Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition Review

Performance Analysis

The 6-core i7-980X gave the quad-core i7-975 and i7-930 a pummelling in our Media Benchmarks, with an overall score of 2,002, compared to 1,896 and 1,674 respectively.

However, if you look at the scores in the three individual tests, an interesting pattern emerges. While the i7-980X was an absolute beast in the heavily multi-threaded video encoding test, the single-threaded image editing and lightly multi-threaded multi-tasking tests weren't any faster on the i7-980X. None of our test games ran any faster on the i7-980X either, but neither did they run any slower.

Clearly, just as when Intel introduced the first quad-core CPUs in late 2006, many consumer-level applications aren't able to take full advantage of all of the i7-980X's cores.

In contrast, if you're interested in building a workstation, the i7-980X presents no such issues - its Cinebench score of 25,881 was a stunning 31 per cent faster than that of the i7-975 and, more impressively, only 11 per cent slower than a pair of quad-core Xeon W5580s. Considering that a pair of W5580s will set you back around £2,500, and you'll have to buy an expensive dual-socket motherboard, registered ECC RAM and either Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, the £820 price tag of the i7-980X seems very reasonable indeed.

This means that until Intel releases a range of Gulftown-based Xeons, at the moment, the pendulum has swung back towards single-socket rather than dual-socket workstations.

Conclusion

While it's impossible to review any Extreme Edition CPU and forget the enormous price premium that Intel charges you for the privilege of a slightly higher stock frequency and an unlocked CPU multiplier, the i7-980X came closer than any previous Extreme Edition to giving us pricing amnesia. Unlike the last couple of Extreme Editions, the i7-980X offers far more than a standard CPU in the range - two extra cores and much greater overclocking potential.

That said, at £820, we certainly wouldn't recommend the i7-980X for everyone, as many consumer applications can't take advantage of the extra cores. The far cheaper i7-930 provides very similar performance in games and lightly threaded applications, making it a better choice for most people. We expect this is why Intel hasn't yet released any mainstream 6-core CPUs, given that a quad-core CPU is sufficient for many popular applications and games.

The i7-980X story is completely different if, like the writer of this review, you're a performance addict or benchmarker, that strange breed of enthusiast who cares more about raw performance than anything else. For these enthusiasts, the i7-980X, unlike the i7-975 before it, is an absolute must-buy.

The i7-980X is an even more compelling purchase for a workstation, as it offers performance that's similar to, or greater than, a far more expensive dual-processor Xeon system. The i7-980X provides the best of both worlds - a massive number of process threads and high single-core performance thanks to the high clock frequency of its Nehalem architecture.

It's bizarre that you'll have to wait five days until you can buy a i7-980X as for some unfathomable reason, Intel has decided not to launch the i7-980X today, but not make them available to buy until March 16th. However, for some, the wait will be worth it. Obviously if £820 is too steep for you, there's still the excellent Core i7-930 if you want the benefits of an LGA1366 PC.

Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition:

• Performance
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• 10/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• 9/10

Score Guide