Skylake for Notebooks: Core i7-6700HQ and i7-6820HK Review
For the original German article, see here.
After Intel's Skylake generation has been available for desktops for a couple of weeks now, the manufacturers now launch the first notebooks based on the new micro architecture. A total of 28 different models were announced in the beginning of September, and today we test two of the fastest quad-core chips – the Core i7-6700HQ and Core i7-6820HK. Based on these two models we want to have a first look at the CPU as well as GPU performance of the Skylake series and also evaluate the progress in respect of the power efficiency.
Model Overview
Intel announced a total of eight quad-core processors at the launch of the mobile Skylake generation, including two Xeon models for professional workstation notebooks as well as two Core i5 chips without Hyper-Threading support. The remaining four CPUs are Core i7 chips, besides our two review models i7-6700HQ and i7-6820HK you can get the i7-6820HQ as well as the temporarily top model i7-6920HQ.
Model | Cores/Threads | Nominal Clock | Turbo 1C/2C/4C | GPU | TDP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Skylake | |||||
i7-6920HQ | 4/8 | 2.9 GHz | 3.8/3.6/3.4 GHz | HD Graphics 530 (350 - 1050 MHz) | 45 Watts |
i7-6820HQ | 4/8 | 2.7 GHz | 3.6/3.4/3.2 GHz | HD Graphics 530 (350 - 1050 MHz) | 45 Watts |
i7-6820HK | 4/8 | 2.7 GHz | 3.6/3.4/3.2 GHz | HD Graphics 530 (350 - 1050 MHz) | 45 Watts |
i7-6700HQ | 4/8 | 2.6 GHz | 3.5/3.3/3.1 GHz | HD Graphics 530 (350 - 1050 MHz) | 45 Watts |
Broadwell (Excerpt) | |||||
i7-5700HQ | 4/8 | 2.7 GHz | 3.5/3.5/3.5 GHz | HD Graphics 5600 (300 - 1050 MHz) | 47 Watts |
Haswell (Excerpt) | |||||
i7-4940MX | 4/8 | 3.1 GHz | 4.0/3.9/3.8 GHz | HD Graphics 4600 (400 - 1350 MHz) | 57 Watts |
i7-4910MQ | 4/8 | 2.9 GHz | 3.9/3.8/3.7 GHz | HD Graphics 4600 (400 - 1300 MHz) | 47 Watts |
i7-4810MQ | 4/8 | 2.8 GHz | 3.8/3.7/3.6 GHz | HD Graphics 4600 (400 - 1300 MHz) | 47 Watts |
i7-4720HQ | 4/8 | 2.6 GHz | 3.6/3.5/3.4 GHz | HD Graphics 4600 (400 - 1200 MHz) | 47 Watts |
You can immediately see some special characteristics when you look at the specs of the new CPUs: Among others, the mobile Skylake chips use much lower clocks compared to Haswell and Broadwell, especially when you utilize all four cores. The quad-core Turbo of the Core i7-6700HQ, for example, is just 3.1 GHz and much lower than the predecessors Core i7-4720HQ (Haswell, 3.4 GHz) and Core i7-5700HQ (Broadwell, 3.5 GHz). Even though the per-MHz performance was slightly increased: Bigger performance jumps are not very likely.
Another surprise is the lack of the so called Extreme Edition models, which represented the high-end models of the portfolio so far. There is still a CPU with a free multiplier called Core i7-6820HK, but TDP and nominal clocks are once again much lower than the old chips. Still, Intel claims that the 6820HK was already overclocked to 4.2 GHz with air-cooling during internal tests, which would make a worthy – and also much more inexpensive – successor to the 4940MX.
The Review Devices
We performed the following benchmarks of the Core i7-6700HQ and i7-6820HK with two Clevo barebones, but unfortunately we cannot give you any more details about the systems at this time. Both review devices were equipped with 2x 8 GB DDR4-2400 memory as well as a PCIe-SSD from Samsung running Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) as well as the Intel graphics driver 10.18.15.4256.
We included the two desktop CPUs Core i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K for comparison purposes. They were also tested in Clevo barebones, more precisely the models P771DM (Schenker XMG U706) as well as P751DM (Schenker XMG U506). Both devices were also equipped with 2x 8 GB DDR4-2400 PCIe-SSDs and will be reviewed separately soon.
All other measurements for several Broadwell and Haswell systems are from older reviews, which is why we cannot ensure a similar hardware or software equipment. More details on the corresponding devices are available in the legend or the related reviews, respectively.
Benchmarks
CPU Performance
On average, Skylake is around 10% faster than the old Haswell architecture and still around 5% faster than the Broadwell predecessor in all benchmarks when the chips are running at the same frequency. That the Core i7-6820HK still is not at the top of all the rankings is a result of the comparatively low clocks that we already mentioned. The Broadwell Core i7-5700HQ quad-core is just ahead in multi-core scenarios thanks to the 300 MHz higher Turbo for four active cores, while the 4.0 GHz i7-4940MX dominates the single-thread tests. Still, the performance differences are usually very small, so users will have a hard time noticing a difference between a fast Haswell, Broadwell and Skylake quad-core.
By the way, the defensive clocks of the Skylake chips also have advantages: Combined with the advanced 14 nm manufacturing process, you get a pretty low power consumption, so both the Core i7-6700HQ as well as the i7-6820HK do not reach their TDP limit of 45 Watts when you only stress the CPU. This means that the specified Turbo Boost can be maintained even under maximum load, which was not the case for many Haswell chips. The often questionable performance gains of the fastest Core i7 models that were throttled by their TDP limit should be much bigger with Skylake – particularly for the top model i7-6920HQ.
We obviously tested the overclocking capabilities of the Core i7-6820HK in practice and set all Turbo speeds to 4.0 GHz via Intel's XTU tool. The result is a performance gain between 10 up to 20%, which means the CPU is almost on par with the desktop model Core i7-6700K (4.0 - 4.2 GHz). With good cooling conditions, optimized voltages (we worked with "Adaptive Core Voltage") and the increase of the maximum currents ("Core IccMax") there should be even more performance gains.
Cinebench R11.5 | |
CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K | |
CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
Cinebench R15 | |
CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K | |
CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
X264 HD Benchmark 4.0 | |
Pass 1 (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K | |
Pass 2 (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
TrueCrypt | |
AES Mean 100MB (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K | |
Twofish Mean 100MB (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K | |
Serpent Mean 100MB (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
WinRAR - Result (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
Super Pi Mod 1.5 XS 32M - 32M (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
3DMark 06 - CPU - CPU Score (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-5700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-4940MX | |
Intel Core i7-4930MX | |
Intel Core i7-4800MQ | |
Intel Core i7-4720HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
Geekbench 3 | |
64 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K | |
64 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK @ 4 GHz | |
Intel Core i7-6820HK | |
Intel Core i7-6700HQ | |
Intel Core i7-6700K | |
Intel Core i5-6600K |
* ... smaller is better
GPU Performance
Intel equips the Skylake generation with four different graphics solutions based on the "Gen9 architecture":
- GT1 (12 EUs, no eDRAM): HD Graphics (Skylake), HD Graphics 510
- GT2 (24 EUs, no eDRAM): HD Graphics 515, HD Graphics 520, HD Graphics 530
- GT3e (48 EUs, 64 MB eDRAM): Iris Graphics 540, Iris Graphics 550
- GT4e (72 EUs, 128 MB eDRAM): Iris Pro Graphics 580 (?)
The GT2 version of the tested quad-core chips with the designation HD Graphics 530 is therefore the second smallest configuration of the GPU and is the successor of the HD Graphics 4600 (20 EUs, Intel Gen7.5, Haswell) as well as HD Graphics 5600 (24 EUs, Intel Gen8, Broadwell). Thanks to several design optimizations, performance and power efficiency are supposed to be once again improved, and the graphics unit also benefits from the new support for DDR4 memory.
The resulting performance gains are actually pretty decent and are somewhere between 25 - 30% compared to the HD Graphics 4600 – with some outliers in both directions. Even though this only translates to a performance advantage of 5% over the newer HD Graphics 5600, the HD Graphics 530 manages a reasonable performance on par with a dedicated Nvidia GeForce 920M. This means you can play many current titles smoothly if you can live with lower resolutions and settings. More details will probably require the GT4e version with three times more shaders and 128 MB eDRAM that is expected for 2016.
Unfortunately, we encountered some problems during our tests, starting with inexplicably low frame rates (Counter Strike: GO, GTA V, Watch Dogs, LuxMark) all the way up to reproducible crashes (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare). We suspect that this is not (only) an problem of the Intel graphics driver, but that there are also some issues in combination with Optimus (all Skylake test models were equipped with a dedicated Nvidia GPU, which was deactivated for our measurements) and we will try to repeat corresponding benchmarks with upcoming review units.
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M |
3DMark - 1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M |
Fifa 15 | |
1280x720 Low Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 High Preset AA:2x MS (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Sims 4 | |
1366x768 Medium Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
GRID: Autosport | |
1366x768 Medium Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
1920x1080 High Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M |
BioShock Infinite | |
1280x720 Very Low Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 High Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Tomb Raider | |
1024x768 Low Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Normal Preset AA:FX AF:4x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 High Preset AA:FX AF:8x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Diablo III | |
1024x768 Low / off (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
1366x768 Medium / low (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
1366x768 High AA:on (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M |
Crysis 3 | |
1024x768 Low Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Preset AF:16x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 High Preset AA:FX AF:16x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Metro: Last Light | |
1024x768 Low (DX10) AF:4x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium (DX10) AF:4x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 High (DX11) AF:16x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Thief | |
1024x768 Very Low Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Normal Preset AA:FX (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 High Preset AA:FXAA & Low SS AF:4x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Evolve | |
1024x768 Low Graphics Quality (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Graphics Quality (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Graphics Quality AA:FX (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Battlefield Hardline | |
1024x768 Low Graphics Quality (DX11) (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Graphics Quality (DX11) (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Graphics Quality (DX11) (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Dirt Rally | |
1024x768 Ultra Low Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Civilization: Beyond Earth | |
1024x768 Minimum Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Battlefield 4 | |
1024x768 Low Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 High Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Watch Dogs | |
1024x768 Low Overall Quality, Medium Textures (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Overall Quality, Medium Textures (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Overall Quality, High Textures AA:2x MS (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Alien: Isolation | |
1024x768 (Very) Low, Off, Shadow Map 512 AF:1x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium, On (AA & SSAO Off), Shadow Map 1024 AF:4x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High, On, Shadow Map 1536, Standard SSAO AA:FX AF:8x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor | |
1280x720 Lowest Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1344x756 Medium Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Preset (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Far Cry 4 | |
1024x768 Low Graphics Quality (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Graphics Quality (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Graphics Quality AA:SM (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Dragon Age: Inquisition | |
1024x768 Low Graphics Quality (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Graphics Quality (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Graphics Quality (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 940M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
The Witcher 3 | |
1024x768 Low Graphics & Postprocessing (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 930M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium Graphics & Postprocessing (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off) (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel HD Graphics 5600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Batman: Arkham Knight | |
1280x720 Low / Off AF:Trilinear (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Normal / Off AF:4x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High / On (Interactive Smoke & Paper Debris Off) AA:SM AF:8x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
NVIDIA GeForce 920M | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Metal Gear Solid V | |
1024x768 Low / Off (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1366x768 Medium / Off (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High / On (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) |
Mad Max | |
1366x768 Normal Preset AF:2x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 | |
AMD Radeon R7 (Kaveri) | |
1920x1080 High Preset AF:6x (sort by value) | |
Intel HD Graphics 530 | |
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 | |
Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
Power Consumption and Efficiency
We want to waive a comparison of the overall consumption at this point because the devices are completely different. Instead, we want to use another much more precise data source: The CPU Package Power via HWInfo. This value includes the consumption of the processor without additional components and is also used by the system to monitor the TDP limit. We still compared all the following results with the values that we measured at the socket to check the plausibility, but we did not see any obvious contradictions.
We want to start with the results of the Cinebench R15 Multi-Core test. Despite the higher performance, both the Core i7-6700HQ and the i7-6820HK are noticeably more frugal than the Haswell based i7-4700MQ, even though the differences are not really significant at 6 up to 8 Watts. We are still impressed by the absolute consumption: The two Skylake quad-cores could even run as 35-Watt chips under practical maximum load for the CPU, and the specified TDP of 45 Watts should not be a problem for the top model i7-6920HQ. Our K model only consumes more with 54 Watts when we overclock it to 4.0 GHz (3.8 - 3.9 GHz in reality, probably limited by IccMax) – the advantages of the 14 nm manufacturing process are getting smaller in this frequency range.
The real surprise, however, is the improvements under partial load, where Skylake – particularly the low-clocking Core i7-6700HQ – pretty much outclasses its predecessor. The efficiency more than doubled in the Cinebench R15 Single-Test according to our measurements, which would suggest an improved power gating of unused hardware units. This also pays off in practice: Initial battery tests suggest much longer runtimes under realistic conditions, but we will have a closer look at this in upcoming reviews.
Verdict
You might be disappointed by Skylake if you expected a noticeable (CPU) performance gain – the advantages over Haswell and Broadwell are surprisingly low, at least in this TDP range. But it would be wrong to call Intel's new micro architecture a failure because of this: Instead of increasing the performance at all costs, the manufacturer concentrated on the power efficiency in return and can show some real advancement in this respect. The practical partial load scenarios in particular benefit from even more sophisticated energy-saving features, but also the advantages of the modern 14 nm manufacturing process.
Another key aspect of the development was the improvement of the graphics unit, which now supports DirectX 12 with feature level 12_1 and has an advantage of 25-30% over the Haswell counterpart in the GT2 configuration. This is sufficient to compete with a dedicated GeForce 920M and enable smooth gameplay in simpler titles with lower and sometimes medium details. Really interesting, however, will be the more powerful GT3e and GTE4 models that should be arriving in the upcoming weeks and months. Thanks to double or three times the amount of shaders as well as fast eDRAM memory, their performance should be much higher.
We did not yet mention the new multimedia capabilities of the Skylake generation, including a very modern video unit with full H.265/HEVC support. We will cover this in a special article and also compare the new features with the predecessors and the competition from AMD.