I'd love to get a 4770R (BGA or not) but it does not seem to be available anywhere. So far the only product I found with Iris Pro was a laptop and it's sold out. What I'm looking for is a "real" desktop, with 32GB RAM, 6 SATA drives, and stuff.
There seems to be a lot of false info on the net, even on the Intel homepage:
https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/www/de/de/benchmarks/all-in-one/4th-gen-core-i7-4770r.html
4th generation Intel® Core™ i7-4770R processor (up to 3.90GHz, 8T/4C, 8M cache)
On Intel® Motherboard Model # DZ87KL-75K, BIOS: BLH6710H.86A.0313.0402.2053 (INF Intel® 9.4.0.1017), Memory: Micron* DDR3 8GB (2x4GB) 1600MHz, HDD: Seagate* ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 rpm, OS: Windows* 8 RTM Build 9200, Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 4600 Driver 9.18.10.3071
This makes it sound like it's available, and on a decent board to boot! But alas, it also says "HD Graphics 4600" so the whole thing is just an error, or at least I can't find this product anywhere in any case. If it does exist, please let me know.
On the Tom's Hardware site there was an interview with Gigabyte as to why there are no 4770R boards to be found:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gigabyte-ama-toms-hardware,3571.html
Q. Are there any plans to build a motherboard with Core i7-4770R for home theater enthusiasts?
A. Colin: As for any motherboards with on-board Intel i7-4770R, since it is a BGA (non socketed) CPU, we don't currently have any plans to support as selling a high end non-socket board/CPU is difficult in the retail channel.Our distributors would have to carry a large line of credit to purchase both board and CPU which is hard for some of our smaller customers.Our customers like to be able to DIY their systems, so not being able to change their CPU would be a hard sell for us. That said, we are trying to convince Intel to come out with a socketed CPU with Iris Pro graphics core.
To me that sounds like board manufacturers like Gigabyte are boycotting the 4770R CPU in hopes that Intel will reconsider making a socketed version of it. Which doesn't explain why there isn't a board by Intel itself though.
I'd love to get this CPU myself for a Linux box with semi decent graphics but without the usual graphics card noise/heat issues. It would be a great build to replace my Intel E8400 2x3Ghz system. I'm extremely disappointed that this Iris Pro was hyped all over the news and the availability is simply nearly non-existant, and not even an announcement when this is likely to change to be found anywhere.
404 Product not found
