first Core i3 benchmarks

[deadrats]

have to love the chinese, these guys got their hands on an engineering sample core i3 (clarkdale) clocked at 3.06ghz and compared it to a E8400 (3ghz), thanks to hyper threading it's up to 33% faster when running multi threaded apps, but actually lost in a couple of games and it also seems to have a higher TDP than the penryn (73 watts versus 65 watts):

http://www.hardware.info/news/ymicl5qSwpyaapY/Intel_Core_i3_benchmarks_appear/

overall it's a solid replacement in the market segment for the processor it replaces, considering the low voltages it runs at it should prove to be a good over-clocker and let's not forget the i3 has that integrated DX11 compatible gpu on it's die, so assuming you can run both a discrete and the integrated gpu at the same time, the i3 will have a huge advantage if DX11 apps come out that use it for hardware accelerated AI or video editing.

for comparison, i ran the cinebench r10 multi-cpu benchmark and saw a score of 4218 compared to 6370 for the E8400 and 8020 for the i3.

not bad, twice as fast as a phenom 9500 and it's still pre-release silicon with beta drivers and bios on a pre-release motherboard.

looking forward to picking one of those bad boys up when they finally hit retail.

edit:

first core i9 benchmarks!!!

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,688273/Core-i9-First-CPU-said-to-be-6-core-Gulftown...-results/News/

http://forum.coolaler.com/showthread.php?t=215674

[wtsinnc]

deadrats,
thanks for the info.

I'm thinking about buying a new rig by the end of the year and although my computer activities are exclusively limited to web surfing, e-mail, and DVD backup, I'm considering an i7 920 cpu upgrade from my original choice, the E8500.
With the imminent availability of the i3 series, I might be able to save some money (vs. the 920) without much of a drop in performance.

Nothing special in the way of the build;
No gaming, 32 bit OS (self-installed XP/Windows 7 dual-boot), no planned overclocking of the cpu or gpu, no Blue Ray, no RAID.

Because my needs are so basic, I might just go with the E8500, but the links you provided are useful and good to have.

Again, thanks !

[budz]

^^^For your needs getting a i7 would be overkill. Supposedly Intel is going to be dropping prices again.

[wtsinnc]

^^^For your needs getting a i7 would be overkill. Supposedly Intel is going to be dropping prices again.

No doubt about that; the choice of an i7 or i3 would definitely be overkill. I'm only considering them because of the price cuts you mention, and I wouldn't be surprised if Intel cut prices again somewhere around December.

-In fact-

I'm wondering if, for my needs, a quad core of any kind would be a good choice versus a really good dual core such as the E8500 or E8400.

[budz]

-In fact-

I'm wondering if, for my needs, a quad core of any kind would be a good choice versus a really good dual core such as the E8500 or E8400.

I see any Quad would be ideal for dvd backups but as far as gaming is concerned they say the E8500 or E8400 is enough. I try to upgrade when prices come down but it never turns out that way because I'm impatient.
I don't game so I have no clue. But I do know with my Q9550 it does speed up the video editing big time.

If you can afford $169.99 right now microcenter has the Q9550 for that price.
Sweet deal but Hawaii doesn't have any microcenter.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0299412

deadrats: That's a interesting article about i3. Thanks for headsup!

[manono]

Sweet deal but Hawaii doesn't have any microcenter.

It hurts, doesn't it, not to have these big-box computor stores? You're lucky you don't live in Kona, as far as that goes. I had to buy a replacement DVD burner in a hurry the other day when mine gave out. All there is is Office Max. I wound up paying about twice what I should have for a Lite-On.

[budz]

Sweet deal but Hawaii doesn't have any microcenter.

It hurts, doesn't it, not to have these big-box computor stores? You're lucky you don't live in Kona, as far as that goes. I had to buy a replacement DVD burner in a hurry the other day when mine gave out. All there is is Office Max. I wound up paying about twice what I should have for a Lite-On.

I do feel your pain!

Yuh, it's a freaking bummer when COMPUSA went under. Now there's no DIY computer supply store in the state of Hawaii. I was hoping that Fry's would open up here but don't think that's ever gonna happen because the economy is so bad throughout the USA.

When COMPUSA had their going out of business sales I bought as much stuff as I could knowing bad times were ahead for people who build their own computers. I bought my CM 690 case at that time for only $70.00 which was the close out price. Then purchased (2) CM Elite 330 cases and a generic COMPUSA case for $10.00 which I sold recently sold as used on craigslist for $15.00.

[wtsinnc]

Admittedly off-track and hoping not to bore, these recent statistics make me wonder why a major electronics retailer hasn't located to Hawaii.

http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publish/article_1232.shtml

I realize Hawaii presents certain issues regarding it's non-contiguous geography, but consider;
a population of over 1.28 million and growing.
Above the national average in education and household income.
About one-half the national average for the percentage of residents living below the poverty line.

I also realize it costs more to live in Hawaii but (apparently), more and more people are finding a way, even in a bad economy.

Perhaps Fry's or CompUSA in it's new incarnation will make the move. Why leave the retail business potential of an area this comparatively affluent and educated to the likes of Radio Shack and WalMart, or even Best Buy ?

[budz]

I doubt Fry's or any other big box retailer will open up in Honolulu. The cost to ship items is expensive which I understand. As it is in the Sunday Best Buy ad items are marked up about $5.00 to $10.00 more which I believe is to make up the cost of shipping. Best Buy, Walmart and Target which opened up this year are already here. Unfortunately they've already taken out the small mom and pop businesses. Bummer but that's what big box retailing is all about.

[deadrats]

I'm thinking about buying a new rig by the end of the year and although my computer activities are exclusively limited to web surfing, e-mail, and DVD backup, I'm considering an i7 920 cpu upgrade from my original choice, the E8500.
With the imminent availability of the i3 series, I might be able to save some money (vs. the 920) without much of a drop in performance.

i personally wouldn't touch the i7's with a ten foot pole, primarily because they are all 130 watt parts and require triple channel ddr3.

for another data point i reran the cinebench r10 benchmark on my E7400/G31M-ES2L combo also running vista 64 bit (but used the 32 bit benchmark so that the numbers could be comparable) and it scored a 5207, which is right in line with what i expected.

as for what kind of cpu you should be thinking about, while an E8500 is a nice cpu, the recent price drop of the Q8200 at $120 is really hard to beat, especially when you pair it with a sub $100 motherboard based on the G41 chipset.

the only caveat is that if you plan on switching to windows 7 you won't be able to take advantage of the built in virtual machine that windows 7 uses to run xp apps (requires a cpu that supports hardware VT).

if that's not a consideration then the Q8200 at that price point is unbeatable.

[wtsinnc]

deadrats and budz;

Thanks for your input and advice.
Lots to consider before committing to purchase, but I have several months to decide.

-Anyway-

Sorry, it wasn't my intent to hijack the thread.

[johns0]

-In fact-

I'm wondering if, for my needs, a quad core of any kind would be a good choice versus a really good dual core such as the E8500 or E8400.

I see any Quad would be ideal for dvd backups but as far as gaming is concerned they say the E8500 or E8400 is enough.

Hate to say it but more games are getting made for quad core just as they were being made for dual core so just as most single core cpus have been phased out for games so will be dual cores.

[budz]

^^^^You give any gamer the choice between a E8500 vs a quad and they'll take the dual core. This is according to the gamers over at overclock.net.

By the time more games are released there will be 6 core cpu's.