Legit Reviews

Intel Core i7 920, 940 and 965 Processor Review

Intel has finally lifted the embargo on the yet-to-be-launched Intel Core i7 processors and the Intel X58 Express Chipset! Intel strongly believes that this new platform will be the must have work horse for digital media & gaming enthusiasts for many months to come. Read on to see how the Intel Core i7 920, 940 and 965 do against 14 other processors!



Article Title: Intel Core i7 920, 940 and 965 Processor Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/824/1/

Ooo new review and new cores!

Good review, but I was wondering, is there any chance you could include some games in there other than 3DMark?

GI-JOE wrote:Good review, but I was wondering, is there any chance you could include some games in there other than 3DMark?

It's the first of a few, so I'm sure there will be gaming results in one 'down the line'.

Says so in the review:

With so much to talk about this new platform we made the decision to focus just on processor performance for this article and then take a deeper dive at other features in the weeks to come.

Dan

Cool, guess I overlooked that line!

Oh yeah I'll have a deep dive on gaming and memory coming... Right now I'm testing triple SLI with 3 GTX 280's versus Quad CrossFireX with two Radeon HD 4870 X2's.

The other reasons it wasn't included now:

I just got the Corsair triple channel kit on Thursday along with the Kingston Triple Channel kit.
On Thursday I got the three GTX 280's for Triple Channel Testing
On Thurdsay ATI released a hotfix driver for the X58 platform that changed performance numbers significantly
Friday was Halloween and I had parties and plans for Friday night and Saturday night

Getting new drivers, new video cards and production memory kits on Thursday was just too much to test over the holiday weekend with plans already made.

Also I have over 5 LGA 1366 cooling soltions and those will be in a roundup as well.

Nice, I guess I'll sit here awaiting those benchmarks before I pass these chips as worthwhile or a waste of money!

Apoptosis wrote: On Thursday I got the three GTX 280's for Triple Channel Testing

DAMN - now to stress test those puppies on f@h!!

Mike

I bet you can keep your heat pretty low in the house with all these test setups - LOL

OOOo yeah some folding would be good =)

Nice job with the review, looks like it was a session of endurance benching that would make one go crazy. Just curious, you try maxing out the baseclock at all? I've been seeing results all over the place from ~150MHz to 200MHz and was curious if it's board or CPU related. It sounds more and more like the CPUs are all over the place which will severely hamper the i920 and i940 overclocking.

Overclocking has the same struggles that AMD is having on Phenom, so the QPI frequency seems to be area to watch. I'll post more when I spend more time overclocking these.

Thanks for the review, waiting anxiously for the gaming benchies. Thanks.

Good review, can't wait to see more gaming benchmarks and results with mult-gpu.

too bad the 965 didnt always beat the dual QX9775's, but hey, they are more than double the price, and the 965 DID beat it in a few tests

some stellar tech right there, can't wait for new revisions with greater Overclockability to see what the architecture can really do

When are these being released?

All of the modules were run in dual channel mode

typo? cause if its not than the memory bandwidth numbers are even more amazing! and about the overclocking, are you actually able to change the baseclock?

no that was a typo... That would be triple channel that was run in the review. Three 2GB modules at 1600MHz with 8-8-8-24 timings with a command rate of 1T is what I ran. Not bad for a 6GB kit and 1.40 Volts. I'm very impressed what that Corsair memory kit can do with just 1.4 Volts. That specific kit has the more expensive Samsung IC's, but it's a winner hands down.

FZ1 wrote:When are these being released?

Rumored launch of November 17th, 2008. I imagine that is the correct date as that date has been the primary date mentioned in quiet circles for weeks. Can't wait for these chips, now time to sell my QX9650

Gomeler wrote:

FZ1 wrote:When are these being released?

Rumored launch of November 17th, 2008. I imagine that is the correct date as that date has been the primary date mentioned in quiet circles for weeks. Can't wait for these chips, now time to sell my QX9650

I was thinking the same thing

I am determined to get one of these badass systems for myself within the next 2-3 months. I'd say the move from an E6750 to any of those processors is a VERY nice jump.