Skylake-K Released and Benchmarked

[SameSelf]

For those of you hankering to upgrade, Intel has finally released two desktop versions of their Skylake 6th Gen CPU: the i7-6700K and i5-6600K. And Anandtech (the only benchmarking site that I trust) has released their review. Personally, I am not going to be upgrading my 3770K just yet. But none-the-less this is a good sign. We have been waiting for what seems like forever for a desktop version of Skylake.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation

It is a thorough review that tests how well the CPUs perform on Cinebench, Handbrake, and even Hybrid 4K encoding using x265.

[hello_hello]

Finally..... I wonder how long it'll take them to reach Australia? I'm quite keen to build a new PC while at the same time dreading it. I hate installing Windows and software etc.

[SameSelf]

In this globally connected world, why do you need for it to make it's way to Australia? Just curious. I will be passing on these SKUs. I am personally waiting for Skylake-E in 2016.

I hate rebuilding my machine too. But so is waiting 30 hours for a video to finish encode. Shaving encoding time by a few hours is worth it to me.

Also, make sure you have a decent disk imaging program. I use O&O Disk Image, but there are lots of others. I test and retest my builds to make sure everything works. This way I have no fear of the full nuclear option (format c: ) if something starts to act weird. One of the benefits of DIY.

[hello_hello]

I can't be bothered buying parts for a new PC from multiple places, but I just checked the price list from my local PC shop and the i5-6600K & i7-6700K are both listed and appear to be in stock.

I'm not sure I see the value in the "E" processors. My local shop has the i5-6600K & i7-6700K listed at $395 & $559 respectively. Currently the prices for the i7-5820K, i7-5930K and i7-5960X are $559, $825, & $1489. I haven't looked at comparison benchmarks but for 4 cores at $559 vs 8 cores at $1489 I'm pretty sure I'd prefer to buy two 4 core CPUs and build a second computer.

Skylake-E is still a year away and I've put off building a new PC far too long anyway.

[SameSelf]

I can't be bothered buying parts for a new PC from multiple places, but I just checked the price list from my local PC shop and the i5-6600K & i7-6700K are both listed and appear to be in stock.

I'm not sure I see the value in the "E" processors. My local shop has the i5-6600K & i7-6700K listed at $395 & $559 respectively. Currently the prices for the i7-5820K, i7-5930K and i7-5960X are $559, $825, & $1489. I haven't looked at comparison benchmarks but for 4 cores at $559 vs 8 cores at $1489 I'm pretty sure I'd prefer to buy two 4 core CPUs and build a second computer.

Skylake-E is still a year away and I've put off building a new PC far too long anyway.

Are those Aussie dollars? Because those prices are definitely rich. Newegg prices in the US are:

5960X $1,049
5930K $569
5820K $390

Only the i5 is listed for Skylake:
6600K $250

If I knew I could save nearly $500 on a PC part, I would be pleased as punch sourcing from multiple suppliers.

Everyone needs to assess their own situation on whether an upgrade is worth the money. I have an Ivybridge i7-3770K and according to this I would gain about 25% to 30% in x264 fps. For me, the main reason I am targeting the Extreme is I am moving over to 4K soon. But I am not interested in Haswell-E.

This benchmarking article perfectly illustrates the benefit of the Extreme series especially for 4K video using x265. For multi-threaded applications, the additional cores makes a difference. But the cost can be prohibitive. I estimate based on the 5960X benchmarking that a Skylake-E could potentially be a 2X increase over my 3770K in 4K x265 encode speeds. That to me is worth it.

[hello_hello]

Are those Aussie dollars?

Yeah, Aussie dollars. I've no idea what the exchange rate is at the moment. I probably should check it out.

[SameSelf]

Ahh that makes sense then. The current rate is ~76 cents USD for $1 AUD. Although still a little bit of premium. I don't know if Newegg ships internationally or what it would cost, but right now the spread after FX for a 5960X is $109 AUD. However, you are close to Asia where all the stuff is fabbed anyway. So I imagine there are some Asian suppliers that would offer even better prices.