Intel Westmere 32nm Launch & Clarkdale Core i5-661 CPU Review

Gaming Benchmarks: 3DMark06 / 3DMark Vantage

Futuremark 3DMark06

3DMark06 v1.1.0
Graphic Settings: Default
Resolution: 1280X1024

Test: Specific CPU Score and Full Run 3Dmarks
Comparison: Generated Score

The Futuremark 3DMark series has been a part of the backbone in computer and hardware reviews since its conception. The trend continues today as 3DMark06 provides consumers with a solid synthetic benchmark geared for performance and comparison in the 3D gaming realm. This remains one of the most sought after statistics, as well as an excellent tool for accurate CPU comparison, and it will undoubtedly be used for years to come.


The i5-661 stays about neck & neck with the Q9550, which is fairly impressive considering the fact that the Clarkdale chip is a good deal cheaper than the venerable Core 2 Quad model.

Futuremark 3DMark Vantage

3DMark Vantage v1.0.1
Graphic Settings: Performance Preset
Resolution: 1280X1024

Test: Specific CPU Score and Full Run 3Dmarks
Comparison: Generated Score

3DMark Vantage is the follow-up to the highly successful 3DMark06. It uses DirectX 10 exclusively so if you are running Windows XP, you can forget about this benchmark. Along with being a very capable graphics card testing application, it also has very heavily multi-threaded CPU tests, such Physics Simulation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which makes it a good all-around gaming benchmark.


The Vantage engines makes pretty good use of all available threads, so the i5-661 manages to rank in the middle of the pack, but still falls behind all the proper quad-core chips except for the ancient Q6600.