System setup and notes
| System | Intel Core i5/i7 LGA1156 system | Intel Core i7 LGA1366 system | Intel Core 2 system | AMD Phenom AM3 system |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processors |
Intel
Core i5 750 (2.66GHz, 1MB L2, 8MB
L3, quad-core, £139*
|
Intel
Core i7 920
(2.66GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 8MB L3, quad-core, £190**)
|
Intel
Core 2 Quad Q9650 (3.0GHz, 12MB L2
cache, quad-core, £241.95)
|
AMD
Phenom II X4 965 BE (3.40GHz, 2MB
L2, 6MB L3, AM3, quad-core, £160**)
|
|
Intel
Core i7 860 (2.80GHz,
1MB L2, 8MB
L3, quad-core, £190*
|
Intel
Core i7 950
(3.06GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 8MB L3, quad-core, £385**)
|
|||
|
Intel
Core i7 870 (2.93GHz,
1MB L2, 8MB
L3, quad-core, £385 *
|
Intel
Core i7 975 EE
(3.33GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 8MB L3, quad-core, £699**)
|
|||
| Motherboard |
ASUS
Maximus III
Formula (P55 + ICH10R)
|
Foxconn
Bloodrage X58 (X58+ICH10R)
|
Foxconn
P45A-S (P45 + ICH10R)
|
ASUS
M4A79T Deluxe (790FX + SB750)
|
| BIOS revision |
0603
(25/08/09)
|
P08
(13/04/09)
|
P05
(27/08/08)
|
1604
(21/08/09)
|
| Memory |
4GB
(2 x 2GB) Corsair DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8
|
6GB
(3 x 2GB) Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D
|
4GB
(2 x 2GB) Corsair DOMINATOR 8500 DDR2
|
4GB
(2 x 2GB) Corsair DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8
|
| Memory timings and speed |
8-8-8-24-1T
@ 1,604.4MHz
|
8-8-8-24-2T
@ 1,604.4MHz (860/870) (1,337MHz for 750)
|
5-5-5-15-2T
@ 1,066.6MHz
|
8-8-8-24-1T
@ 1,337.6MHz
|
| Graphics card |
Sapphire
Radeon HD 4890 XT 1,024MB
|
|||
| Hard disk drive |
Seagate
1000GB SATAII (ST31000528AS)
|
|||
| Optical drive |
Samsung
SH-D163 SATA DVD-ROM
|
|||
| Motherboard software |
Intel
Inf 9.1.1.1015 + Matrix Storage Manager 8.9.0.1023
|
Intel
Inf 9.1.0.1012 + Matrix Storage Manager 8.7.0.1007
|
Intel
Inf 9.1.0.1008
|
Standard
Vista SP1 drivers + AHCI 3.1.1540
|
| Graphics driver |
ATI
Catalyst 9.8
|
|||
| Operating system |
Windows
7 RTM Ultimate, 64-bit
|
|||
| Power supply |
Corsair
HX1000W
|
|||
| Monitor |
Dell
2405FPW/Dell 3007WFP-HC
|
|||
|
*pricing
guesstimated for LGA1156 chips
** reflects revised pricing which should come into play later on today |
||||
Software
| Benchmarks | ScienceMark memory
latency Sandra 2009 SP4 (15.124), float buffered HEXUS.PiFast calculation to 10m places StaxRip X.264 + AAC encoder - two-pass (both passes recorded) CINEBENCH R10 multi-CPU render 64-bit POV-Ray 3.7.0 beta 34 64-bit Far Cry 2, v1.03, DX10, 1,024x768 medium and 1,680x1,050 high quality ET: QW, v1.5, OpenGL, 1,024x768 low and 1,680x1,050 - high quality StaxRip X.264 + AAC encoder - two-pass and QuickTime 7.6.2 (multitasking) StaxRip X.264 + AAC encoder - two-pass and ET: QW, v1.5, 1,680x1,050 (multitasking) Power-draw at idle and 2D load, as a platform |
|---|
Notes
A few important updates since our last round of CPU benchmarking. The operating system is now Windows 7 RTM Ultimate 64-bit, necessitating benchmarking from scratch.Intel provided HEXUS with two engineering-sample CPUs, Core i5 750 and Core i7 870, and both CPUs' results have been included. The reported numbers are for the chips running Turbo Boost speeds, as highlighted on page four. However, manually downclocking the engineering-sample '870 to an 860's speed - 2.80GHz - on the ASUS Maximus III Formula could only be achieved at the expense of negating Turbo Boost. Setting a 21x multiplier removed the Turbo option, so any numbers we report will not be wholly accurate when compared to a retail chip. We will update the review with a retail 860's performance as soon as is practical.
Our testing with the Core i7 870 highlighted a problem with Turbo Boost, insofar as the chip would clock up to 3.46GHz when under single-core load, not 3.60GHz, as expected. As such, the single-threaded results will be a little lower than what would otherwise be the case.
The Intel pricing has been taken from a revised list that was published here. We expect AMD to retaliate by dropping Phenom II X4 965 BE's price to around £160.
The interesting price-to-price comparisons will be Core i7 860 vs. Core i7 920 vs. Phenom II X4 965 BE. Bear in mind that the (emulated) engineering-sample 860's Turbo Boost feature is disabled by the board.
