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All about Intel’s Core i7 and Core i5 processors
by Jaspreet Kaur - September 8, 2009 - comments
Intel’s Core i7 and Core i5 processors are a class apart
Los Angeles, CA, September 8 -- Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) latest series of Core i7 and Core i5 processors is here to stay. This is suggested by the preliminary performance tests conducted using Intel’s DP55KG motherboard.
When it comes to getting value for your money, Core i7 750 is the best of the lot.
The latest Core i7 800 series and Core i5 processors are based on the P55 chipset and LGA1156 socket, which warrants a new motherboard to reap its benefits to the maximum.
Features of the new processors
The change that is visible is that the Core i7 800 and Core i5 series of CPUs take on varied combinations of the most impressive Core i7 900 series aspects, that came out in November last year.
The new chips have a Direct Media Interface and a dual-channel memory controller. Besides, they also support the Turbo Boost functionality, commonly known as automatic overclocking.
Then, there is also the hyperthreading functionality that the Core i7 800 series CPUs provide, similar to their Core i7 900 counterparts. But the same is not true for the Core i5 750, which comprises of four physical cores.
Lack of hyperthreading notwithstanding, the CPU’s efficient performance for a price of $200 is an amazing value for money.
Coming to the Core i7 870, it is priced just about the same as the faster 3.06 GHz Core i7 950 processor. Though the former chip’s Turbo Boost feature is way better than the latter, the added memory and bandwidth for multi-GPU setups is something that favors the Core i7 950 CPUs.
Then there is the Core i7 860, practically priced at $285, and having effective hyperthreading functionality.
One aspect of performance that still needs to be properly weighed though is the overclock feature. It is still to be established how capable the Core i7 800 processors are of overclocking as compared to the chips belonging to the Core i7 900 series.
Background information
Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor chip maker, took a huge step forward in November last year when it came up with its Core i7 900 series of processors. Since these processors had the Intel X58 chipset and the LGA1366 socket as their foundation, people willing to use them had to switch over to new motherboards.
Apart from semiconductor chips, Intel is also into making of network cards and ICs, flash memory, graphic chips, embedded processors, and other devices catering to communications and computing.