Intel Core i7 Extreme

Intel Corporation has launched its most advanced desktop processor ever called the Intel Core i7 processor. The first member of a new family of Nehalem processor designs, it speeds video editing, immersive games and other popular Internet and computer activities by up to 40 percent without increasing power consumption.

Intel Turbo Boost Technology automatically adjusts the clock speed of one or more of the four individual processing cores for single- and multi-threaded applications to boost performance. The Core i7 processor more than doubles the memory bandwidth of previous Intel “Extreme” platforms, speeding the transfer of computer bits and bites in and out of the processor with Intel Quickpath Technology. Intel’s Hyper-Threading Technology allows multiple computing threads to run simultaneously, effectively enabling it to do two things at once, so the Core i7 quad-core processor delivers 8-threaded performance.

Each Core i7 processor has an 8 MB level 3 cache and three channels of DDR3 1066 memory to deliver the best memory performance of any desktop platform. Intel’s top performance processor, the Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition, also removes overspeed protection, allowing further increase in the chip’s speed.

While Intel Core i7- 920 starts at $284, the top of the line Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition will cost $999.

Intel pointed out that when comparing Core i7 965 to a QX9770, we can get 52% more 3D gaming performance, 38% more rendering performance and 41% more movie editing and conversion performance.

Though the 965 XE is a four core processor like the QX9770, with its new hyperthreading technology, each core is capable of processing two threads simultaneously which when relatively compared to the QX9770 makes the 965 XE capable of processing double the threads as the older processor was capable of. But even though it is capable of processing double the threads, it still has the 130w heat output and thanks to Intel's new "Turbo Mode" and Power Gate features in its new SkullTrail based motherboards, the motherboard and processor can essentially turn off unneeded processors to save power and reduce heat output when they are not needed and to also reduce power leakage.