Intel Core i9: Hands-on test of the six-core Gulftown

[TheMailMan78]

Mmmmmmmm six cores. Sorry I was having a Homer moment. Anyway I found this article and benches on Intel's latest 6 core beast! Just keep in mind some of the notes are in German. What surprised me is how much the AMD 965 is kicking ass in the gaming section for the money. However I bet this i9 would be a juggernaut for our folding/crunching community. Enjoy!

Source

 

[Jstn7477]

Nice find. I look forward to reading it while eating a nice delicious pizza.

 

[TheMailMan78]

Nice find. I look forward to reading it while eating a nice delicious pizza.

Yeah man. I wanna see an AMD 6 core for the enthusiast market already.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

Yeah man. I wanna see an AMD 6 core for the enthusiast market already.

Due out to market mid 2010. AMD always leads in gaming by a slim margin and fails miserably at the Pi test.

Most hardcore folders use GPU power. No CPU can compete in folding with a GPU. The architecture is just built to do stuff like that.

 

[pantherx12]

Yeah AMD really seam to be able to optimise their chips for gaming, even though clock for clock their not as powerful as intel chips.

Pretty impressive if you ask me : ]

 

[TheMailMan78]

Due out to market mid 2010. AMD always leads in gaming by a slim margin and fails miserably at the Pi test.

Most hardcore folders use GPU power. No CPU can compete in folding with a GPU. The architecture is just built to do stuff like that.

I'm glad I don't run Pi nearly as much as I game

Yeah AMD really seam to be able to optimise their chips for gaming, even though clock for clock their not as powerful as intel chips.

Pretty impressive if you ask me : ]

Well I wouldn't mind having an i9.

 

[pantherx12]

I'm glad I don't run Pi nearly as much as I game



Well I wouldn't mind having an i9.

Yeah I wouldn't turn my nose up either.

I've got no brand allegiance, who ever gives me best bang for my buck gets my hard earned pennies.

 

[TheLaughingMan]

Yeah I wouldn't turn my nose up either.

I've got no brand allegiance, who ever gives me best bang for my buck gets my hard earned pennies.

Same here, but I kinda committed to AMD AM3 socket for now and just don't plan to replacement my Mobo anytime soon. Especially just for a CPU upgrade. When I am in the market for a major overhaul or mobo switch, whoever is offering the best bang for your buck has my vote.

 

[TheMailMan78]

This i9 is F#@KING AWESOME! However look at that 965 go! Man AMD has come a LONG way since the Phenom 1.

 

[Wile E]

Due out to market mid 2010. AMD always leads in gaming by a slim margin and fails miserably at the Pi test.

Most hardcore folders use GPU power. No CPU can compete in folding with a GPU. The architecture is just built to do stuff like that.

Yeah AMD really seam to be able to optimise their chips for gaming, even though clock for clock their not as powerful as intel chips.

Pretty impressive if you ask me : ]

It's not anything to do with optimizing for gaming. It's just that beyond a certain amount of processing power, you pass the point of diminishing returns, and the gpu becomes the single largest factor in gaming performance. Pretty much any modern Quad or better is going to perform about the same in games.

It's everywhere else that the cpu can make a difference. Can't wait to see how well it crunches and how well it encodes. This will likely be my next cpu.

 

[Tom20]

Do not need a 6 core... yet! 4 cores is enough!

 

[francis511]

Very interesting article nicht wahr ?

 

[KainXS]

I'm just getting my I7 rig back together, and not I9 is coming out, . . . . . .

anyway I'ma skip this and wait till 2012 to upgrade again, internal sources are pointing to 2012 being a big year for the CPU ,GPU, and consoles

 

[Lionheart]

looks good but not great, just more cores, might get one down the track, I want higher clock speeds not more cores with slower cpu speeds, boooo!!!! I read an article awhile back that some university is making some type of new silicon, i think it was graphite, who knows im no scientist but they said they could manage speeds up to 100ghz, now that friggin nuts, gimme now. They said it would probably take about 5 yrs to start manufacturing this awesome tech!!!

 

[PaulieG]

This is going to be a seriously expensive cpu. Though I may just have to buy one for crunching.

 

[Velvet Wafer]

Very interesting article nicht wahr ?

the guy reviewing it, dont likes the proc, somehow... i can read that from the way he "talks"in german.
even if he remarks it, the german passages sound likes he sues it somehow. he is clearly NOT excited (i were, if i had that thing to crunch)

 

[TheLaughingMan]

It's not anything to do with optimizing for gaming. It's just that beyond a certain amount of processing power, you pass the point of diminishing returns, and the gpu becomes the single largest factor in gaming performance. Pretty much any modern Quad or better is going to perform about the same in games.

It's everywhere else that the cpu can make a difference. Can't wait to see how well it crunches and how well it encodes. This will likely be my next cpu.

Not sure why my comment was included their. I was stating a fact. I have no idea why that is true, nor did I imply AMD did something for that to come up so often. Simply fact. A i7 will walk all over a 955, except in games. The 955 for some reason will have a 1 to 4 FPS advantage. It is so small it is impossible to notice, but we AMD guys will tak'em it where we can get'em.

 

[Jstn7477]

I'm just getting my I7 rig back together, and not I9 is coming out, . . . . . .

anyway I'ma skip this and wait till 2012 to upgrade again, internal sources are pointing to 2012 being a big year for the CPU ,GPU, and consoles

lol you may not need to upgrade in 2012 with the "end of the world" occuring lol jk

 

[Velvet Wafer]

lol you may not need to upgrade in 2012 with the "end of the world" occuring lol jk

wasnt that later? or did the mayan calendar just ends then?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

What surprised me is how much the AMD 965 is kicking ass in the gaming section for the money.

No one seems to know why AMD takes a lot of the gaming benchmarks. High clocks and shorter pipes, I suppose, but it should show up in other benchmarks as well, but it doesn't. QuickPath should have eliminated the only major architectural difference between them. The mystery of the 21st century...

 

[Wile E]

Not sure why my comment was included their. I was stating a fact. I have no idea why that is true, nor did I imply AMD did something for that to come up so often. Simply fact. A i7 will walk all over a 955, except in games. The 955 for some reason will have a 1 to 4 FPS advantage. It is so small it is impossible to notice, but we AMD guys will tak'em it where we can get'em.

Forgot to reply to your post, that's why. lol. My point is, 1-4fps is not a win. It's within the margins of error and natural variance in game benching. AMD does not game better than i7, nor does it game worse. The are absolute equals in gaming, for the reasons I mentioned above.

 

[Yukikaze]

I am soooo gonna buy this to replace my i7 975......NOT.

Seriously, do we need MOAR POWAH ?

Granted, I definitely understand that there are places for this processor, and I cannot really be the voice of reason as far as processor purchases go (I went from an i7 920 to an i7 975), but in reality, in gaming, any quad core hanging around the 3Ghz mark is going to do the trick, unless you want to run two HD5970s in CF or something.

Heck, I run my 975 undervolted (If only it OC'ed as well as it undervolts...) and at stock clocks because there's simply no need for more during normal operation.

But yes, my inner comp geek is screming "do want", even though it makes zero sense.

 

[Wile E]

I am soooo gonna buy this to replace my i7 975......NOT.

Seriously, do we need MOAR POWAH ?

Granted, I definitely understand that there are places for this processor, and I cannot really be the voice of reason as far as processor purchases go (I went from an i7 920 to an i7 975), but in reality, in gaming, any quad core hanging around the 3Ghz mark is going to do the trick, unless you want to run two HD5970s in CF or something.

Heck, I run my 975 undervolted (If only it OC'ed as well as it undervolts...) and at stock clocks because there's simply no need for more during normal operation.

But yes, my inner comp geek is screming "do want", even though it makes zero sense.

You should be ashamed of yourself. There is never such a thing as enough power. MOAR POWAH is absolutely, 100% always needed, no matter what.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Unless all you do is play Solitaire...


...which means you're still using Windows 95 B on a 66 MHz processor like my grandparents...


...to each their own.

 

[Yukikaze]

You should be ashamed of yourself. There is never such a thing as enough power. MOAR POWAH is absolutely, 100% always needed, no matter what.

You are of course right my friend. *Hangs head down in shame*. As penance, I shall post an update on my overpowered mITX project log

Anyway, the question is how well it OCs.

At stock it runs 6 cores at 2.4Ghz. My i7 runs 4 cores at 3.33Ghz. At stock, I reckon they are about equal in performance in heavily multi-threaded apps, and the the i7 would walk all over it for gaming or any app that cannot utilize over 4 cores.

If the i9 cannot get to over 3.5Ghz land, an i7 of whatever sort at over 4Ghz would still be a better pick, and cost a ton less.