Intel Core i7 920, 940 & 965 EE Review Comment Thread

[MpG]

Awesome. Seriously, fsweet job on this one. All kinds of interesting things when shown in comparison to earlier architectures.

Interesting how the bandwidth of the I7 at 1066Cas7 still beats out the Core 2's 1066 Cas5, even in single-channel mode. People springing for this can probably afford to skimp little on DDR3, without giving up much in the process.

3DM06: Looking at the top contenders, the QX9770 is edged out in the CPU score by the 920, but gets an overall score of 1000 points higher? Reasons? Thoughts?

Not sure I like the lower resolutions that the games were being benched at. I understand that it maximizes the differences between processors, but I'm honestly more interested about the differences seen at more common resolutions. People who buy these processors generally aren't playing 800x600, right? If there's no improvement at 16x10 or higher, so be it.

SupCom: Thank-you. I was thinking about doing exactly that sort of bench if I wound up springing for I7. Getting sick of my 4GHz rig bogging down to half-time or even slower, but looks like there won't be any big fixes with this offering.

Great review, looking forwards to seeing some of the X58's in action in the near-future!

[encorp]

still reading, weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee been waiting so long for this!!

[FiXT]

Originally Posted by MpG

3DM06: Looking at the top contenders, the QX9770 is edged out in the CPU score by the 920, but gets an overall score of 1000 points higher? Reasons? Thoughts?

Not sure I like the lower resolutions that the games were being benched at. I understand that it maximizes the differences between processors, but I'm honestly more interested about the differences seen at more common resolutions. People who buy these processors generally aren't playing 800x600, right? If there's no improvement at 16x10 or higher, so be it.

For 3DMark - The most likely explanation would be that, while on the direct CPU side of things, the I7 perform better, when the system does not useas much CPU power - such as in the remaining GPU tests of 3DMark - the speed of the CPU becomes more of a factor, than the power down, as it allows the video card to unleash "more potential".

Also for low resolutions, high resolutions would be great, unfortunately you would then be limited by GPU bottlenecking. CPU results aren't intended to convey real world results in terms of user expectations, but to show a scale of CPU comparisons within the confine of the results - e.g. which one is better and by how much. Also, it allows for clear scaling, rather than showing the results in .1 of frame, you can show 1 full frame, which is often easier for many people to comprehend.

The results at the low resolutions, will be reiterated at the higher resolutions, as all you are doing is increasing graphics load, no, or very little additional CPU usage would be used going from 800X600 to 1920X1200

That said Mac

So much information, it is difficult to know where to start

[Squeetard]

Far Cry 2 uses all of my q6600 and in some i7 benches I've seen smokes in the new architecture, so does Fallout 3. Bench those puppies.

[burebista]

Outstanding review. All my respect for your hard work.
Bullseye.

Therefore, if you're a gamer and you currently have a dual or quad-core 45nm Core 2 processor, you probably should not rush out to buy a Core i7 system.

On the other hand, most applications like 3D rendering, image editing, video encoding, WinRAR, Office 2007 suite, etc., are multi-threaded and all benefit substantially from Nehalem’s capabilities.

[S_G]

Amazing review. Absolutely the best I've seen on Core i7, with the exception of overclocking.

x264 HD Benchmark27.23 fps21.55 fps+26%

[Eagle Eye]

Wow where have I been!! Cracking a keith's and putting up my feet for a good read.

[Arundor]

I have not posted before, but I just had to break my silence to say that this is an excellent review. Numerous hardware sites have been releasing their articles on the Core i7 today, but this is the most thorough and detailed review I've seen yet. Nice job. :)

[Eagle Eye]

Excellent review MAC and the whole crew here at HWC its was thorough and detailed and most of all I could understand it all. It really helps because I begin to appreciate the new technology that is being showcased in the review and not get lossed in a new language of technical terms and theory. You guys really reach out to your readers and not just to the techno wizards out there, thanks for keeping us the "less than technologically inclined" in mind. I look forward to seeing the next part and the many more parts to come following the release of the Intel Core i7, especially the overclocking results that has really sparked my interest.

Two big 's up!!

EE

[muse108dc]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Please do not phase out my PS3 keyboard, it is a good keyboard and has served me well. Hell I spilt coffee on it and it still works like the day I bought it:censore d: