Final thoughts and rating
We feel a computer-car analogy coming up, as the Core i7 990X is in some ways a lot like a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. Intel's straight-six chip is imbued with a 3.73GHz Turbo injection that makes it faster than ever, but like the Super Sport it'll be remembered as the one that went a bit quicker than the original.
This is a hexa-core chip that screams performance, and it's crammed full of self-gratification for the few who demand ultimate speed irrespective of cost. For everyone else, it's an ageing muscle car that costs more than it should, guzzles too much fuel and isn't a great all-rounder. Sure, the £780 Core i7 990X is unbeatable at handling multi-threaded workloads, but it isn't vastly superior to the £440 Core i7 970, and its straight-line speed is roughly on par with the £240 Core i7 2600K.
Perhaps it's just a case of bad timing. Twelve months ago we were spellbound by the Core i7 980X, but that chip's successor has landed shortly after innovative new hybrid processors have shown us that we can get almost all of the performance at a fraction of the cost in a tidier, refined and more efficient package.
The Intel Core i7 990X might be the world's fastest desktop processor, but in many ways it's a fitting swan song to an X58 platform that's gearing up for retirement.
The Good
Excels at tackling multi-threaded workloads
Bundled with the excellent DBX-B cooler
Great for overclocking
The Bad
The emergence of Sandy Bridge has negated X58's wow factor
Hugely-expensive for a last-generation chip
HEXUS Rating
Intel Core i7 990X Extreme Edition
HEXUS Awards
Intel Core i7 990X Extreme Edition
HEXUS Where2Buy
The Intel Core i7 990X Extreme Edition processor is available to purchase from SCAN.co.uk*.
HEXUS Right2Reply
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