Gaming Performance

If you're building a gaming box there are clearly better options for you. The i7 970 does well here but it's mostly a waste unless you're doing a lot of 3D rendering or video encoding when you're not gaming. Virtually any of these CPUs will do well in today's games as well as tomorrow's.

Left 4 Dead - 1680 x 1050 - Max Settings (No AA/AF/Vsync)

Crysis Warhead - 1680 x 1050 - Mainstream Quality (Physics on Enthusiast) - assault bench

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Dragon Age Origins

Dawn of War II

World of Warcraft

Archiving Performance Power Consumption & Overclocking
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  • dragunover - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link

    This CPU is a joke until it's getting sold for under four hundred dollars....
  • AstroGuardian - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link

    Why just not take i5-750 and overclock the heck out of it and beat the "crab" out of the i7-970?
  • Taft12 - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link

    Does overclocking net you additional cores now?

    (Sarcasm aside, you CAN net additional cores on an AMD CPU!)
  • afkrotch - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link

    Cause then you can overlock the i7-970 and beat the "crab" out of anything else, minus the 980X.
  • medi01 - Friday, July 30, 2010 - link

    Which still won't justify 5 times higher price.
  • afkrotch - Monday, August 2, 2010 - link

    Never said it did. I can't see why anyone would ever pay $500 or more for a processor you'll be using at home. I'd say it's a different story if it's a work related business expense.

    Me, I will never buy a proc that costs more than $350. I always stay within that budget. I find that the sweet spot. You can get a fast processor and you can usually overclock it to match the $1000 ones.
  • swaaye - Friday, August 13, 2010 - link

    Intel's pricing strategy seems to pay off in the end, historically. :)
  • Will Robinson - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link

    It's pricey but very quick at pretty much everything.
    Thanks for the look anyway.
    Could AT consider an article highlighting the need for software that really shines on this hardware?
    Who's coding 6 core +HT stuff anyway?
    Give them a push Anand :)
  • AstroGuardian - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link

    "If you're doing a lot of 3D rendering, video encoding or other heavily threaded tasks it makes sense. Otherwise, despite the class leading performance, it's not a good value. "

    Read the review!!! .... damn it
  • Taft12 - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link

    Server workloads and animation professionals.

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