:thumbsup: DX12 is amazing. Finally we are seeing 6-core i7 smashing i5 into the ground in one of the most CPU demanding/limited genres - strategy games. I cannot wait until every AAA game supports DX12 properly. Once DX12 adoption takes hold, my next CPU is likely going to be a 6-8 core AMD/Intel.
Hex-Core i7 seems to smash the i5 when an AMD card is used. When an Nvidia card is used, that gap narrows quite dramatically (Yes, I took minimums into account). Considering the price difference between quad i5 and hex i7, the $/perf becomes/is still questionable.
Not bashing or praising either company here, however, this should be noted before excitedly jumping to such claims.
That said, these results do look good for the future of octa-core cpus. The problem though is if Zen actually delivers. If it doesn't, either devs would still standardise on quads, or gamers would be forced to pony up for the Enthusiast platform to play. Neither of said options are appealing in the slightest unless one desires to up the budget floor for PC gaming.
Looking back on AMD's history though, both a few years ago and more recent, the odds of Zen being a success seems quite good. I have doubts that it will quite match or beat Haswell on a per-thread/ipc basis, but an octa-core Ivy Bridge class processor for roughly $300 would be an appealing proposition.