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Intel Core i5 750 & Core i7 860/870 Review
[Abstract]
Lynnfield Makes its Long Awaited DebutMeet Lynnfield, Intel's latest processors that have been on the upcoming horizon for the longest time. The mainstream successor to Intel's Core 2 platform ...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
Before this review, we had to ask ourselves if the Lynnfield is the promised mainstream savior for Intel's Nehalem, which despite its gee-whiz technological features, has been too costly and generally overpowered as a platform for the average user. The answer from these three Lynnfield processors today is a yes. It's not a resounding endorsement if that's what you're looking for but by staying mostly competitive in our benchmarks with the less powerful Bloomfield Core i7 models, these Lynnfield processors have made their mark.
With the enhanced Turbo Boost kicking in, the highest rated Lynnfield, the Core i7-870 quite often surpassed the Core i7-920 and even the 950 at times. It's much closer between the i5-750 and the i7-920 but with the exception of certain rendering and gaming benchmarks, the 750 came out tops or equal with the 920. The dynamic clock scaling also helps to improve the performance-power efficiency of these chips, which already benefit from a lower 95W TDP. For the first time, we've a multi-core processor which is clever enough to efficiently use its resources effectively, the PCU is ensuring you get the most bang for the buck without any user intervention. For this, we're awarding the Most Innovative Product award for the new Lynnfield processors.
Intel too knows exactly where to price them, putting them in the vicinity of the retail prices for the Core i7-950 (US$569) and 920 (US$279). In particular, the Core i5-750 at US$199 (albeit for 1k units) is mighty close while in terms of relative value, the Core i7-860 at US$285 surely looks more attractive than the US$555 Core i7-870. Add the expected lower cost of the Intel P55 Express chipset (with a single chip design, there should be some cost savings at least) and the entire Lynnfield platform becomes the serious mainstream contender as intended.
After all that, what do you currently lose going from Bloomfield to Lynnfield? We can name HyperThreading (for Core i5 only), support for 3-way GPU configurations and performance in certain high-end memory intensive tasks, all of which are hardly plus points for the mainstream user. With Lynnfield in town, Intel is definitely setting aside the Core i7-900 series only for the ultimate power users while the rest of us can be pretty much contented with the newcomers.
No doubt, as our benchmarks showed, one can probably still do decently with a Core 2 quad-core but that path is closed with no future prospects. There is room however for prices to fall for these Core 2 quad-cores and also for AMD's Phenom II X4, as they are generally slightly behind the Lynnfield Core i5-750 (which also happens to be the likely market competitor for the US$245 Phenom II X4 965).
It may have taken Intel longer than usual to release the mainstream Nehalem but it has been worth the wait. With more models expected for the two Lynnfield series next year and the mobile version, Clarksfield too in the wings, is it finally time for the next wave of PC upgrades? For us, it certainly sounds like it.
Our Ratings
Intel Core i7-870 and 860 |
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Intel Core i5-750 |
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