The Core i7-965 Extreme is, by far, the fastest processor we've ever
tested, and it seems clear the Core i7 architecture brings with it a general
performance increase over the 45nm Core 2 processors it succeeds. We've seen
that increase in everyday desktop applications, including the WorldBench suite
and several of the latest games. In part, the Core i7's performance gains come
from higher clock frequencies due to the "Turbo mode" mechanism. When the Core
i7-965 Extreme is operating at 3.33 or 3.46 GHz, it's going to be somewhat
faster than a Core 2 at 3.2GHz. That's why I've been I've been hesitant to talk
about clock-for-clock performance gains for Core i7, as you may have noticed.
Yet in some cases, the Core i7 undeniably delivers clock-for-clock
performance increases over Core 2, along with dramatic gains in absolute
performance. We saw the biggest improvements in some specific sorts of
workloads, including 3D rendering, scientific computing/HPC applications, and
nearly any application that could spawn up to eight threads. More than once, a
single Core i7-965 Extreme outran our dual-socket "Skulltrail" system by a
considerable margin. This new system architecture pushes the performance
frontiers forward in places where progress had previously been rather halting.
Such things aren't exactly the material of everyday futzing around on the PC,
but we're long past the point where Microsoft Office is a prime target for
performance optimizations. In fact, for the average guy, the secret hero of
our test results was the Core 2 Duo E8600. If your main reason for wanting a
fast computer is to surf the web and play games, you're probably better off
getting a fast dual-core like the E8600 than you are picking up a Core
i7-920 or any quad-core processor. Game developers keep threatening to really
make use of more than two cores, but it just hasn't happened yet.
Even so, one has to appreciate what Intel has accomplished here. The Core i7 is
another solid step beyond its last two product generations, the 45nm and 65nm
versions of Core 2. As our power testing showed, the larger Core i7's power
draw at idle is similar to a quad-core Penryn's. Although its peak power
draw is higher, the Core i7 can use less energy to complete a given task, as it
did in our Cinebench rendering example. And the new system architecture
established by the Core i7 will likely be the basis for Intel systems for the
next five years, at least. On all fronts, progress.