Home > Consumer Reviews > Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8M L3 Cache 4.8GT/sec QPI Hyper-Threading Turbo Boost LGA1366 Processor

I upgraded to the i7 from an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400. The main reasons I made the upgrade were:

1. Low power consumption (significantly lower than a Q6600 which is about $100 cheaper than the i7)
2. 8 logical cores available (quad core + hyper threading)
3. The ability to play cutting edge games that take advantage of all 8 cores.
4. The potential ability to load share between CPU & GPU once Windows 7 is released.

The upgrade might have been a bit premature, as the primary reason to buy an I7 processor won't be possible until Windows 7 is released. Windows 7 will allow load sharing between GPU (graphics card) and CPU. This will enable some really nice performance gains in games, or other graphic intensive applications like video editing software. Allegedly, games like Crysis will get a 20-30 percent performance increase. However, I heard that before when Windows stated that Vista would provide significant performance gains for DirectX10 games, which has not proved to be the case.

Regardless, the i7 920 is truly an amazing CPU. I've yet to experiment with overclocking much, but I do have it running at 3.12ghz stable and with a core temperature of 41C at idle and around 60C under load. I'll likely push things further in the coming weeks, and I'll give updates on temperatures and performance when I do.

Combining this card with two 4870hd 512mb graphics cards in Crossfire mode produced a 3DMark06 score of just over 19,000! That is a 5,000 point gain from my previous rig, and is in about the top 4% of all systems out there. That is pretty phenomenal performance. In Crysis with all settings at very high and DX10, I average over 50 frames at 1980x1200. This CPU is a gaming beast.

If you plan to overclock this card even a little, invest in an aftermarket heat sink and some Arctic Silver thermal compound. The heatsink provided with the retail package is small and ineffective at cooling an overclocked card. I recommend this Zalman Cpu Cooler for moderate overclocking. It is a very quite and very effective fan.

If your in the market for a 'future-proof' processor, this is a great option at a reasonable price point. The ceiling speed of processors is growing increasingly unimportant as multi-thread programing become the norm in both games and applications. You could spend a lot more for a higher GHZ CPU, but you're not really gaining as much performance as the jump from 2 to 4 cores, and then quad core to octo core. This processor will eat anything you throw at it and come back for more. Just make sure your mother board supports i7 chips before you buy one.

Pros:
It's my first build and coming from a Pentium 4 3.4 ghz in my Dell to this processor is simply amazing. I can now play Oblivion and L4D in the settings I want! Everything else it pretty much cuts through it like butter. It get a Windows 7 WEI of 7.6 3dmark Vantage CPU score P42500+ and I have it overclocked to 3.67 with blck of 184 vcore 1.225 with vdroop. Coupled with a Cooler Master V8 it's prime 95 stable (small ffts - 2 hours, large - 2 hours, blend - 9 hours) and LinX stable (max memory 10 runs) 75 degrees C max. Ambient 80 F

Cons:
None

Other thoughts:
If you are new to overclocking like I was here are some simple steps for a modest overclock:
WARNING: It is entirely possible to burn your CPU! Don't go crazy and set a high base clock from the start. Follow the steps!

1) download Realtemp.exe, cpu-z, prime 95, and LinX (google em)
2) go into your bios and increase the base clock by 5 (or 10 if impatient but remember my warning)
3) Load Windows and breath a sigh of relief if it does. But thats only 1/5 of the battle.
4) Run CPU-z to verify your overclock, close it then run realtemp.
5) Run LinX max memory, 3 runs. If it blue screens, restarts or errors then you've gone too far and you need to dial it down to keep your machine stable. Your last setting is your max overclock without adding vcore (cpu voltage).
6) If it passes with no errors and your max temps aren't above 85 C (some people use 80) then you're good, and you can add more base clock.
7) Go back to step 2 rinse and repeat.

8)Once you get to a speed you're happy with and it passes LinX, and is below 85 C, run prime 95 stress test for at least 6 hours of blend, 2 hours of small ffts, and 2 hours of large ffts. If it survives that then you're good for gaming and most everyday apps. If it survives p95 blend for 24 hours (no errors, < 85 C) then you're rock stable ready for mission critical or server work.

You can run Linx for more passes or folding@home SMP for further stability testing.

Finally don't expect much if you're using the heatsink that came with the processor.

Good luck. If I made a mistake somewhere please correct me in the comments.

BTW my motherboard is the EVGA X58 vanilla. The folks at the forums in their website are the most helpful and supportive folks you can find. Really thats the stuff that money can't buy, I strongly recommend their motherboards just for that. They have guides for more serious overclocks and guides explaining voltages, guides on optimizing Vista etc.

All the info about overclocking and stability testing comes from the stickied threads on the EVGA forums

Excellent performance; you will not be disappointed. The processor is highly overclockable - with a decent aftermarket cooling solution, it can easily be clocked over 4ghz. Even with the stock cooler, I was able to reach 3.3ghz with safe temperatures (fan at 100%) under normal usage (but prime95 stress test would push the temps a little too high at this speed). Even without overclocking, I noticed an improvement in speed and multitasking ability over my core 2 duo system. Highly recommended, particularly for those building a new rig. I use the core i7 primarily for gaming and general computing.

Cons - stock fan is somewhat loud to me even at low speeds, though I strive for silent computing. Invest in a quality aftermarket heatsink/fan (plus it will enable you to push performance well beyond the stock 940 at less expense).

Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz 8M L3 Cache 4.8GT/sec QPI Hyper-Threading Turbo Boost LGA1366 Processor

I was contemplating about writing the review for this chip since there are so many people write about it already. But if you're still deciding what chip to get or if you're not sure if you're got the right chip then I'll give you my thought on this.

I know for most people, funding is a major part of their deciding factor, at least for me that is. Everyone wants the best performance for the best value that they can get for their spending, because of this reason, my review is totally base on performance and value. So, let's compare i7 920 with other Intel high end desktop level chips.

First, let's compare performance -

One of the quick and fast to test processing performace on the chip is using wPrime.
On [...], someone ran wPrime with SkullTrail and 2 x Core 2 Extreme QX9770 Quad-Core Processor got it down to 3sec 790ms with Liquid Nitrogen cooling.
With i7 975 Extreme they've got down to 4.2 Sec (Liquid Nitrogen cooling)
And with 920, 4.6 Sec (refrigeration cooling system, Over-clocked to 5.1 GHz)
Just so you know about wPrime - I remember way back then, I ran wPrime on my PIII 1.3 GHz, it took 3 min and the half for the test.

Now, on to pricing -

The Skulltrail motherboard costs $[...] and each Core 2 Extreme QX9770 Processor cost $[...] each, and 2 would cost $[...]. To build a complete system would probably cost $[...]. To build a complete i7 975 Extreme would probably somewhere around $[...]. And i7 920 would be around $[...]

So, 2 QX9770 @ 3.8 Sec. = $[...]
i7 975 @ 4.2 Sec. = $[...]
and i7 920 @ 4.6 Sec. = $[...]

I don't know about you, but for .8 second, I don't think it's worth it to spend $[...] this slide margin of performance increasement. I understand these numbers for the performance are base on the best of over-clocking, and even though is unpractical to use liquid nitrogen cooling, but at least you know what this chip is capable of. This is the main reason why I think is the best performance chip you can get for the price. This chip still has edge even compare to the up coming Socket 1156 i7 and i5 chips, because they cannot support triple channnel memory like this chip.

Just in case if you wonder - I got the chip over clock to 4.2 GHz stable (Air cool with cooler master V8) and wPrime to 6.7 seconds. For daily use, I am running at 3.6 GHz.

If do you decide to get this chip, be sure the S-spec on the box is labeled SLBEJ <- J not H, H is C-0 stepping; J is D-0 stepping. The D-0 stepping makes it better for over clocking. Any 920 chip made after April of this year should be D-0 Stepping.

Finally, I can't give this chip a 5 stars for 2 reasons - Power consumption and the expensive motherboard; it max out at 130 Watts (Ever heard someone say 'Go Green", well, this not the chip to get if you're thinking green, it uses too much power. Second, the system board cost too much, the least expensive one from MSI would cost around $[...], any decent motherboard would be around $[...] or more... I really like to give it a 4 1/2 stars, so 4 stars is what Amazon allows me.

Good luck with whatever chip you decide, and thank you for reading this review.

Yowei Liu, San Diego, CA

Awesome chip. Got my i7 920 overclocked to 3.8ghz in a breeze with Asus P6T motherboard, Scythe Mugen 2 cooler and a triple DDR3-1600 OCZ 6g kit. Minor bump up in voltage to 1.30625v to get system to post in Vista64. Vista32 didn't require extra voltage to remain stable in Prime95 torture test for 1/2hr. But I believe vcore will have to go up to 1.35v to be rock solid 24/7. I heard that the new "D0" stepping allows for overclocking to 4.3ghz with similar setup because the new design runs cooler. I have the old "C" stepping. If you don't mind amping up the vcore, I'm sure 4.0ghz+ can be made stable but I don't like the heat and the wear on my components at those temps. As other buyers have noted, this chip really is an overclocking MONSTER!