As explained in "," these new processors are the company's first to be based on its long-previewed "Nehalem" architecture. The Core i7 family doesn't just mean new CPUs, they use a new chipset, a new system bus, and a new socket structure; Intel's first major technology jump since mid-2006, when Core 2 CPUs showed up on the scene.
Mainstream Desktops
Three of the six PCs to debut in our newly refreshed chart boast Core i7. (our Best Buy) and our fourth-ranked use the midrange 2.93-GHz Core i7 940 CPU, which . Though both machines are competitively priced at less than $2000 (without monitor), each returned performance results only just behind the fastest system we've seen in the category: (ranked fifth). That system's 3.2-GHz X9770 processor, 4GB of speedy DDR3-1625 RAM, and two 10,000-rpm VelociRaptor hard drives (in a RAID 0 configuration) propelled it to a result of 141. By comparison, the Micro Express (3GB of DDR3-1333 RAM) and Dell (6GB of DDR3-1066 RAM) achieved WorldBench 6 performance scores of 138 and 136, respectively. Not too shabby at all. Polywell's newer, Core i7-equipped currently ranks 8th on our Power Desktop chart.
Gaming Desktops
Meanwhile, the Best Buy on our new goes to . Equipped with a high-end 3.2-GHz Core i7 Extreme 965 processor () that's been overclocked to 3.8-GHz, a whopping 12GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, and two ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphic boards, the Mach V prevailed in . Even so, both the and the (which rank second and fifth, respectively, on the chart) equaled the Mach V's record WorldBench 6 result of 163.
More On The Way
We're also in the midst of testing more Core i7 desktops. Reviews and benchmark results of systems from Gateway, Alienware, iBuyPower, CyberPower and AVA Direct will be featured on our over the next few weeks.
And just to keep things interesting, --and desktops with them--could arrive as soon as early January. Like you, we're looking forward to see how they might compare.