Power Consumption

If you'll remember back to last year's Nehalem coverage I made a point to mention that the Nehalem architecture, thanks to its PCU and power gate transistors, was the most power efficient of the high end options. The lower the TDP, the more important power efficiency is and thus it's no surprise to see Lynnfield truly impress when it comes to power consumption:

Idle Power Consumption

At idle the Core i5 and Core i7 870 use less power than any other processor we've ever tested. Note that these idle power figures include an idling GeForce GTX 280. With a lower power graphics card, you could easily get to idle power consumption around 60W. Once we start seeing on-package GPUs, total system power consumption should drop even further.

Load Power Consumption - x264 HD Bench Pass 2

Under load the Core i5 and Core i7 870 continue to impress. They both draw less power than a Q6600 or a Q9650, all the while outperforming the two. Power consumption is also noticeably lower than Bloomfield.

These things are fast and smart with power. Just wait until Nehalem goes below 65W...

Gaming Performance Overclocking: Great When Overvolted, Otherwise...
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  • goinginstyle - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    Really? SuperPi, WPrime, Everest, 3Dmarks and LN2 overclocking defines a better review? How does any of that correlate into real world applications and what 99% of people use their computers for on a daily basis. I counted a lot more than three tests in the AT review, go spam elsewhere.
  • C'DaleRider - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    Really. All I play is SuperPi, Everest and 3DMarks....oh, and Furmark and OCCT.

    Who would ever use their computer to encode video, run Excel spreadsheets, play games like Far Cry or Crysis or Left For Dead, or actually use any other real world application?

    Don't you know? Real elite computer users just bench synthetic crap, over and over, for hours and hours, and scoff at anyone who dares do anything productive with their computer.

    /sarcasm
  • geok1ng - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    I am not pleased by the news; i5 needs more juice for overcloking. Thats terrible: my E8600 is still on top: it runs at 4.0Ghz with 1.16v on a watercooled setup with 4x120mm fans at 1600rpm. we are talking less than 30dB of noise and less than 55w of power consumption. At 1.25v my E8600 reaches 4.25Ghz and would go a little further if wasnt for the 4 sticks of ram burning the NB. no reason to exchange systems before the 32nm parts arrive. The ability to achieve high clocks with low voltages is crucial for a good system: not only will it consume less power, but it will also be quieter, and that is a point for choosing sub-65w dual-cores in gaming rigs.
  • papapapapapapapababy - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link


    honestly... i lol at all the core i7 core i5 "GAMERS"( and their punny 23 lcd with shitty TN panels) also LGA1366? LGA1156? and 285$ for a shitty motherboard? XD I have a better proposition for you INTEL. how about u SUCK MY BALLS XD. MKAY? the story: my old man needed a gaming setup ( mostly simracing) So i bought the cheapest E7200 i could find (oc3.2GHZ), 4gb of ram, the cheapest intel mobo i could find -g31- ( not even pcie2) and gave him my 4770 ... the price? ridiculously cheap... almost nothing. and with all that extra money i saved i got this > a nice 42" HDTV with a perfect s-ips panel and low 1366 X 768 resolution, and a g25 wheel.

    btw, the framerates? i never, ever drop below 30fps. ALWAYS 60FPS NO MATTER WHAT, ( with nice 8xAA) XD so the best gaming cpu? the cheapest !


  • erple2 - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    Interesting. Which 42" LCD TV did you get that has a S-IPS panel? Also, a 23" panel at about 3 feet looks bigger than a 42" screen at 6 feet.
  • papapapapapapapababy - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    LG. btw a 23" TN lcd looks like shit no matter how you look at it.
  • C'DaleRider - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    My, aren't you special?

  • papapapapapapapababy - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    yes, i know! btw enjoy your small screen gaming, mr sheep XD
  • chrnochime - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    I'd say the same about that barely big enough 42" LCD, but then again why bother...
  • papapapapapapapababy - Tuesday, September 8, 2009 - link

    my bad i meant this > E7300 3.2ghz (+ a cheap 24$ modded heatpipe cooler... 14 dba XD)

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