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Review: Intel Core i7 875K and Core i5 655K - unlocked chips for enthusiasts

by Tarinder Sandhu on 28 May 2010, 05:00 3.0

Tags: Core i7 875K, Intel Core i5 655K, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qayis

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Testing methodology

CPU AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition AMD Phenom II X6 1055T* AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition AMD Phenom II X4 945** AMD Athlon II X4 635 AMD Phenom II X2 555 Intel Core i7 980X EE Intel Core i7 870/875K Intel Core i7 930 Intel Core i7 920 Intel Core i5 750 Intel Core i5 650/655K
Price £240 £160 £145 £120 £85 £85 £850 £420/£300 £230 £170 £150 £155/£195
Frequency 3.20GHz (16x 200MHz) 2.80GHz (14x 200MHz) 3.40GHz (17x 200MHz) 3.00GHz (15x 200MHz) 2.90GHz (14.5x 200MHz) 3.20GHz (16x 200MHz) 3.33GHz (25x 133MHz) 2.93GHz (22 x 133MHz) 2.80GHz (21x 133MHz) 2.66GHz (20x 133MHz) 2.66GHz (20 x 133MHz) 3.33GHz (25 x 133MHz)
Max turbo frequency 3.6GHz 3.3GHz N/A N/A N/A N/A 3.6GHz 3.6GHz 3.06GHz 2.93GHz 3.2GHz 3.6GHz
Cache 3MB L2, 6MB L3 3MB L2, 6MB L3 2MB L2, 6MB L3 2MB L2, 6MB L3 2MB L2 1MB L2, 6MB L3 1.5MB L2, 12MB L3 1MB L2, 8MB L3 1MB L2, 8MB L3 1MB L2, 8MB L3 1MB L2, 8MB L3 0.5MB L2, 4MB L3
Cores/threads 6/6 6/6 4/4 4/4 4/4 2/2 6/12 4/8 4/8 4/8 4/4 2/4
Process 45nm 45nm 45nm 45nm 45nm 45nm 32nm 45nm 45nm 45nm 45nm 32nm
Form factor AM3 AM3 AM3 AM3 AM3 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1156 LGA1366 LGA1366 LGA1156 LGA1156
TDP 125W 125W 125W 125W 95W 80W 130W 95W 130W 130W 95W 87W
Motherboard ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (890FX) ASUS P6T SE (X58)
 ASUS P7H57D EVO (H57) ASUS P6T SE (X58) ASUS P7H57D EVO (H57)
BIOS revision 0502 (26/03/10) 0704 (11/01/2010)
 0905 (09/05/2010) 0704 (11/01/2010) 0905 (09/05/2010)
Memory 4GB (2 x 2GB) Kingston DDR3-1,600 6GB (3 x 2GB) Crucial DDR3-1,067 4GB (2 x 2GB) Corsair DDR3-1,600 6GB (3 x 2GB) Crucial DDR3-1,067 4GB (2 x 2GB) Corsair DDR3-1,600
Memory timings and speed 9-9-9-24-1T @ DDR3-1,600 7-7-7-20 1T @ DDR3 1,067 9-9-9-24 1T @ DDR3 1,333 7-7-7-20 1T @ DDR3 1,067 9-9-9-24 1T @ DDR3 1,333
Graphics card Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1,024MB
Graphics driver Catalyst 10.2
Disk drive Corsair Nova V128GB
Operating system Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
PSU Corsair HX1000W
*replicated from AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition
**replicated from AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition

Software

Benchmarks

SiSoft Sandra 2010 (16.26), aggregate bandwidth and memory latency
HEXUS.PiFast to 10m places
CINEBENCH R11.5 multi-CPU, 64-bit
POV-ray 3.7.0 beta 35a
wPrime v2.02
x264 HD v3.0 media-encoding benchmark - both passes noted
7zip v4.65 built-in file-compression benchmark

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 1,680x1,050 4x AA

Power-consumption tests - idle and 2D load

Testing notes

A slew of chips ranging from £85 for a dual-core Phenom II X2 555 to a £850 six-core 980X EE. It will be worth focussing on the 875K vs. Core i7 930 and Phenom II X6 1090T, along with 655K vs. Core i7 920, Core i5 750, and Phenom II X6 1055T.


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