In this review, I will tell you about the Intel Core i5-6400 processor with an operating clock speed of 2.7 GHz. The cost of this processor today is 13200 rubles. In fact, it's inexpensive. Well, how cheap? Once upon a time, for that kind of money, you could quite easily buy an Intel Core i7-4790k with a frequency of 4.0 GHz. But that is a thing of the past, and today for 13,000 rubles you can only afford the Intel Core i5-6400, or lower-class processors. It remains to figure out whether the game is worth the candle, and in this review I will try to find the answer to this question.

Specifications

How much, and why not more expensive? – position of the i5-6400 among the nearest models

As for the i5-6400 processor, it can be seen that the manufacturer chose to significantly limit the processor's operating clock frequency to 2.7 GHz for this model, and the maximum possible with the help of TurboBoost technology to 3.3 GHz.

At the same time, prices should also be considered. Of course, not those beautiful figures in the official price lists of Intel, but real ones, for example, the same Moscow retail. And here is the situation:
i5-6400 can be purchased for 13200 rubles;
i5-6500 can be purchased for 14200 rubles;
i5-6600 can be purchased for 16200 rubles.
Given the working clock frequencies processors 2.7 GHz, 3.2 GHz and 3.3 GHz and prices, respectively, the best now of all three options, of course, is to buy the i5-6500 processor. But the i5-6400 model also has a chance to find its buyer, and more on that in the next section of this review.

When the i5-6400 purchase option has the right to life

Test configurations

LGA1151.

2) Intel Core i7-6700k processor;

4) Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E cooler;
5) Corsair AX1200i power supply;
6) MSI graphics card GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2G;
7) Intel SSD 535 Series 120 GB;
8) HDD Western Digital WD30EZRX;
9) Corsair Air 540 case.
The Intel Core i7-6700k processor in this configuration ran at a fixed frequency of 4.2 GHz, the RAM ran at a frequency of 2400 MHz with timings of 15-15-15-35-2T.

LGA1151.
1) Corsair Vengeance LPX 8Gb*2 DDR4-2400 memory.
2) Intel Core i5-6600 processor;
3) MSI Z170A PC MATE motherboard;
4) Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E cooler;
5) Corsair AX1200i power supply;
6) MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2G video card;
7) Intel SSD 535 Series 120 GB;
8) hard disc western Digital WD30EZRX;
9) Corsair Air 540 case.
The Intel Core i5-6600 processor in this configuration ran at 3.3 GHz with TurboBoost technology enabled, the RAM ran at 2400 MHz with timings of 15-15-15-35-2T.

LGA1151.
1) Corsair Vengeance LPX 8Gb*2 DDR4-2400 memory.
2) Intel Core i5-6400 processor;
3) MSI Z170A PC MATE motherboard;
4) Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E cooler;
5) Corsair AX1200i power supply;
6) MSI GeForce GTX 960 Gaming 2G video card;
7) Intel SSD 535 Series 120 GB;
8) Western Digital WD30EZRX hard drive;
9) Corsair Air 540 case.
The Intel Core i5-6400 processor in this configuration ran at 2.7 GHz with TurboBoost technology enabled, the RAM ran at 2400 MHz with timings of 15-15-15-35-2T.

Heat and Power Consumption Intel Core i5-6400

Intel Core i5-6400 and working with DDR4 RAM

Core i5-6400


Core i5-6600

The work of the video core Intel HD Graphics 530 processor Intel Core i5-6400

Core i5-6400 performance in work applications and games

Synthetic tests:

As can be seen from the graphs, the difference between Core processors i5-6400 and Core i5-6600 are, and it is quite significant. Still, the difference in processor frequencies at 500 MHz makes itself felt. And here you should still think many times what is more important for you, save on the processor and take, for example, a more expensive video card, or still add a processor with a higher clock speed in the face of the Core i5-6500 and Core i5 to the model -6600.

Game tests:

In games, the Core i5-6400 processor is no longer much inferior to the older Core i5-6600 model, although there is still a difference. In this case, this is exactly the moment when the choice in favor of the Core i5-6400 can be justified. That is, with the money saved, it will be possible to take more productive video card, which will give you a more noticeable FPS boost than a higher clocked CPU model.

Conclusion

The best solution at the end of February 2017 for maximum performance game system. The picture may change already in March with the release of AMD Ryzen, but we will still check this after the restrictions on publications are lifted and a detailed study of the platform with different video cards and complete set games. Nevertheless, let's not forget: the desire to save money, especially if it is possible without prejudice to the "disclosure of the video card", is quite justified and possible. In 2016, such a “folk” model could be called the Intel Core i5-6400 SkyLake, which, moreover, the craftsmen quickly learned to overclock so that it was not inferior to the older Intel Core i5 6600K in many tests.

The “shop” was quickly closed, blocking the possibility of overclocking with the release of fresh BIOS versions, but as often happens, a number of models either received it belatedly or even never received a block. Although even then there was always a loophole with a rollback of the BIOS version or the firmware of the “hacked” software. For a short time, the Intel Core i5-6400 will remain only in the secondary market, its glory is already continued by the Intel Core i5-7400 Kaby Lake, but for those who plan to repeat the overclocking trick, we recommend finding the previous generation. There is no serious breakthrough, as in the case of the Core i7, the updates are rather cosmetic. It is available in OEM and BOX versions. It makes sense to overpay if there is no cooling for the processor on hand, in the box the buyer will find a good cooler with basic efficiency.

Are there any differences? Of course, there are, first of all, they relate to voltage reduction and power consumption. For comparison, the Intel Core i5 7400 takes a frequency of 3.3 GHz with a voltage of 1.056V, the Intel Core i5 6400 requires 1.12V. In compact cases with it, it will be possible to refuse to use a fan or to reduce its speed as much as possible.

The internal structure is preserved. 32 KB L1 cache, 256 KB L2 cache, 6 MB L3 cache. Maximum frequency 3.5 MHz, minimum 800 MHz. Integrated Intel HD Graphics 630.

Unfortunately, in terms of overclocking, we did not see any prospects. The processor was installed on five motherboards: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS IX HERO, ASRock Z270 Extreme4, ASUS ROG Strix Z270F Gaming, ASUS PRIME Z270-K, ASUS TUF Z270 MARK 1. None of the boards allowed to raise the frequency above 3.5 MHz. We can assume that bus overclocking with new processors has become impossible.

Benchmarks Intel Core i5-7400 Kaby Lake

Embedded graphics tests by example:
Dota 2

Tests with KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 OC graphics card:
GTA 5, Ultra, GTX1060

Results for the Intel Core i5-7400 Kaby Lake

Comments and reviews Intel Core i5-7400 Kaby Lake

2017-02-27 15:37:26 Guest :

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The presence of six limiting overclocking factors of non-overclocking Skylake is frustrating. But even taking into account such a number of artificial barriers, the result turned out to be quite worthy. Testing has shown that in most cases, overclocking of non-overclocking Skylake takes place. The exceptions are programs that use AVX/AVX2 vector instructions. If you are constantly working with such applications, then it is better to either not overclock the processor at all, or take a faster Skylake counterpart, or fork out for a chip with an unlocked multiplier.

If the computer is used primarily for games, then overclocking is very out of place here. In the article, I have repeatedly touched on the topic of saving. So, buying and overclocking a cheap skylake will free up part of the budget for a more powerful video card. Plus, the effect of processor dependence will noticeably decrease.

It is important to remember that overclocking is always a lottery. I got a very peppy Core i5-6400, which eventually overclocked better than the specially designed Core i5-6600K. I cannot guarantee that other users will be able to at least repeat such a result. In principle, the Core i5-6400 will overclock to 4-4.2 GHz for sure. This is also a very good result. The main thing is that the motherboard should be able to take 4200/27=155.5 MHz via the bus.

Core i3-6300T is a bad "exhibit" for overclocking at home. All the salt of this chip lies in a very low TDP. That's where he has the potential. It is better to overclock the obviously faster Core i3-6100/6300 models. Here it will certainly be possible to conquer the mark of 4.5-4.7 GHz.

I'll put forward a hypothesis: AMD is not in a position to infringe on the rights of enthusiasts in any way in 2016. Therefore, a good part of Zen chips, if their frequency potential is on top, will receive an unlocked multiplier. If hot competition flares up again between manufacturers, then Intel will make concessions, including those who like overclocking. Perhaps forgotten in the distant 2011, the golden era of overclocking will return.

This state of affairs should not be surprising. Starting with the second generation of Core processors (Sandy Bridge), the Core i5 and Core i7 series have two to three flagship processors equipped with an unlocked multiplier. These chips have distinctive overclocking symbols - the letter "K" in the name. Overclocking such models comes down to a simple increase in the multiplier. The legendary Core i5-2500K, released in 2011, easily overclocked to 5 GHz using an air cooling system. The rest of the models - those without an unlocked multiplier - were left without overclocking at all. Overclocking on the Intel bus blocked.

With the release of the third generation Core, the situation worsened. Instead of the solder used in Sandy Bridge, Intel began to add thermal paste of very mediocre quality under the cover of Ivy Bridge processors. As a result, an overall reduction in overclocking potential and increased cooling requirements were added to the frankly short list of overclocking models with an unlocked multiplier. Enthusiasts again remembered scalping. Modern solutions- Haswell, Broadwell and Skylake - adopted all the anti-overclocking "chips". That's how we live.

Chronology of events

In the summer of 2015, a line of modern 14-nanometer Skylake chips was released. This time, Intel started with top models, and therefore the overclocker Core i5-6600K and Core i7-6700K were the first to go on sale. The processors received not only an unlocked multiplier, but also the possibility of overclocking by increasing the frequency of the BCLK clock generator (bus overclocking). I was incredibly happy about this fact, as I assigned this opportunity to all the other (not yet on sale) Skylake "stones" in advance. I didn’t rejoice for long: it soon became clear that only the Core i5-6600K and Core i7-6700K were overclocked on the bus. And only on boards with Z170 Express logic.

In December 2015, Filipino enthusiast Dhenzjhen overclocked a Core i3-6320 processor to 4680 MHz. To do this, the overclocker increased the BCLK of the Supermicro C7H170-M motherboard to 120 MHz. A little later, another processor, Core i3-6100, was overclocked to 6104 MHz using liquid nitrogen, increasing the bus frequency to 165 MHz. It turned out that Supermicro engineers bypassed the lock. A little later, other manufacturers pulled up: ASRock, ASUS, BIOSTAR, EVGA, GIGABYTE and MSI. The listed companies presented special firmware for a number of motherboards.

Overclocking Intel Core i3-6100 to 6+ GHz

The first rule of an overclocker's club: don't talk about an overclocker's club. . First, ASRock publicly announced the overclocking of the neo-overclocker Skylake. A whole marketing technology called Sky OC appeared: you update the BIOS, activate this function, and overclock the processor on the bus. The pathos was unmeasured. Other manufacturers were more modest. For example, on the ASUS website you will not find required firmware for Z170 Express motherboards. The BIOS's were handed over to overclockers from the hwbot.org forum. Thus, there is no way to dig into ASUS, all questions are for enthusiasts. ASRock was eventually forced to drop support for the Sky OC feature. It is no longer in the new firmware. There was no information on other brands at the time of this writing, but I do not exclude a scenario in which Intel will “squeeze” other brands as well. All this leads to certain thoughts. First, the “overclocker revolution” was staged by motherboard manufacturers. They are easy to understand: in 2015, sales of high-tech textolite fell by an average of 20%, and a return to the roots of overclocking - good way push the user to move to a new platform. Second, Intel is principled. The chipmaker said: only the Core i5-6600K overclocks with the Core i7-6700K - period. Oily.

Economic expediency

Overclocking makes life better for the poor. Initially, they began to overclock iron solely for the sake of profit. The chain is simplified, but: we take a cheap processor, increase the performance to the level of a more expensive representative, enjoy the result and our own resourcefulness. Now, I repeat, Intel has turned overclock into extra bonus for those who do not save initially.

I won't go far for an example. Let's take a look at Intel's main competitor - AMD. The Reds have a line of FX processors. Each model is equipped with an unlocked multiplier. As a result, anyone can buy some FX-8320E (10,000 rubles) and with a wave of the index finger of their right hand turn it into an FX-8370 (17,000 rubles), or even into an FX-9370 (19,000 rubles). ). Yes, and a decent part of the hybrid APU is equipped with an unlocked multiplier. In terms of loyalty to AMD enthusiasts, there are no complaints, their position is worthy of praise.

However, with the "red" everything is clear. The ability to overclock all FX chips without exception is another trump card in the fight against Intel, which has long been setting the bar in the CPU market. I see no reason to disclose the ethical side of this issue. The article is not about that. There is simply a fact: overclocking saves cash. Another example is the assembly of the system unit directly on the LGA1151 platform. Let's say that the cheapest quad-core processor, the Core i5-6400, overclocks to frequencies that are obviously higher than the speed of the older Core i5-6600 model. To do this, we need better cooling and a more expensive motherboard based on the Z170 Express chipset. Even in this case, we either save or get more performance for the same money, or both. Sounds tempting, right? Unfortunately, there are several limiting factors in overclocking the neo-overclocker Skylake. We will talk about them further.

Overclocking methodology and pitfalls

I have already mentioned the first factor. Overclocking non-K-chip Skylake requires a board exclusively based on the Z170 Express chipset. The restriction is formal, introduced either by Intel or motherboard manufacturers. It is very easy to prove this, because the first successes in overclocking non-overclocker chips were obtained using the Supermicro C7H170-M, built on the H170 Express logic.

A complete list of motherboards is easy to find on the Internet. I will list the most affordable models from ASRock, ASUS, GIGABYTE and MSI. I see no point in buying more expensive overclocking boards for non-overclocker Skylake. The effect of saving so zealously promoted by me is lost. And the assemblies, in which the motherboard costs more than the processor, look very strange.

Bus overclocking requires a special BIOS version. First we reflash, then we do overclocking. In hyperlinks - archives with BIOS's for all motherboards from leading manufacturers.

And here is my gentleman's set:

The only way to overclock the neo-overclocker Skylake is to increase the frequency of the BCLK clock generator (bus). The resulting CPU frequency depends on the bus product and multiplier. Chips in the same line are divided by speed. Someone has a multiplier more, someone less. To overclock the Core i5-6400 to 4500 MHz, you will have to increase the bus frequency to 4500/27=167 MHz. In order for the Core i5-6600 to work at such a speed, you will need to raise the BCLK to 4500/33=136 MHz. In the second case, the probability of conquering the coveted 4.5 GHz is much higher.

Overclocking is always a lottery. With non-overclocker chips, two factors affect the final result at once: the potential of both the chip itself and the motherboard. Since the release of the LGA1151 platform, the test lab has seen several Z170 devices. Each board behaved differently. I managed to overclock ASUS MAXIMUS VIII EXTREME up to 360 MHz on the bus, and MSI Z170A GAMING M7 - up to 158 MHz.

The experiment was carried out on the Core i5-6400 and Core i3-6300T processors (review). I did not look for easy ways, since both models work at very low multipliers. The most interesting thing is to overclock a quad-core. According to statistics, this model overclocks very well, but, as we have already found out, a certain margin of safety is also required from the motherboard. On the other hand, compared to the default 2.7 GHz, an overclock even up to 4 GHz will give a noticeable performance boost. Which is what we need.

Intel Core i5-6400 and Core i3-6300T

The third limiting factor is the disabling of the power-saving features of the non-overclocker Skylake. For successful overclocking, you will need to deactivate following features: Intel SpeedStep, CPU C states and Turbo Boost (Turbo Mode). Below is a BIOS screenshot of the ASUS Z170-PRO Gaming motherboard. These three features are disabled in the Advanced/CPU Configuration/CPU Management Configuration branch. Without them, the CPU will always operate at maximum frequency at a given voltage. Nothing wrong with that. Skylake are highly energy efficient and do not heat up as much as the same Haswell, for example.

The fourth limitation - the temperature sensors of the processor cores are disabled. You can monitor the thermal state of the crystal only by the only available CPU Package parameter. This is the temperature of the area under the heat-distributing cover, the chip cores are heated to approximately the same value, but there are exceptions.

The inability to monitor the temperature of the processor cores using software methods

We met with flowers, it's time to talk about berries. Overclocking has two serious limiting factors. The first one is: an overclock on the bus leads to the shutdown of the built-in graphics core. Windows just won't boot. If the system uses a discrete graphics card, then, frankly, the loss is small. In all other cases, you will have to forget about overclocking the neo-overclocker Skylake.

The second serious limiting factor is the decrease in the execution speed of AVX/AVX2 instructions. Let's take the FPU tests of the AIDA64 benchmark. The execution of the Mandel and Julia patterns slowed down significantly on an overclocked processor. And in the VP8 test, the increase turned out to be somehow frivolous. Therefore, the performance of software that uses AVX/AVX2 instructions may be reduced. What are these applications? The team's vector systems use video encoders, 3D modeling programs, some photo editors, and even computer games (GRID 2).

The presence of six limiting factors, especially those that affect overall performance systems, frankly frustrating. All of them are software-based, specially introduced, because the same Core i5-6400 is no different from the overclocker Core i5-6600K. The conclusion suggests itself: spokes are inserted into the wheels of enthusiasts in order to reduce as much as possible the pool of those who want to raise their Skylake chip several hundred megahertz, and, therefore, save money on buying a more expensive and faster processor model.

Page #2: overclocking test samples, results, in conclusion

In this material, we will step by step consider the methodology for increasing the performance of the younger 4-core model LGA1151 - Corei5-6400. Overclocking this semiconductor crystal by changing the frequency multiplier of the central processing unit will not be possible. However, there is alternative method, which we will present next.

Corei5-6400: background

Until a certain point, Intel Corporation provided the opportunity to increase the clock frequencies of its semiconductor solutions. This made it possible to achieve a significant increase in performance in practice. The latest generation of such central processors were solutions based on LGA 1156. With the release of the next LGA 1155 platform, it was possible to increase the clock frequency only by changing the frequency multiplier of the central processor in models with the “K” index. Other semiconductor crystals this family were simply deprived of this opportunity. When using them, it was possible only on some models motherboards increase the bus frequency by 2-3 MHz and get a slight increase in performance due to this. This situation persisted for the next three generations of processors. Only with the release of LGA1151, there have been certain changes in this direction. The architecture of the central processing unit has been significantly redesigned. As a result, the frequency of the clock generator no longer directly affects such components. personal computer, like a discrete graphics card and PCI-Express bus. As a result, without changing the multiplier of the central processing unit, you can change the frequency of the clock generator and thereby increase the performance of the entire computer system generally. This is how the Corei5-6400 has been overclocked so far.

Corei5-6400: chip specifications

First of all, let's try to understand the technical specifications of the Corei5-6400 processor. To the list of parameters this device includes:

— release date – 3rd quarter of 2015;

— technological process– 14 nm;

- the number of program threads for processing data and code - 4;

- clock frequencies - 2.7-3.3 GHz;

- cache of the 3rd level - 6 MB;

- thermal package - 65 W;

- integrated graphics accelerator -HDGraphics 530 with an operating frequency range of 350-950 MHz;

- the number of active channels of RAM - 2;

- the maximum amount of addressable RAM - 64 GB;

- maximum temperature - 71 ° С.

By the designation of this model of the central processing unit, you can see that there is no “K” index in the marking. This means that overclocking the processor by simply increasing the multiplier will not work. For this reason, there is only one way to solve this problem - this is an increase in the frequency of the clock generator. Due to this, the performance of the Corei5-6400 can be increased. In this case, overclocking is really justified. The processor initially significantly underestimated the frequency. Increasing them can lead to a significant increase in performance compared to other models with higher frequencies.

Corei5-6400: overclocking features

Let's point out certain disadvantages associated with the increase in performance of the Corei5-6400. In contrast to the case when the central processor has a “K” index, when overclocking the Corei5-6400, whole line problems. These include the following:

- The Corei5-6400 overclocking motherboard must be flashed with a special BIOS version. It was formally developed by the manufacturer of the given computer component. Everything possible problems, which may arise in this case, entirely fall on the shoulders of the owner of a personal computer. The manufacturer does not bear any responsibility in this case. After overclocking the chip, the integrated graphics solution cannot function. The composition of such system units in most cases includes a discrete video card, and therefore there are no problems. If only the embedded solution is used during operation, overclocking is not possible.

— decrease in the performance level of the AVX&AVX2 instruction execution. These instructions, fortunately, are not so common in the program code. But when this happens, the performance computing system is significantly reduced. It will be even lower than normal mode functioning.

- after increasing the level of performance, it is not possible to control the temperature of the silicon crystal of the central processing unit. Most sensors distort readings or turn off. The only sensor that continues to work in this mode is the thermal converter of the CPU package. In such a situation, this will be quite enough. For overclocking, you need to disable Turbo Boost technology and all power-saving modes. In the speed boost mode, activating them can lead to a loss of stability in the operation of a personal computer.

Essentially, there are no significant problems on the list above, and most overlockers ignore them.

Corei5-6400: system configuration

Now let's talk a little about the basic requirements for completing a personal computer for overclocking. To do this, there must be a special BIOS version for the motherboard with the overclocking option. You also need to have a power supply with a power of 700 W or more, RAM modules with a frequency of 3200 MHz, an advanced cooling system for the system unit and the central processing unit.

Corei5-6400: getting ready for overclocking

Overclocking the Corei5-6400 processor on a motherboard with a regular BIOS will not work. Here, by default, there is no option that would allow you to change the frequency of the clock generator. For it to appear, you need to find special firmware and download it. You can find such firmware on special thematic resources on the Internet. Then you need to install it in basic system I / O, and then restart the personal computer and check for this option. Only after that you can attempt to overclock your personal computer.

Corei5-6400: how to increase performance

Now let's talk directly about the Corei5-6400 overclocking algorithm. This silicon solution is overclocked as follows. First of all, you need to download a special firmware for the BIOS, which has the ability to change the frequency of the clock generator. Similar firmware can be found on most overlocker forums. After that, install it on your motherboard. Now we reboot the system and go into the BIOS. Here you need to disable the Turboboost option and all technologies that are related to energy efficiency. You also need to disable the integrated graphics solution. Now you need to save the changes made and restart the personal computer. Check the stability of the system unit using the AIDA 64 utility. We restart the computer again and go to BIOS mode. Here it is necessary to minimize the frequency of the RAM, increase the frequency of the clock generator with a minimum step. Save these settings and restart system unit. After that, we re-test the stability of the personal computer using the previously mentioned software. We continue to perform the last two stages until the system begins to function stably. If simply increasing the frequency for stable operation is not enough, you must use the voltage on the central processing unit. The frequency in practice can reach 4.5-4.8 GHz. The voltage in practice can be 1.4-1.425 V. In this case, everything will depend on the quality of the CPU semiconductor crystal underlying the personal computer. Further overclocking upon reaching such values ​​becomes impractical. The computing system then starts to work unstably.

How to check the performance after increasing the speed?

After increasing the performance of the Corei5-6400 processor, it is necessary to check the stability of the functioning of the computing system based on the Corei5-6400. As noted earlier, overclocking can have a negative impact on the execution of AVX&AVX2 instructions. For this reason, test software should not include programs based on such instructions. To check the stability of the computer system the best choice is AIDA 64. This utility practically does not use the problematic programming code. Of course, there are versions of the utility that do not use such instructions.

Corei5-6400 Performance Boost: Results

Increasing performance can help make the Corei5-6400 perform phenomenally. Overclocking this chip allows you to get a performance level that is quite comparable with the flagship products of this manufacturer. The difference in price is indeed quite impressive. In this regard, the only exception is software with AVX&AVX2 instructions. However, it does not occur very often. For most computer enthusiasts, this is unlikely to be a deterrent. It should be noted that for this processor solution overclocking is justified. However, it is important to realize that everything is done at your own peril and risk.