With the launch of the new Core i7 (Nehalem) processors by Intel, there are many doubts regarding the Difference between Intel Core i7 and Intel Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors. In this post, I will try to list all the differences and also reasons why the new Core i7 architecture is much better than the Core 2 architecture.
Intel Core i7
Codenamed: Bloomfield – Nehalem
Fabrication: 45 nm
Instruction set: X86, X86-64, MMX, SSE 4.2
Socket: LGA 1366
Bus: Quick Path Interconnect
RAM: DDR3
Chipset Support: X58
Intel Core 2 Duo
Codenamed: Conroe, Allendale, Wolfdale – Core 2
Fabrication: 65 nm / 45 nm
Instruction set: X86, X86-64, MMX, SSE 4.1
Socket: LGA 775
Bus: 1333 MHz FSB
RAM: DDR2
Chipset Support: 965, P3x, G3x, P45, X48
Explanation:
(Difference between Intel Core i7 and Core 2 Duo)
-
The Core i7 is a completely new architecture which is much faster and more efficient than the Core 2 Duo. Currently only the Core i7 920, 945 and 965 XE versions are available. Of that the Core i7 920 is available at just $284 which makes it a great buy. It offers better performance than almost all Core 2 Duo processors.
Native Quad Core, More Cache and Hyper Threading:
All the Core i7 processors are Native Quad cores (4 cores), which means that they actually have 4 cores on a single die, while the older Core 2 Duo processors like the Q6600 (2×2 = 4 cores) had two cores on a single die, and two such dies merged together. This increases the processing speed greatly. They also have 256 KB L2 cache per core and a shared 8 MB L3 cache which has proven to be much better than any cache configuration in Core 2 Duo.
It also has HyperThreading support which means that each of the 4 cores can process 2 threads simultaneously, so you get 8 virtual cores. This helps in running many applications parallely and also in gaming.
Quick Path Interconnect (QPI) and On Die Memory Controller:
The Core i7 processors sport the new Quick Path Interconnect technology which replaces the FSB (Front Side Bus) to connect the various components in a computer. QPI is much faster than FSB and hence improves the overall performance. It is even faster than AMD’s similar HyperTransport 3.0 standard.
The Core i7 have an On Die Memory Controller which means that it can access memory much faster than the Core 2 Duo processors which had an external memory controller. Intel has borrowed this feature from AMD. All the four cores, memory controller, cache are on the same die which improves the speed and performance greatly.
Intel X58 Chipset and DDR3 RAM:
The new Core i7 processors work with Intel’s newest X58 chipset motherboards – these are the best currently available and have superb features like PCI Express 2.0, Support for both AMD’s Crossfire and Nvidia’s SLI to use two graphic cards simultaneously. The combo of Intel X58 and Core i7 also runs much cooler and consumes much less power than the older Core 2 Duo processors. Also the new Core i7 and X58 combo supports only the super fast DDR3 RAM which is becoming cheaper day by day.
These are the main differences between the Intel Core 2 Duo and the Core i7 processors. AMD doesn’t seem to have a decent processor coming up which could compete with Intel’s new Core i7 – the new king. The new Core i7 processors beat every other processor when it comes to performance and are also much more power efficient. They are better for gaming and other tasks. They also overclock better than any Intel or AMD processor.
So if you are planning to buy a new PC, I would suggest you to get a Core i7 based one. Core i7 920 + Intel X58 based motherboard + 1-2 GB DDR3 RAM should cost you about $600.
Note: This post was deliberately dumbed down to make it more understandable to non techies. 
For any queries, leave a comment below.
November 20th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Excellent article man. Stumbled.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Thanks.
November 23rd, 2008 at 6:06 am
Very much informative.
Can you please let me know is there any laptop available with Core i7 configuration for cheap deal ??
Please send me a mail.
Thanks
Shiva
November 23rd, 2008 at 1:56 pm
No Shiva,
There are no laptops with the Core i7 architecture CPUs.
No Core i7 mobile processors have been announced yet.
You can get a Penryn based laptop though.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Great article, but you should make that part say that every Core 2 Duo gets smoked by the Core i7, not ALMOST ALL.
November 27th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Yea, that would be totally right.
November 29th, 2008 at 2:55 am
” in 3DMark06 the 920 finished ever-so-slightly behind the Core 2 Extreme QX9770’s 4,922 marks with 4,818 while the 940 and the 965 both opened a can of you-know-what at 5,282 and 5,716 respectively “…
November 29th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Exactly. The Core i7 chips will completely blow off the Core 2 and Phenom chips.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Great article Pathik! More power to you!
December 9th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
gr888… article
January 1st, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Very good article and very informative.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:49 pm
yup .. dell india has launched XPS models with screen size 13′ and 16′ having the i7 processor in them.
February 1st, 2009 at 11:08 pm
^ Nope, they are Core 2 Duo mobile processors – Penryn based. No Core i7 processors are out yet.
February 9th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
test
February 22nd, 2009 at 5:17 am
Though the price for Core i7 is now within reach for most people, I think one point to consider is you have to upgrade both your MB and memory if you switching to i7
March 1st, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Really good article. thanks
March 17th, 2009 at 5:26 am
Great post, although I agree with you in part it doesn’t aways turn out like that, other things can happen along the way. But yeah, still a good read. Amy xXx.
April 12th, 2009 at 11:53 am
It’ll probably be a while until people start building budget PCs with i7s. I hope so, anyway…
April 16th, 2009 at 9:01 am
you had me until the bit about dumbing down the article for ‘non techies’. Pathik, you ignorant slut.
April 16th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
May i ask where you got your information from ? Did you have 2 PC’S one with core i7 and one with core 2 quad ? do you have any actual test facts ?
April 21st, 2009 at 1:15 am
i7 processors in Bosnia and Herzegovina are expensive,most people buy amd athlon x2 processors which are cheap,but i think the intel core 2 duo processors are very faster.Is that right?
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:44 pm
[...] I think it for a new PC with carte blanche its really got to be the i7: Intel Core i7 vs Intel Core 2 Duo | Pathik Shah [...]
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 pm
core 2 duo, core 2 quad and core i7 all have four cores but i would like to know that what are the difference among all these and what about the total cache memory in all 3
May 20th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
You said the Q6600 was a Core 2 Duo, but in fact it’s a Core 2 Quad.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
^ Actually that’s a typo. I meant to say that it’s based on the Core 2 architecture. Any anyways it’s not really a Quad core. Just 2 Dual cores plastered together.
May 25th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
I would seriously advise NOBODY to follow this advice. Core i7 processors are only a consideration for absolute high-end systems. For games, you will get about 95% of the performance with a system for half the price based on a core 2 or phenom 2. For apps it may only be about 85% and some extremely multithreaded apps may give only 80% but its not worth a recommendation for games or office users unless you install a quadsli/quadcrossfire graphics config next to it.
Phenom 2 especially deliver A LOT more performance for their price.
May 25th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
Yea, I would agree. Phenom 2 + 780G/790FX is much more VFM than the Core i7.
May 29th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
You are confusing marketing for reality.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/nvidia-geforce-intel-core-i7,news-30975.html
May 30th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
si ora mi compro l’I7
June 5th, 2009 at 12:22 am
A true non-technie has no clue what you’re writing about. However, for someone like me, with a good understanding of the basics but lacking advanced technical knowledge, your post is right on the money! You fill this niche very well. Thanks, Pathik. Now I feel ready to take my research to the next level.
June 29th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
If you get Core i7, get at least 6GB DDR3 RAM.
June 30th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Great work dude….really impressed…appreciate your effort in making the layman understand techie aspects…hope to get from from you…will keep visiting the site….
July 6th, 2009 at 6:16 am
Thanks Pathik, very helpful article. You’ve answered the few questions i have. Unfortunaely for a (non-tech) who won’t build his own PC, probably be a few months (at least) before these are the standard in my home country of Australia. Good work, and easy to understand terms for non-techs…
July 12th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Hi
Nice read, and had kinda answered my questions about the two.
Not sure if I7 is for me though, think quad-core duo is what i will go for as benchmarks seem to indicate a very little different, but a fair price difference.
August 12th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Good review. I’m actually in the market for a new laptop (been out of the hardware game for awhile now) and am trying to wrap my head around all the new tech out there currently.
You’ve certainly been a great help. i7 > core duo. Now I know!
Thanks,
Paul
August 18th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
@MMA: If you were indeed doing research, Wikipedia would be a good place to start. This blog is all but good advice to pleople looking to buy a new PC! Look at my earlier comment!
August 20th, 2009 at 9:20 am
This is very simple that a dummmy can understand. Thanks
September 30th, 2009 at 2:18 am
Pathik, thanks for the simple wonderful explanation, which you won a place in my favorite list. Thanks
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:20 am
“this helps in running many applications parallely and also in gaming”
How many games are optimized to handle 8 CPU’s???? I would recommend to deactivate HT.
This would be an important compare for Fastest Core 2 duo vs effort able i7
October 6th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Dell has launched XPS Desktops with i7 processors but no laptops are available yet.
Would Apple Macbook pro 15″ come with i7 in future?
I am keen on gifting that to my dad whose old Toshiba m70 Pro hangs and slows down a lot despite keeping its Hard Drive Empty
October 28th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Dell has launched a laptop with core i7 processor,with a Best configuration,will be soon in india
October 31st, 2009 at 5:29 pm
i m really confused.i can’t afford i7.could you pl clarify my doubts
1. i7 may be best but what about xeon 5500?
2. i have DDR 3 memories. May i use it with xeon 5500 or dell poweredge any xeon servers with overclocking?
3. i7 may not be best for gamers what about server side apps?
Thanks in advance,
November 4th, 2009 at 8:27 am
I have a question.
I am considering to buy a Dell corei7 notebook.
my question is which one is better ?
(1) Corei7 1.6 GHz or Core2Duto 2.5 GHz.
As I know, some OS or Software recommend processor speed at least 2.0 GHz. so, what about Corei7 1.6 GHz ?
-Dave
November 4th, 2009 at 11:59 am
For Core i7 Laptops check out http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/performance-deals?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&redirect=1
November 7th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
the new hp dv8 is out with i7 processor
my question is wich is better in terms of peformance n gaming ?
- Hp dv8 with i7-820qm(1.73ghz),8gm ddr3,640gb,1gb nvidia gt230m
or
- Hp hdx16t with intel core 2 duo T9900 3.06ghz,8gb ddr2,640gb,1gb nvidia gt130m
please note price difference aint much between both
any help would be very appreciated
November 8th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Hi … As u previously mentioned that there is no laptop or desktop with i7 processor but now laptop with i7 processor exist. It is DELL STUDIO XPS 16 Notebook..Good Bye
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:56 pm
just sold my qx9650 and abit ix38 quad gt for more then enough money to get the i7920, a gigabyte ud5 mobo,and 6 gb gskill pi black 1600 ram!!
And get to put a couple hundred in my pocket!!
My old benchmarks on 3dmark06 were maxed out at 4.1ghz qx9650 at 21,000+ and with this new I7core setup my benchmark has went up to 29,000+ at 4.2ghz!!
Thats a huge improvment for way less money!! And now who wants a Core2Extreme? I have more ill sell ya if you think Icore is more expensive then Core2Extreme!
Also,
Both the I7 920 and the I7965 MAX out in tests I ran with air cooling at 4.4ghz. They are the same chip and they also both max out at around 4.8 on water. So dont be fooled by intels marketing to get you to by the extreme. They are in fact the same chip. No difference except the stock speed.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Excellent article. I am looking for a HP dv-6t laptop with Core 2 Duo 7530 (2.13 Gz, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, 1 GB Nvedia Graphics card, Std. DVD RW/R etc.) for around $750.00. The alternative is to buy the same with Quadcore i7-750 (1.66 Gz), 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, Blue-Ray, for around $1300.00. Any suggestion which one may be for everyday use. Not very computer savy. Thanks a lot.
December 6th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
for today’s gamings the c2d is itself enough. But if u want HD ability go for i7…
December 7th, 2009 at 1:19 am
Right you are when you say for todays games the C2D is enough. But if you are just buying a PC today… It makes no sense to purchase even a QX9775 (which is the best of the C2Extreme series) because the I7 920 benches more. And that alot more. And the overclocking ability is just insane. When you overclock a QX9650 to 4.1 you need 1.5Vcore and when you overclock an I7920 to 4.1 you need 1.3Vcore So the difference is staggering and the cost is cheaper to build an I7 920 system … As a matter of fact by hundreds of dollars cheaper because the I7 920 is around $279 and the QX9650 is still $570. So it makes way more sense to buy a 1366 socket motherboard(which the Gigabyte EX58 UD5 is beating the EVGA Classified in overclocking)and the UD5 is $289 Versus the Classifieds $549 price tag. Plus you can get DDR3 Ram now for around $120 to $150 for 6GB. So overall Building an I7 Core system is much cheaper then purchasing a C2D. And the very fact that there is tons of room to still upgrade the I7 series because its just the begining of it and the C2D is topped out with the QX processors.
I think all in all its foolish to build a C2D unless budget has you building a very low end C2D which in that case of course its cheaper. But as I said in the begining… The low end I7 beats the Uppermost end C2D and is far cheaper.
December 12th, 2009 at 11:00 am
hey we can have these laptops with intel core 17 at damn cheap rates
follow the link
http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=in&cs=indhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn#subcats=&navla=&a=57477~0~300244
the prices are in Indian currency
December 12th, 2009 at 11:01 am
forgot to mention
taxes have been included in price
December 17th, 2009 at 1:57 am
Hi,
Does anyone know if apple coming with i7 macbook in near future. I am planning to buy a macbook pro 13 but I am confused if I should wait for i7 macbook.
December 29th, 2009 at 11:29 am
q configuracion quedaria mejor en un pc, todo es igual menos en el procesador y la ram, una es intel core 2 duo t6600 con 4gb d ram y la otra es un intel core i7 720QM con 3gb d ram
December 29th, 2009 at 11:30 am
what is the best computer?
1. intel core 2 duo 4gb ram
2. intel core i7 720QM 3gb ram
December 30th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
By far the I7 720
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:23 am
for home use, some pic and video editing is the 1)Intel Core 2 Quad sufficient or should I go with the 2)Intel Core I5 750 2.66ghz? The second option is even less expensive Costco vs Future Shop. Thanks
January 2nd, 2010 at 5:22 am
That would depend on which Core2 Quad you are talking about. But since it appears that your price conscience(which you should be) i would always go with the ICore system
The newer technology is far superior in every way.
even at less GHz the ICore is just far superior.. Not to mention even a total novice can overclock these new processors with ease since most of the New PCs come with a utility for it. You could get the 2.66GHz I5 up to 3.2GHz without even knowing anything about overclocking and it would not even see an increase in Temps under load or volts. So wear on it would not be increased at all.
January 13th, 2010 at 11:31 am
“…the Core i7 920 is available at just $284…”
Where? I will buy at least 3.
Gab
January 14th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Rumor!: Apple Tablet will have i7! hehe
January 16th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
gt8 article
January 18th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I am in the market for a new audio laptop for the studio, and have already purchased a lenovo ws700 with a core 2 duo (T9900). I presumed this was the best bang for the buck, but after dropping 8gb of ram into it the price went up to nearly $3,000 usd.
I noticed that the i7 720 is only clocked at 1.6ghz, while the c2d t9900 is posted at 3.06ghz.
Is it really worth cancelling my order with Lenovo to shop around for an i7 laptop? how much less performance would i get with the t9900 in audio applications?
January 18th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
also – should you expect the extreme edition of the i7 processor to be worth the extra money at this point? i heard someone mention that it was basically just overclocked in software.
January 18th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
hi.. i’m planning to buy a laptop with core i7, for my 3d modeling propose. can you suggest a laptop for that
Thanx
January 18th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
NO WAY the 965 is worth the extra money!!
Anyone who thinks so just doesnt know how to overclock. I have screeners to show that The 920 has beaten the 965 in overclocking. It is a mess up on Intel that this has happened. But the 920 scored bigger when overclocked to the same speed as the 965. At least at speeds that anyone reading this can achieve. My friend even scored over 33,000 with the 920 and 2 5870 diamonds on 3dmark06. I have yet to see the 965 beat the cpu score that produced at +8700. Anyone beating that let me know and dont just say you are. give links to screen shots
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Hi,
I use CAD and GIS systems that process huge files.
I need more performance in a single process (I would like it uses all processing as possible to perform that, even it would block other task until finish it, instead of run other things together).
Thus, some people adviced me to get an i7 920, others say that i7 860 is better becouse its clock is higher (860-2.8 x 920-2.66 please see http://www.gamevicio.com.br/i/noticias/30/30755-intel-core-i7-860-vs-i7-920-fight/index.html), and others suggestted me that a core 2 duo 3.2 Ghz will get the best performance…
What shoud I do? Any advices?
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:13 pm
Of course they BOTH will do extremely well for what you want to do. The question in this debate is… Can a system that has an 1156 bus be upgraded should you decide to if anything new comes out that you would like to purchase?
And the answer is NO!
I also find it funny that in that article they showed what the 860 will score WITH TURBO ON running at 3.46Ghz
And on the 920 they showed it running without turbo on at 2.66. I just turned my system down to its stock speeds with turbo on and scored 5007 3dmark06 CPU score.
Then I turned it up to 3.2Ghz and allowed the Turbo to get me to 3.4Ghz and scored 7063 3dmark06 CPU score.
So There is the results. If you would like screen shots leave an email and I will surely send you the results.
The fact is that they BOTH are good and are not going to choke for what your doing. And they both are the same price pretty much( I think they are still). Anyway you go you will go well with those processors. But I just think upgradability wins in this case.
My personally opinion… You cannot get a better value then the 920 right now. It clocks like a monster easily and if you get a good motherboard your able to upgrade to the 6 cores that will be out by end of 2Q 2010. They are incredible. My friend is testing the 3.33Ghz right now and it is amazing that processor scores over 10,000 06marks!
Hes already tested the 2.4 and the 3.07Ghz. Phenomenal!
January 25th, 2010 at 9:56 am
Nice description man…koodoes……..
January 28th, 2010 at 10:33 am
This is very misleading information, one big example is that the Core 2 duo does only DDR2. IT DOES DDR3, OMFG. Lame. And unless you are making a sequel to “Avatar” the core 2 duo will blaze through anything with no problems of the sort. This is for intel to make money off of idiots that don’t know better.
January 28th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
CORE 2 DUO Does not do only DDR2. There are many boards for DDR3 and Core2Duo. Please, The only person doing any misleading here is you. Stop trolling forums looking for something to complain about.
The fact is that no one even made any hint in any post that Core 2 is junk. In fact it was just stated that I7 cores slowest QUAD CORE is Faster then CORE 2s Fastest Processor. And that IS in fact TRUE. I know because I own them both still.
There is nothing misleading up there except your post. You need to look up your facts before you come and make a fool out of yourself on a public forum. Stop being lazy and full of hate. And go look it up. And stop trolling forums to start arguments
January 29th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
I have a Dell Dimension 9200 with a Core 2 6600 @ 2.4GHz. Can I replace the processor and plug the i7 in the same socket?
January 29th, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Nah, you can’t. You will need a new mobo with the LGA 1366 socket.
January 29th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
Hey Pathik! Was waiting for you to post so I could say hello!
I have a friend who has been testing all the 6 cores. I was wondering if you have had a chance to get some of them yet? And If so could you direct me to the articles? thanks
January 29th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Hey!
Nah, I haven’t had a chance to play with them yet. By the 6 cores, do you mean the new Gulftowns? i980X? When are they releasing?
January 31st, 2010 at 10:50 am
Actually both. Except the 3.33Ghz Gulftown. But he will get to test that tuesday. They all pretty much clock the same. But of course the Xeons run better. They are releasing end of the 2Q. It was supposed to be middle of the 2Q but they pushed it back. I could not believe they score over 10,000CPU points on 06marks just slightly over 5.1Ghz. Hes had every single one of them over 5.1Ghz at -6°c and 1.66v. Amazing that the 2.4Ghz are clocking that high. But anyways, The i980X is actually the Gulftowns. At least thats what CPUz reads then as.
CPUz read them differently from one processor to the next. I guess Intel was wavering on what they were going to name them! lol
February 1st, 2010 at 7:50 am
My buddy sold one of the 2.4Ghz Gulftowns to his buddy who runs LN2 And his first run was 5925.7 Mhz x33multi
179.57mhz Bclk 3232.22Mhz Rated FSB 1.87v. This is a 2.4Ghz Processor!!!! And its an ES Chip So its opened up. A0 stepping. These things are incredible. Ill update you as I know more. I have the screen shots. I cant wait until he runs 06marks.
February 1st, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Hello Frnd….Thanks for sharing this. Can we exchange link please…
February 1st, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Exchange what link?
February 8th, 2010 at 2:33 am
so let’s say i have a 2.53 ghz core 2 duo processor, T9000, what will that be equivalent to an i7 processor, by knowing the equivalency between the two, i can understand how much faster an i7 processor is, because i see them clocked at 1.6ghz, 1.8ghz. So i’ll really appreciate it if you tell me 1ghz in i7 equals how many in core 2 duo. thanks. also i’ve been meaning to get a macbook pro for a few months, but after seeing the i7, i’m thinking of waiting till an i7 enabled Mac appears, u think i’m right doing this ?
February 8th, 2010 at 8:51 am
There is no C2D as fast as an i7. I dont even think you could overclock a C2D to outbench a stock i7. But the i3 is slower then an i7 but still acts as a quad core because it has 4 logical processors in it. The i5 is a quad core without hyperthreading so it has 4 cores but no hyper threading so it is 4 cores. The i7 has 8 logical cores so its about double the Q9650 and maybe close to one and a half QX9770’s. These have exceptional architecture and are a huge leap forward in calculations per second. I do not know of an i7 core clocked at 1.6 or 1.8. I am sure you are talking about iCore models i3 and i5 laptops for the mid end of the series. As far as they go im sure they are just as good if not still better but maybe someone that uses those should answer that. Just thought I could shed maybe a little light on what is the difference in the lineup of iCore processors.
February 8th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
thnks for the info pathik…
can you give the diffrence between core 2 duo and core i based processor on the basis of power consumption….
February 9th, 2010 at 2:58 am
I wish we could see a comparison on real world numbers between i7 and core 2 3GHZ
February 9th, 2010 at 7:12 am
I made a mistake in my last post. The i5 can be a dual core or a quad core. but nevertheless is always shows as a quad core because on the dual core versions of the processor it does have hyper threading. And does not on the quad core versions. I will get you that comparision. I have it some where. Look back soon and I will have it posted.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:20 am
Which is better?
Processor : Intel® Core&trade 2 Duo Processor P8800 (2.66GHz) with 4gb Ram
vs.
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor (1.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.80GHz
Please reply quickly. Thanks.
February 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Intel i7 is the fastest one ever. They did comparisons with the i7 720m versus t9300 which was their fastest mobile before the iCore and the i core creamed it in ever benchmark
February 9th, 2010 at 11:11 am
damn! Thanks.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Jus curious: I have intel centrino on a Vaio right now…but it freezes up while im on AOL, will the i7 be able to combat that?
February 9th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Off Topic:
DESIZ RULE I.T. !!!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
AOL is horrible. I dont use it. I would think very possible that its an AOL issue and not a processor issue.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:44 pm
Definitely an AOL issue. Possibly Flash.
February 10th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Processor : Intel® Core&trade 2 Duo Processor P8800 (2.66GHz) with 4gb Ram
Can someone tell me what Core&trade means? I googled it but there are no answers to it. Thanks again fellas.
February 10th, 2010 at 7:24 am
Gulftown i7 i980X 3.33Ghz hit 5.3ghz on SS chiller.1.4v
Scored 3,8000 3dmark06 with 3 Diamond 5870’s. More to come… Next on cascade. Hopefully can get the record and break 43,000
February 10th, 2010 at 11:11 am
what abourt Core 3i or 5i, 3i will be better then C2D ? please guide me
February 10th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
THANKS A LOT for this explantion, helped me a lot.
God Bless You…
February 11th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
I think it is fair to let someone who has actually used those processors answer that. But I have read reports that the i3 is right on with processors such as the e8400 if not a little behind the 8400. That I am not perfectly sure of though. But the i5? Far better! That is a great processor too. And some of them have integrated graphics on the processor. Im not sure of the graphics performance without a card but I would suspect they are not for hard core gamers. Probably more of the Web surfer. But the i5 and i3 just as a processor are really fast. I have said it before….. I think aliens came down and told Intel what to do because the new iCore series is a huge advancement in Technology!
February 13th, 2010 at 5:43 am
Seriously, no one in here knows what ” Intel core&trade 2 duo ” means?
February 13th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Dude, it’s just the HTML entity sign used to display the ™ – trademark sign.
Read it as Intel Core™ 2 Duo
February 14th, 2010 at 2:40 am
Lol, thanks Pathik. I overlooked that possibility.
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:06 pm
sir i have 1 question which is the best playing games core i7 or core quad
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:15 pm
You can find the Core i7 Laptop here.
http://www.deals2use.com#3392
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Testing The Gulftown 6 core ES with 2 stage Cascade will happen on Saturday. Test system will also have 3 5870s and the new SATA 6gb/s interface ssd w/355Mb/s Read times. I will let you know how it goes. I cant wait for him to get this to see what that processor is capable of. -109 temps!
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Intel i5 comparison link as promised. Sorry it took so long
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/corei5/specifications.htm
February 24th, 2010 at 12:15 am
Hi…! Nice Quotes and information that i really expected..! I need a help that I want to buy a Laptop i need the laptop with i7 or core2 duo processor which one is better to buy. Please help me in this…..
Regards,
Vikas V
February 24th, 2010 at 6:31 am
Hey Vikas…it depends what your main purpose for laptop is. i7 from what I understand is excellent for gaming, high graphics and running multiple applications, CPU intensive, ones. i7 also is avialable with hyper threading, which pushes it to the max when needed. I recently purchased a Vaio with Core2duo 2.53Ghz. I did not buy it for gaming and whatever I use it for, I find the speed fantastic. Boot up time is 60 seconds on it flat. Hope it helped ya.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:27 am
I can relate to this really easy, thank you. I have subscribed to your RSS.
February 25th, 2010 at 3:41 am
So I’ve been shopping for a powerful system for doing architectural 3d work. How does this Intel® Xeon® Quad-Core E5520 processor (2.26 GHz, 8 MB cache, 1066 MHz memory) compare with the i7? The i7 seems to be for home computers and is much cheaper but doesn’t support NVIDIA Quadro FX series video cards.
February 25th, 2010 at 8:17 am
Markitect, Contact me for a powerhouse system. You can shop awhile and may not find a more powerful system then I can build for you. plus im cheaper then every place out there. And I beat their benchmarks. I have worked with Chief Architect X1. Im also a Home builder. But I also Build super fast systems very cheap considering the competition and I also warranty at much higher speeds if you would like it that way. mike at home images dot net.
Thanks
February 25th, 2010 at 8:25 am
The Xeon version of the iCores do support the Quadro FX and even the lowest end newer Xeon series beats the i7 975 Extreme. After all I have said about the i7 on this site it would seem imposssible that there would be a faster processor out. But there is. Keep an eye out here, I will be posting some numbers from a new system build using the Gulftown ( which there is a Xeon version coming out as well called Westmere), The system will have the new 6GB/s SATA interface WITH the SSDs to match it. The drives are the Micron 128Gb Sata 6GB interface with 355 Read and 250 Write speeds. Far superior even to the Intel XM25 Extreme SSD which has the Sata 3 Gb/s interface. Email me and lets see if I can beat the deals you have already looked at. My email is above this post.
March 7th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
hey pathik..
you are wrong dell has released in its xps studio laptops the intel core i7 laptops in both 16” and 14”..hence there is a price hike of 10000rs between i7 and intel core 2duo..ciao
March 8th, 2010 at 3:38 am
so guys can someone give me the cost for Core i7 3.8 Ghz processor; and what a relevant motherboard should cost ??
I am based out of Hyderabad and need a Gaming PC which should not get out dated soon : ) and should run all latest games without a hitch…
Thank You
March 8th, 2010 at 8:31 am
@Alan,
The price hike is all relative to what else is in the laptop. Its just as expensive to get a Q9000 in a laptop as it is to get an i7. Just check Asus and Alienware to figure that out. What your saying is a mute point. The fact is that QUAD CORE in general is new to laptops SO ALL OF THEM ARE HIGH PRICED. There is no more premium for the i7 laptop then any quad core laptop.
And to Vikram, I have been building a certain Gaming PC and selling for 1,550.00. And it scores 27,000 3dmark06 Points. As follows:
Gigabyte GA-EX58a-UD3r Motherboard
Intel i7 920 Quad@ 4.0Ghz (EASY overclock)
6gb Gskill 1600Mhz Your choice
2x Diamond 5770 GT Crossfire
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme CPU cooler- Idle at 30c@4.0
Case- Your choice
DVD BURNER- Your choice
Hard drive-Your Choice
PSU- I prefer the Rosewill 1000Watt for cost
This system can be biult for 1,300.00 And I make 250 for building it. Cant go wrong with that build. It blows through any game out. This system will play any game out and as for future upgrades the sky is the limit!!
And, Let me stress this, THE DIAMOND VERSION OF THAT CARD DOES NOT HAVE THE ISSUES PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT WITH THE 5000 SERIES ATI LINE!!<— Cannot stress that enough. Diamond makes a heck of a card.
Take care,
If you need a builder let me know. But this is a simple build for Air cooling and Price to performance ratio is slammin!
March 8th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
@Beefyer
Thanks for the config there. The price which you mentioned, i think there’s a decimal here or there.
Can u pls chk and let me know. I m very much interested in getting one such CPU.
Thanks
March 9th, 2010 at 2:35 am
@Vikram, the prices are right. They are in dollars.
@Beefyer, He is based in India.
March 9th, 2010 at 5:09 am
Thanks for clearing it Pathik. At $1500 it is definately out of my budget as of now.
I read in one the blogs wherein they said that Core i7 was basically a processor to manage data centers or servers. For gaming purpose it is too much power which will be under utilised.
Hence, what clock speed would be ideal for gaming, say we add 6 Gb ddr3 ram and a good Video card?
Thanks
March 9th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
@Pathik, Thanks for clearing that up. I had no Idea!
@vikram, I would say that its clear the i7 outperforms the QX series for a cheaper price. Intel is not making the 920 anymore because of this I believe. They just came out with a 930 and stopped production on the 920. The 930 is 200Mhz faster stock and has a 22xMultiplier instead of the 21x Multi for the 920. The truth is the 930 will not achieve an overclock as High as the 920 would and I believe Intel is doing this because there was no need to purchase their Extreme iCores because everyone was purchasing the 920s and blowing the doors off the 975 with them. And that with low volts and low heat.
The iCores are not just for Data servers and they really do have exceptional performance for gaming. More so then the Core2 Extreme series for a cheaper price. Those people that say that may have never owned both processors. Who knows, But it doesnt even seem Logical to assume they are for data centers or servers since the XEON line is for such things. But the XEONs Still game very well. Its a CPU not a GPU so it serves its purpose whether purchased for gaming or Data centers.
And the truth is that if you overclock any processor you will get more FPS in gaming because the system is overall running faster utilizing far more of the GPU then if the system was running stock. For instance, If I run 06Marks stock with my system the opening test starts at around 90Fps. WITHOUT overclocking my graphics cards at all, If i overclock to 4.0Ghz The same test opens running 170Fps without overclocking my Graphics cards at all. Thats just raising the QPI(FSB equivalent). I personally have owned a QX9650 overclocked on water at 4.0ghz and the i7 920 on water at 4.0ghz………
The difference running Nvidia GTX295s in SLI on both systems………………
QX9650 system= 22,000 Overall 06Marks /Processor score= 5000+ Sm2.0 9000+ SM3.0 11,000+
i7 920 System= 27,000 Overall 06Marks /Processor score=
7300+ SM2.0 11,000 SM3.0 13,000+
Those results I think tell the story. But really if I was to had ran the 975 Extreme in my system at 4.0Ghz the score would not had changed at all showing that the low end versus high end iCore processors are really the same processor when it comes to overclocking. The only selling point is HIGHER STOCK SPEED and Unlocked multiplier to achieve higher overclocks for an Extreme overclocker. Means NOTHING for a Gaming Machine running 24/7 at all.
Also with a few changes to the above configuration and some utilizing rebates from some parts that system could be built using one Diamond XOC4890 Video card and a few cheaper changes such as Case, 3GB RAM instead of 6GB and an 850W PSU could bring that system total to around $980.00(US) for parts alone instead of $1,300.00(US)
But to answer your last question…
I would say around 3.8Ghz for an i7 920 because you may get a hot running processor that starts to top out on air at 4.0Ghz.(I actually bought one and took it back for an exchange) And others just seem to be invincible up to 4.5Ghz on air. Some go even higher yet! I have had my share of processors acting totally differnt on the same system for sure! I usually take them back if they are not performers though.
As far as a good video card…for single card set ups at a great price the Ideal card I believe is Diamonds XOC4890 as mentioned above. I saw a system tested with this card in it that scored 16,000 with the processor at stock speeds. In the very same system 2 4870s scored 18,000. Thats a powerful card to keep up with two 4870s like that! I could imagine that with the processor overclocked to around 4.0Ghz that card would had scored well over 20,000 and if another was added I believe it would beat my two GTX275s By a long shot. The Diamond XOC is on sale right now at Diamond for $199.99(US).
Very good deal considering it outperforms the other vendors 4890s by a pretty solid margin and it retails normally for $320.00(US) because of its clock speeds and performance.
If you are in the market for a system and would like some help on configuring a system I would be willing to help you with configuration. Just email me at Mike At Homeimages dot net.
Take care
March 9th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
that was too long! Wow Sorry bout that
March 10th, 2010 at 7:01 am
Thanks a lot.
All that info is very useful. I’ll go and check out the prices here in the local market.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Ever since the Intel Core i7 820 QM came out, I knew that it would be the processor every user would go for other than professional users. It has 8mb 3 level cache and just has a just has a little less frequency rate then the 920 XM. A laptop I would recommend to you would be the HP Pavilion dv7t or dv8t. The dv7t is a bit lighter than dv8t, but dv8t has a bigger screen. And they all have same configs. Check it out. I swear it is awesome. And much better than alienware in pricing.
March 10th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
I’m pretty experienced but when it comes to core architecture I am a little bit of a noob, and this article ‘dumbed down’ really cleared a lot up and allowed me to open new doors in processor research. Thank you so much. Great article.