Intel Core i7 920 and 965 review

The Verdict

Damn, they're, quick aren't they? Intel's Core i7 processors are multi-threading monsters, and this is an extremely enjoyable processor series. It's a hit, it's a killer. It's always simple, if an architecture feels right from the beginning, it's bound to be a success. Vice versa it's the same way as we noticed with AMD's Phenom X4 processor which are absolutely lovely processors, yet still are fighting with Intel's two year old Q6600 processor.

If we take the Core i7 920 as shown today, we still are a little in disbelieve .. 284 USD is surely a lot of money for an entry level quad core processor, but the fact is .. it's a very good amount faster than todays most high-end 1300 USD QX9770 processor. Now of course due to Intel's' strong position the last two years they have been able to keep price high and the performance quite level. The result is a rich contrast in price and performance. But man, I'll take it, that Core i7 920 is a great little processor.

The big noise with the Nehalem architecture is improved multi-threaded performance scaling. If one thing in this review flabbergasted me it was the effect of Hyper-threading. Surely not extremely important in games, but on overall it gave an advantage difference of up-to 20% which was amazing to see. So overall the architecture brings a truckload of performance versus pretty decent power consumption levels. When the processor is peaking, sure, it uses a good amount of current. But in idle or desktop mode that CPU clocks down towards a very power efficient little gobbler. Yeah it's an inconvenient truth for sure.

Nope, no need to make this a long conclusion at all. Core i7 architecture rocks, and it rocks hard. At launch, Core i7 will be available in quad-core trim. An eight-core version is penciled in for next year and that too will have all its cores crammed into a single die. So the basis that Intel is laying down today is just the beginning. It's like little seeds planted to grow into something big. The one thing that Core i7 needs though are mainboards with a cheaper chipset. At launch you'll be forced to buy the X58 series main board, and they will likely start at 200-250 USD, which is far away from mainstream performance and pricing.

Core i7 920 can be purchased for sub-300 USD. The wicked Core i7 965 Extreme will be priced at a hefty 999 USD. But quite honestly, after you put down that kind of cash at the teller .. the minute after installation you'll have forgotten that price. It rocks, and it rocks hard ... daddy gozta have this, it's a very good step forward in processor performance.

This is where the processor review ends. But have no fear .. we  planned no less than four Core i7 related reviews for you this week alone. We have another one ready and waiting for you to read right now, with a different angle.

Aren't you just dying to see how well Core i7 - X58 is managing on 2-way, 3-way and even 4-way GPU ATI Crossfire and NVIDIA SLI based configurations ? Well, good for you as we made a very extensive article on that.

Click here to visit our  Core i7 Multi-GPU Game performance review and prepare to be amazed, what a nice gaming experience. Core i7 will be available in the store roughly Half November 2008

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