Gaming Pc Rtx 2080 I7 9700k

Why Intel's Cadre i7 is cracking for games

Cadre i7 has blistering benchmark operation - but it isn't and so much of an advance over Cadre two

As part of our thorough testing of Intel'south new Core i7 architecture, we've been able to check out just what the top-stop Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition tin can practice for games. Clocked at 3.2GHz in the factory, this £1,000 quad core part ways serious operation. And if there'south ane thing Intel'south Extreme Edition fries do well, it's playing games - peculiarly when you crank it upward courtesy of the unlocked multiplier.

While compiling our review we put Core i7, aslope the outgoing Core 2 QX9770 Extreme Edition and AMD's meridian Phenom chip, through possibly the toughest set of tests we've yet conducted. We too gave specific features such HyperThreading a good seeing to and clocked the twangers off the poor matter in our overclocking tests. Finally, merely for good measure, we pitted Core i7 confronting the monstrous Skulltrail, Intel's exotic dual-CPU platform. You lot tin can download all the results as a PDF from our benchmarkathon page.

The central bulletin is that Cadre i7 has stunning multi-threaded performance, just it'south not a massive leap forward for single-thread grunt. In fundamental multi-threaded metrics such as video encoding and professional rendering, Cadre i7 utterly decimates the opposition. Single-threaded performance remains extremely important and Core i7 is strong here also, if not quite equally dominant. Notwithstanding, it is more power-hungry than its predecessor. As for how AMD'south Phenom compares, it's an accented massacre. Intel's finest is now often twice as quick every bit the best AMD can deliver.

As for individual game benchmarks, the difference between the Core i7-965 Extreme Edition and AMD'due south peak-stop Phenom 9950 Blackness Edition is marked, though the contrast betwixt the Cadre i7 Extreme Edition and its predecessor, the Cadre 2 QX9770 Extreme Edition, isn't anywhere most every bit marked. Here are the figures:

Crysis Warhead
Core i7-965 Farthermost Edition: 57fps
Core two QX9770 Farthermost Edition: 49fps
Phenom 9950 Black Edition: 25fps

Call of Duty 4
Core i7-965 Extreme Edition: 118fps
Cadre ii QX9770 Extreme Edition: 108fps
Phenom 9950 Black Edition: 69fps

Lost Planet
Cadre i7-965 Extreme Edition: 165fps
Core 2 QX9770 Extreme Edition: 105fps
Phenom 9950 Black Edition: 75fps

One-half-Life 2
Core i7-965 Extreme Edition: 236fps
Cadre two QX9770 Farthermost Edition: 216fps
Phenom 9950 Black Edition: 138fps

And information technology'southward not all virtually functioning. Installing games faster also cuts fourth dimension - though not as much every bit y'all'd recall due to the bottleneck of the DVD bulldoze. Installing the popular strategy game Company of Heroes: Opposing Front is a thirteen-infinitesimal job on our average-Joe car. Past contrast, the finest PC technology available to man only cuts that down by effectually 30 seconds.

There are three Core i7s available at launch. The entry level chip is the 2.66GHz Core i7-920, yours for £200, or peradventure a touch less. Next up is the ii.93GHz 940 processor, likely to sell for £400. Terminal is the 965 Farthermost Edition. Information technology costs a absurd £one,000, runs at iii.2GHz and adds a few overclocking-friendly features such every bit an unlocked multiplier. All 3 fries have 8MB of L3 cache and back up up to 24GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 memory.

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