Intel Core i7-4600M vs Intel Core i7-4860HQ

The Intel Core i7-4600M is a high-end dual-core processor for laptops launched in Q2 2013. It is based on the Haswell architecture and is manufactured in 22nm. Due to Hyper-Threading, the two cores can handle up to four threads in parallel leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 2.9 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz for 1 active core or 3.5 GHz for 2 active cores.

Haswell is the successor to the Ivy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm and offer an optimized branch prediction as well as additional execution ports. Furthermore, new features like AVX2 and FMA should increase the performance in future applications.

Due to these changes, the performance per clock has been improved by almost 10 percent compared to Ivy Bridge. Therefore, the i7-4600M is about 5 - 10 % faster than the former i7-3540M.

The integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600 offers 20 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 400 MHz up to 1300 MHz with Turbo Boost, making it about 30 % faster than the HD 4000.

The i7-4600M is rated at a TDP of 37 W including the graphics card, memory controller and VRMs. Therefore, the CPU is suited for laptops 14-inches or greater.

The Intel Core i7-4860HQ is a high-end quad-core processor for laptops launched in Q1 2014. It is based on the Haswell architecture and manufactured in 22nm. Due to Hyperthreading, the four cores can handle up to eight threads in parallel leading to better utilization of the CPU. Each core offers a base speed of 2.4 GHz but can dynamically increase clock rates with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz (for 4 active cores), 3.5 GHz (for 2 active cores) and 3.6 GHz (for 1 active core). The 2C/4C Turbo clocks have not been confirmed yet. A noteworthy feature is the fast integrated graphics unit (GT3e) with eDRAM memory (128 MB, 77 mm², on-package, 102 GB/s).

Architecture

Haswell is the successor to the Ivy Bridge architecture with improvements on both GPU and CPU performance. The CPUs are produced in 22nm and offer an optimized branch prediction as well as additional execution ports, improving the performance per clock by 5 - 10 percent. Furthermore, new features like AVX2 and FMA should increase the performance in future applications.

Performance

Compared to the Core i7-4850HQ, the 4860HQ is clocked just 100 MHz higher and therefore only slightly faster. Overall, the performance is similar to the Ivy Bridge-based Core i7-3840QM. Even extremly demanding software or multitasking will be handled easily.

Graphics

The integrated Iris Pro Graphics 5200 GPU offers 40 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at 200 - 1200 MHz (Turbo clock not confirmed yet), making it significantly faster than the HD 4000 or HD 4600. The additional eDRAM memory further improves performance. As a result, the HD 5200 competes with dedicated mid-range graphics cards like the GeForce GT 740M.

Power Consumption

The i7-4860HQ is rated at a TDP of 47 W including the integrated graphics card, memory controller and VRMs.  Therefore, the CPU is best suited for laptops 15-inches or greater.