September 14, 2009
When it comes time to upgrade again, computer builders now have a few more options on the CPU front, courtesy of our friends at Intel. The recently launched Core i5 brand, along with some new additions to the Core i7 line launched last year, introduce some great new tech worthy of consideration.
When it comes time to upgrade again, computer builders now have a few more options on the CPU front, courtesy of our friends at Intel. The recently launched Core i5 brand, along with some new additions to the Core i7 line launched last year, introduce some great new tech worthy of consideration.
Foremost among these innovations is the elimination of the front-side bus and the integration of the memory controller on-board. This allows for bandwidth rates up to 38.4 GB/s using three channels at 1600 MHz, compared to 12.8 GB/s on a Core 2 with a 1600 MHz FSB. These chips also boast improved performance when handling multi-threaded applications, using such technologies as Intel's TurboBoost and Hyper-Threading.
Is it worth trading in your Core 2 Quad for the latest processors? Probably not. However, the advances made with these chips are impressive enough that they are probably worth the extra money when it comes time to upgrade again.
The folks over at Tom's Hardware have an excellent in-depth review and analysis (with benchmarks) for the Core i5 and i7 brands. Read it here. And TechReport.com breaks the new tech down quite well for those of us without Doctorates in Electrical Engineering. Here.
Here are Intel's official pages:
Core i7
Core i5
And you can always count on Newegg for all of your shopping needs.
(Image courtesy of Intel.)
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