The Dark Knight: Intel's Core i7
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Gary Key on November 3, 2008 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
What about the Impact of DDR3 Speeds?
Intel only officially supports up to DDR3-1066 on Nehalem, but hitting 1333MHz and 1600MHz isn't a problem thanks to DDR3 being a mature technology that's been in use for a couple of years now.
| Triple Channel DDR3-1066 (9-9-9-20) | Triple Channel DDR3-1333 (9-9-9-20) | Triple Channel DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24) | |
| Memory Tests - Everest v1547 | |||
| Read Bandwidth | 13423 MB/s | 14127 MB/s | 17374 MB/s |
| Write Bandwidth | 12401 MB/s | 12404 MB/s | 14169 MB/s |
| Copy Bandwidth | 18074 MB/s | 16953 MB/s | 19447 MB/s |
| Latency | 44.2 ns | 38.8 ns | 33.5 ns |
| x264 HD Encoding Test (First Pass / Second Pass) | 85.3 fps / 30.3 fps | 86.4 fps / 30.6 fps | 88.1 fps / 30.7 fps |
| WinRAR 3.80 - 602MB Folder | 117 seconds | 111 seconds | 106 seconds |
| PCMark Vantage | 7490 | 7569 | 8102 |
| Vantage - Memories | 6712 | 6809 | 6886 |
| Vantage - TV and Movies | 5637 | 5716 | 5716 |
| Vantage - Gaming | 9849 | 10570 | 11013 |
| Vantage - Music | 4593 | 4798 | 4896 |
| Vantage - Communications | 6422 | 6486 | 6630 |
| Vantage - Productivity | 7676 | 7803 | 7819 |
| WinRAR (Built in Benchmark) | 3306 | 3520 | 3707 |
| Nero Recode - Office Space - 7.55GB | 130 seconds | 127 seconds | 126 seconds |
| SuperPI - 32M (mins:seconds) | 11:52 | 11:36 | 11:25 |
| Far Cry 2 - Ranch Medium (1680 x 1050) | 62.4 fps | 62.5 fps | 62.7 fps |
| Age of Conan - 1680 x 1050 | 51.1 fps | 51.1 fps | 51.1 fps |
| Company of Heroes - 1680 x 1050 | 133.6 fps | 135.8 fps | 136.8 fps |
The real world performance benefit from going to DDR3-1066 to 1600, despite having to lower memory timings slightly, is around 3%. The raw increase in memory bandwidth amounts to about 30% and in a completely memory bandwidth bound test like the WinRAR benchmark you're looking at a 12% boost in performance, but that's going to be very rare in most real world scenarios. The reduction in latency is particularly impressive when you jump up to DDR3-1600, it only takes 33.5ns to access main memory.
If you do want the absolute best performance out of your Nehalem system you're going to want a three-channel DDR3-1600+ kit, but you'll only be giving up a couple of percent if you opt for the entry level 1066MHz modules at like timings. Although not shown, in this article anyway, reducing the memory timings to 7-7-7-20 at DDR3-1066 will close the slight performance gap quickly in most instances.
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Kaleid - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
http://www.guru3d.com/news/intel-core-i7-multigpu-...">http://www.guru3d.com/news/intel-core-i...and-cros...bill3 - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
Umm, seems the guru3d gains are probably explained by them using a dual core core2dou versus quad core i7...Quad core's run multi-gpu quiet a bit better I believe.tynopik - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
what about those multi-threading tests you used to run with 20 tabs open in firefox while running av scan while compressing some files while converting something else while etc etc?this might be more important for daily performance than the standard desktop benchmarks
D3SI - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
So the low end i7s are OC'able?
what the hell is toms hardware talking about lol
conquerist - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
Concerning x264, Nehalem-specific improvements are coming as soon as the developers are free from their NDA.See http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=40">http://x264dev.multimedia.cx/?p=40.
Spectator - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
can they do some CUDA optimizations?. im guessing that video hardware has more processors than quad core intel :PIf all this i7 is new news and does stuff xx faster with 4 core's. how does 100+ core video hardware compare?.
Yes im messing but giant Intel want $1k for best i7 cpu. when likes of nvid make bigger transistor count silicon using a lesser process and others manufacture rest of vid card for $400-500 ?
Where is the Value for money in that. Chukkle.
gramboh - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
The x264 team has specifically said they will not be working on CUDA development as it is too time intensive to basically start over from scratch in a more complex development environment.npp - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
CUDA Optimizations? I bet you don't understand completely what you're talking about. You can't just optimize a piece of software for CUDA, you MUST write it from scratch for CUDA. That's the reason why you don't see too much software for nVidia GPUs, even though the CUDA concept was introduced at least two years ago. You have the BadaBOOM stuff, but it's far for mature, and the reason is that writing a sensible application for CUDA isn't exactly an easy task. Take your time to look at how it works and you'll understand why.You can't compare the 100+ cores of your typical GPU with a quad core directly, they are fundamentaly different in nature, with your GPU "cores" being rather limited in functionality. GPGPU is a nice hype, but you simply can't offload everything on a GPU.
As a side note, top-notch hardware always carries price premium, and Intel has had this tradition with high-end CPUs for quite a while now. There are plenty of people who need absolutely the fastest harware around and won't hesitate paying it.
Spectator - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
Some of us want more info.A) How does the integrated Thermal sensor work with -50+c temps.
B) Can you Circumvent the 130W max load sensor
C) what are all those connection points on the top of the processor for?.
lol. Where do i put the 2B pencil to. to join that sht up so i dont have to worry about multiply settings or temp sensors or wattage sensors.
Hey dont shoot the messenger. but those top side chip contacts seem very curious and obviously must serve a purpose :P
Spectator - Monday, November 3, 2008 - link
Wait NO. i have thought about it..The contacts on top side could be for programming the chips default settings.
You know it makes sence.Perhaps its adjustable sram style, rather than burning connections.
yes some technical peeps can look at that. but still I want the fame for suggesting it first. lmao.
Have fun. but that does seem logical to build in some scope for alteration. alot easier to manufacture 1 solid item then mod your stock to suit market when you feel its neccessary.
Spectator.