Intel has taken the performance crown from itself again with the launch of the Core i7 975 XE CPU. This CPU is the fastest available processor for the gaming enthusiast on the market with 8 logical cores running at 3.33GHz. If you have the $1000 this CPU will set you back laying around and a system to put it on (X58 motherboard, HD 4890 video card or similar, DDR3 3GB and fast HDDs), this CPU will really help your system shine. The Extreme Edition CPUs are not for the faint of heart as they will run you over $999 USD, but if you want the best you have to pay through the nose for it.

Keep in mind the Core i7 family uses the same basic technology throughout, meaning that a Core i7 920 that overclocks may approach this performance level but of course there's no guarantees and the Core i7 975XE has unlocked multipliers and higher overall performance than anything else on the market today. In our standard tests using air cooling the i975 quickly overheated, but when we used the new Thermaltake Xpressar RCS100 Micro-Refrigeration system we able to achieve an easy 4.0. Using the new EVGA Confidential motherboard offers much beer options for overclocking than our standard test motherboard did and is probably the most intense overclocking motherboard on the market. In the next few weeks Intel will be making another launch for the mainstream user that should be a crowd pleaser. Until then we can just play the waiting game and hope Intel makes us smile.