Intel Core i7

Manufacturer:
Price:	£250 -750 inc VAT (estimate)
Reviewer:	Clive Webster
Review Date:	Nov 2008
Speed	36/40	90%
Features	28/30	93%
Value	26/30	87%
Overall	90%

Verdict: [+] NEHALEMVery fast; easy to overclock; very overclockable; amazingly efficient[-] PENRYNRequires extensive upgrading - motherboard, cooler and memory

THE CORE i7-SERIES At launch there are three Core i7 CPUs: the 2.66GHz Core i7-920; the 2.93GHz Core i7-940; and the 3.2GHz Core i7-965 Extreme Edition. Our source put the Core i7-920 at around £250 inc VAT, the Core i7-940 at around £400 inc VAT and the Core i7-965 Extreme Edition at around £750 inc VAT. However, today marks the announcement of Core i7, all Core i7 products will actually only go on sale on 16 November. Pricing is therefore yet to be completely confirmed and you can’t buy anything yet. All three processors have high multipliers – 20x, 22x and 24x respectively. This multiplier works with the 133MHz base clock to give the overall frequencies. This means that even a small increase in this core clock results in a big overclock to the overall frequency of the processor.Only the Extreme Edition has an unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking, but all three CPUs have a TDP of 130W – similar to a quad-core Core 2 Extreme. Click here for our guide on how to overclock a Core i7 processor. PERFORMANCE Click here to open the Core i7 CPU benchmark results (opens in new window) Unfortunately, Intel couldn’t send us a Core i7-940, so we had to drop the multiplier of the Extreme Edition to 22x in order to simulate the performance of a Core i7-940. We managed to get our hands on a Core i7-920 as well as the Extreme Edition, however, which means that we were able to run our benchmarks at both stock and overclocked speeds.We ran the same tests on an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770, the fastest LGA775 CPU, installed in a Foxconn Blackops X48-based motherboard with 4GB of DDR3 memory running at 1.8GHz. At stock speeds, the Core i7 range is incredibly quick, with even the relatively cheap Core i7-920 racing ahead of the QX9770. The latter scored 1,341 in our Media Benchmarks, while Core i7-920 scored 1,388.The Core i7-965 Extreme Edition scored a massive 1,677 overall. Core i7 CPUs are also great for gaming – the Extreme Edition managed a minimum frame rate of 43fps in Crysis, compared to just 36fps for the QX9770. OVERCLOCKING A CORE i7 We started off overclocking the Extreme Edition to 4.1GHz, raising the overall score to a phenomenal 2,037 – the fastest ever recorded. However, the 2.66GHz Core i7-920 also proved highly overclockable, as we could also boost its frequency to 4.1GHz by raising the base clock from 133MHz to 205MHz (click here for more on how to overclock a Core i7 processor). At these settings, the overclocked Core i7-920 proved incredibly fast, running Crysis at a minimum frame rate of 51fps, and scoring 2,005 in our Media Benchmarks. In comparison, even when overclocked to 4GHz, the QX9770 could only manage a minimum of 39fps in Crysis and 1,679 in the Custom PC Media Benchmarks (which you can download to compare these scores with your own PC). The 6.218 seconds taken to run WPrime on the Core i7-920 overclocked to 4.1GHz was the second fastest time on the planet at the time of writing. CONCLUSION The graphs show the new range of Core i7 CPUs in direct comparison to what was previously the fastest processor in the world, the Core 2 Extreme QX9770. Our testing proves conclusively that Core i7 is significantly faster clock for clock than any other CPU series, and great for everything from video encoding to gaming. Although there are three models available at launch, the Core i7-920 overclocks so well that we have no hesitation in recommending that you visit your favourite etailer and buy one right now.