is important to remember that speed and frequency are not directly related. For example, a new processor at a lower frequency may be faster than an old processor at a higher frequency. | 2.7 GHz |
| Turbo Frequency The maximum frequency of one processor core in turbo mode. Manufacturers made it possible for the processor to independently increase the frequency of one or more cores under heavy load, so that the speed increases. Strongly affects the speed in games and applications that demand CPU frequency. | 3.3 GHz |
| L3 Cache Capacity The cache of the third level works as a buffer between the RAM of the computer and the cache of the 2nd level of the processor. Used by all cores, the speed of information processing depends on the volume. | 6 MB |
| Instructions | 64-bit |
| Instructions They allow you to speed up the calculation, processing and execution of certain operations. Also, some games require instruction support. | SSE4.1 / 4.2, AVX 2.0 |
| Process technology Manufacturing process, measured in nanometers. The smaller the process technology, the more perfect the technology, lower heat dissipation and energy consumption. | 14 nm |
| Bus frequency The speed of data exchange with the system. | 8 GT / s DMI3 |
| Maximum TDP Thermal Design Power - an indicator that determines the maximum heat dissipation. A cooler or water cooling system must be designed for an equal or greater value. Remember that with overclocking, TDP grows significantly. | 65 watts |
| Cooling System Specifications | PCG 2015C (65W) |
Video core
| Integrated graphics core Allows you to use a computer without a discrete graphics card. The monitor connects to the video output on the motherboard. If earlier integrated graphics made it easy to work at a computer, today it is able to replace budget video accelerators and makes it possible to play most games at low settings. | Intel® HD Graphics 530 |
| GPU Base Frequency Frequency of work in 2D and idle mode. | 350 MHz |
| GPU Base Frequency Frequency in 3D under maximum load. | 950 MHz |
| Intel® Wireless Display (Intel® WiDi) Supports Wi-Fi 802.11n Wireless Display Technology. Thanks to it, a monitor or TV equipped with the same technology does not require a cable for connection. | Yes |
| Supported monitors The maximum number of monitors that can simultaneously be connected to the integrated video core. | 3 |
RAM
| Maximum RAM The amount of RAM that can be installed on the motherboard with this processor. | 64 GB |
| Supported RAM Type The frequency and timings (speed), availability, price depend on the type of RAM. | DDR4-1866 / 2133, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.35V |
| RAM channels Thanks to the multi-channel memory architecture, the data transfer speed is increased. On desktop platforms are available: two-channel, three-channel and four-channel modes. | 2 |
| RAM bandwidth | 34.1 GB / s |
| ECC memory Error correction memory support, which is used on servers. Usually more expensive than usual and requires more expensive server components. However, used server processors, Chinese motherboards and ECC memory slots, which are relatively cheaply sold in China, have gained popularity. | Not. Or we have not yet managed to note support. |
Test stand:
- Processor: Core i5-6400, Core i3-6300T
- CPU cooler: Corsair H110i GT
- Motherboard: ASUS Z170 PRO Gaming
- Video Card:AMD Radeon R9 Nano , 4 GB HBM
- RAM: DDR4-2133 (15-15-15-36), 2x 8 GB
- Storage: OCZ Vertex 3, 360 GB
- Power Supply: Corsair HX850i, 850 W
- Periphery:Samsung U28D590D , ROCCAT ARVO, ROCCAT SAVU
- Operating System: Windows 10 x64
A few suggestions on competition. Disputes over the choice of the Intel platform for assembling the gaming system unit from scratch do not cease. Our rubric “Computer of the month” will serve as proof. With a budget of 50-60 thousand rubles, it is really possible to assemble a gaming computer with Core i5. But which platform to choose? On the one hand, there is a Core i5-6400 for LGA1151. On the other hand, the sale is full of Core i5-4460 for LGA1150. There are several arguments: the processors are the same, the Haswell chip operates at a higher clock frequency, switching to Skylake will cost more. Therefore, one of the main motives for this testing was the comparison of the Core i5-6400 and Core i5-4460 in all planes.
The Core i3-6300T is opposed to the Core i3-4130. This is a rather old Haswell-processor, released in the third quarter of 2013, but is comparable with the energy-efficient T-model in frequency.
Let's start with the test of RAM. In the stand for Haswell processors, a dual-channel DDR3-1600 set was used with timings of 9-9-9-28. It is such a memory controller that is integrated into all fourth-generation Core processors. Not surprisingly, in the AIDA64 test, Skylake chips were noticeably faster than Haswell, because their built-in DDR4 controller supports RAM with an effective frequency of 2133 MHz. However, in real applications, as our experiment showed, the difference between DDR3-1600 and DDR4-2133 is almost not felt. The current generation of RAM is ruined by very high latencies.
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Specifications
| Warnings | |
| WARNING | Will not work on 1151 boards designed for the 8 Series CPU (Coffee Lake). |
| Main characteristics | |
| Manufacturer | INTEL |
| Series | 6th generation Core i5 |
| Model | Core i5-6400 Processor find a similar processor |
| Processor package | OEM |
| Appointment | Desktop pc |
| Description (continued) | Desktop processor |
| CPU bus frequency | 8 GT / s (DMI3) |
| Type of equipment | Desktop processor |
| Description | Enhanced Halt State (C1E), Enhanced Intel Speedstep Technology, EVP (Enhanced Virus Protection / Execute Disable Bit), Intel Virtualization Technology (VT-x), Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I / O (VT-d), NX / XD / Execute disable bit, AES hardware accelerated encryption, Instruction set: FMA3, 3-operand Fused Multiply-Add, instruction sets: SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4.2, AVX extensions, AVX 2.0 extensions |
| Power dissipation | 65 watts |
| OS support | Windows 10 (64 bit only), Windows 8.1 (64 bit only), Windows 7 |
| CPU | |
| CPU frequency | 2.7 GHz or up to 3.3 GHz in Turbo Boost mode |
| CPU Socket | Socket LGA1151 compatible motherboards |
| Nucleus | Skylake-s cPU core specifications |
| Max. number of processors on the motherboard | 1 |
| L1 cache | 64 Kb x4 |
| L2 cache | 256 KB x4 |
| L3 cache | 6 Mb |
| 64 bit support | Yes |
| Number of Cores | 4 |
| Number of threads | 4 |
| Multiplication | 27 |
| Video | |
| CPU video core | Intel HD Graphics 530 |
| GPU frequency | 350 MHz or up to 0.95 GHz maximum |
| Number of PCI-Express Lanes | 16 |
| Maximum screen resolution | 4096 x 2304 @ 24 Hz when connecting an HDMI monitor, 4096 x 2304 @ 60 Hz when connecting a DisplayPort monitor |
| Max. number of connected monitors | 3 |
| Graphics card configuration | |
| Number of Shader Processors | 24 |
| Memory support | |
| Type of memory supported | DDR4, LV DDR3, dual channel controller compatible memory |
| Officially Supported Memory Standards | PC4-17000 (DDR4 2133 MHz), PC4-15000 (DDR4 1866 MHz), PC3-12800 (DDR3 1600 MHz), PC3-10600 (DDR3 1333 MHz) |
| Max RAM | 64 GB |
| ECC Support | Not |
| Configuration | |
| Process technology | 14 nm |
| Logistics | |
| Package Dimensions (measured at NYX) | 3.75 x 3.75 x 0.5 cm |
| Gross Weight (measured at NYX) | 0.03 kg |
| Packing dimensions for the rangefinder (measured at NYX) | 3.75 x 3.75 x 0.5 cm |
| Gross weight by weight (measured in NYX) | 0.03 kg |
The characteristics, scope of delivery and appearance of this product may differ from those indicated or may be changed by the manufacturer without reflection in the NICS - Computer Supermarket catalog.
Information on the prices of goods and equipment indicated on the site is not an offer in the sense defined by the provisions of Art. 435 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Options, Consumables, and Accessories for INTEL Core i5-6400 Processor OEM
Reviews
We tried to make the description as good as possible so that your choice would be unmistakable and informed, but because we may not have exploited this product, we only felt it from all sides, and after you buy it, try it in work, your review can make this world better, if your review is really useful, we will publish it and give it you have the opportunity to make the next purchase with us in the 2nd column.
— CPU for win7.
5 Gaydaychuk Alexey Sergeevich 16-08-2019
INTEL Core i5 6th Generation Core i5-6500 Processor
Advantages:
Perhaps the main plus, if you forget that this is Intel, is compatibility with win 7.
Disadvantages:
Well, as always, the price of intel ...
excellent universal solution for any needs and tasks
5 Kasatkin Evgeny Borisovich 30-11-2018
INTEL Core i5 6th Generation Core i5-6600 Processor - Great pebble!
5 Sergei 15-09-2017
Device Owner Rating: INTEL Core i5 6th Generation Core i5-6600 Processor
Advantages:
Fast, cold, great!
Disadvantages:
The regular cooler is still rather weak. Even MX-4 paste does not help; under loads, the temperature creeps up. So I advise you to take a separate pebble and a separate cooling system.
INTEL Core i5 6th Generation Core i5-6400 Processor - Satisfied with the processor
5 Karnyukhin A.S. 19-06-2017
Device Owner Rating: INTEL Core i5 6th Generation Core i5-6400 Processor
Advantages:
Suitable processor for an adequate price. Plus, here the price was lower at the time of purchase than in other stores
Disadvantages:
It can be attributed only to the fact that this is the previous generation, but it is still coping. I hope the socket does not change in the next iteration
INTEL Core i5 6th Generation Core i5-6500 Processor - Fast delivery, great product
5 Mironov Dmitry 18-04-2017
Device Owner Rating: INTEL Core i5 6th Generation Core i5-6500 Processor
Advantages:
An excellent performance indicator in Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects with a bunch of mother ASUS- H170, the old video GTX550TI, actually took this. All the way, cold, fast rendering of 3D compositions, quick conversion, in a word, to work with video just LUSYA.
Disadvantages:
I haven’t found any shortcomings yet, but as always, there are complaints about our mail, with 100% prepayment and sending EMC 1 class, you have to go and get it yourself.
6th Generation INTEL Core i5 Core i5-6500 Processor - Great
5 Paul 07-03-2017
Device Owner Rating: INTEL Core i5 6th Generation Core i5-6500 Processor
Advantages:
1) It is practically not heated, the temperature is from 30 during normal use to 37 in games; 2) Very smart.
Disadvantages:
not found
Performance Comparison and Test Results
To help you make an informed choice, the processor has been tested at the NIX Computer Supermarket on 12/18/2017. Test results are clearly displayed in a diagram and two tables.
Intel Core i5-6400 - the youngest and, accordingly, the most affordable model of the Skylake generation Core i5 processor series. The i5-6400 with a frequency of 2.7 GHz costs an average of $ 190, while for the i5-6500 at 3.3 GHz they are already asking for $ 230. For this amount, in addition to the processor itself, you get a cooler, albeit not silent, but quite sufficient to remove 65 W of heat.
Four means four
All Core i5 desktop models are real quad, while the younger Core i3 only have two physical cores, and two more cores are virtual. therefore Core i5 is about one and a half times faster than Core i3. Most of the difference is felt in professional applications and processor-dependent games, such as Battlefield 4, Arma 3, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, etc.
Auto acceleration in addition
The nominal frequency of the Core i5-6400 is relatively low - 2.7 GHz, but the technology of guaranteed automatic acceleration Turbo Boost comes to the rescue. So, under load on all cores, the processor accelerates to 3.1 GHz, and with a load of only one core - up to 3.3 GHz. As a result, we can recommend the i5-6400 for assembling an advanced gaming PC with a video card of the level of Radeon RX 480, GeForce GTX 1060 and more powerful.
