Intel Core i5-661: Clarkdale Rings The Death Knell Of Core 2

January 4, 2010 by Chris Angelini

Four months ago, I called Intels Lynnfield design the companys mainstream magnum opus. The Core i5-750, specifically, rose to the top of our test labs pile of processors as a solid performer, overclocker, and overall value at less than $200. But is $200 really a mainstream price point? Arent there plenty of models (especially in AMDs own lineup) that touch the $150 and $100 levels, yet still serve up a solid computing experience? Ill simultaneously stick by my Core i5-750 recommendation while recognizing that yes, there is a lot to like about cheaper Core 2 Quads, Phenom II X3/X4s, and $100 Athlon II X4s. This is the segment Intel is targeting with its first 32nm desktop CPUs, members of the Westmere generation and codenamed Clarkdale. Totaling six new desktop models initially, the first Clarkdale-based processors will span price points from $113 to $284. And, believe it or not, it lunges into this aggressive segment with exclusively dual-core models. Hard to imagine, right? In an era when $99 buys you a quad-core Athlon II X4 620 running at 2.6 GHz, Intel is looking to peddle a family of dual-core chips.

The story isnt that simple, though. With AMD, what you see is what you get. Its flagship, the Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, runs at 3.4 GHz all of the time. It uses up to 125W. And its four cores are arranged in a monolithic manner, each with 512KB of L2 cache, and all four sharing 6MB of L3. Intels new Clarkdale chips are dual-core, yes. But they also feature Hyper-Threading, Turbo Boost, a shared 4MB L3 cache, and a separate 45nm component on the same package, complicating the performance picture for a number of reasons that well soon explain. Ay, caramba! Intels Naming: What Does It Even Mean? Before we break into the specifics of Clarkdale, lets talk about the models Intel is launching. The six desktop processors include four Core i5s and two Core i3s. Theres also a seventh CPU, the Pentium G6950, which Intels press deck doesnt discuss, but we know is an option for the resellers. Now, just to summarize/boggle your enthusiast minds: Theres the Core i7 for LGA 1366. Theres the Core i7 for LGA 1156. Theres Core i5 for LGA 1156, based on Lynnfield. Theres Core i5 for LGA 1156 based on Clarkdale. Theres Core i3 based on Clarkdale. Theres Pentium based on Clarkdale. And theres Pentium based on Wolfdale. Damn. What a mess.

Somewhere, on someones whiteboard, this naming convention looked like a great way to simplify purchasing decisions for end-users who cant tell a Pentium from a podium, and simply want to buy a pre-configured system from a tier-one. But the power users building their own boxes are presented with a mess of names and numbers that mean absolutely nothing on their own. The best we can do is give you a nice big reference chart to check back on any time you want a little insight on the madness that is Intels Core ix lineup.

Intel's Retail Nehalem/Westmere Lineup For Q1/2010 Model Core i7-975 Extreme Core i7-950 Core i7-920 Core i7-870 Core i7-860 Core i5-750 Core i5-670 Core i5-661 Core i5-660 Core i5-650 Core i3-540 Core i3-530 Pentium G6950 Code Name
Bloomfield Bloomfield Bloomfield Lynnfield Lynnfield Lynnfield Clarkdale Clarkdale Clarkdale Clarkdale Clarkdale Clarkdale Clarkdale

Clock
3.33 GHz 3.06 GHz 2.66 GHz 2.93 GHz 2.8 GHz 2.66 GHz 3.46 GHz 3.33 GHz 3.33 GHz 3.2 GHz 3.06 GHz 2.93 GHz 2.8 GHz

Max. Turbo
3.6 GHz 3.33 GHz 2.93 GHz 3.6 GHz 3.46 GHz 3.2 GHz 3.73 GHz 3.6 GHz 3.6 GHz 3.46 GHz N/A N/A N/A

HT
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No

Cores/Threads Power
4/8 4/8 4/8 4/8 4/8 4/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/2 130W 130W 130W 95W 95W 95W 73W 87W 73W 73W 73W 73W 73W

Price
$999 $562 $284 $562 $284 $196 $284 $196 $196 $176 $133 $133 -

Clarkdale: Engineering Smarts Behind Marketings Mess

The crazy thing is that theres a ton of intelligence behind Clarkdale, and much of it can be summarized with one word: integration. You see, the entire lineup of Clarkdale CPUs employs two die on a single package. One die consists of the actual processor (32nm), while the other sports a graphics core, integrated memory controller, and PCI Express controller (45nm). This is, of course, Intels first introduction based on its 32nm high-k / metal gate transistor process technology, bringing with it the power and thermal benefits expected from a well-executed transition from 45nm manufacturing. According to Intel, improvements from its first generation of high-k / metal gate transistors include a reduction in oxide thickness from 1nm to .9nm, with gate length dropping to 30nm. As a result, transistor performance increases by more than 22%. Meanwhile, the TDP for all Clarkdale-based desktop processors is 73W, except for the Core i5-661 rated at 87W. All of the Clarkdale-based Core i5, Core i3, and Pentium processors are dual-core models with 32KB of L1 data cache and 32KB of L1 instruction cache per core, 256KB of L2 cache per core, and up to 4MB of shared L3 cache. This is decidedly a descendant of the Nehalem architecture, which was designed from the get-go for modularity. We'll see that flexibility expand in the other direction in Q1 of this year with Gulftown (six-core, 32nm) and Nehalem-EX (eight-core, 45nm). The 32nm processor die communicates across a multi-chip package interface, which weve had described to us as a very QPIlike bus. And while Intel isnt talking about the specifications of that inner-package connection, we can assume its more tunable than the QPI implementation used to connect Bloomfield and X58 Express, since it doesnt have to go external.

The second die is, as mentioned, manufactured at 45nm and includes the three critical components mentioned above basically, everything you would have found in a traditional northbridge. Intels memory controller is a dual-channel design supporting DDR3 memory at speeds of up to 1,333 MT/s, totaling up to 21 GB/s with DDR3-1333 installed. Depending on the motherboard, maximum capacity will differ. However, the processors themselves support up to 16GB.

The Clarkdale CPUs also include 16 lanes of PCI Express 2.0 on-package, just like Lynnfield (of course, Lynnfields are actually on the CPU die, rather than on a neighboring die). Now, if you use a Clarkdale chip on an H55- or H57-based motherboard, youll be limited to a single 16-lane link for graphics. If, however, you use a Lynnfield processor (a Core i5750, for example) on an H55- or H57-based motherboard, youll at least have access to a pair of x8 PCI Express 2.0 slots. This is interesting because Intels datasheets claim Clarkdale processors at least have the ability to divide on-package PCI Express into a pair of x8 slots when used on a P55-based board. If thats the case, then the H55/H57/Clarkdale combination is artificially prevented from supporting CrossFire or SLI, suggesting gaming enthusiasts should stick with their P55 platforms wherever possible. According to Intel, H55/H57 aren't being aimed at the enthusiasts, so it makes sense to validate with a single x16 PCIe slot. For anyone looking to use a dual PCIe x8 arrangement, the company officially recommends going with P55 using either Clarkdale- or Lynnfield-based processors. Finally, theres the graphics core to discusswell get into that in more depth shortly. Telling Them Apart What makes the new Core i5s different from the Core i3s and the lone Pentium?

Intel's Clarkdale Lineup: In Detail Model Core i5-670 Core i5-661 Core i5-660 Core i5-650 Core i3-540 Core i3-530
CPU Clock 3.46 GHz 3.33 GHz 3.33 GHz 3.2 GHz 3.06 GHz 2.93 GHz Max Turbo 3.73 GHz 3.6 GHz 3.6 GHz 3.46 GHz Cores/Threads 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/4 2/2 HT/Turbo Yes/Yes Yes/Yes Yes/Yes Yes/Yes Yes/No Yes/No No/No L3 Cache 4MB 4MB 4MB 4MB 4MB 4MB 3MB GPU Clock 733 MHz 900 MHz 733 MHz 733 MHz 733 MHz 733 MHz 533 MHz DDR3 1,333 MT/s 1,333 MT/s 1,333 MT/s 1,333 MT/s 1,333 MT/s 1,333 MT/s 1,333 MT/s

Pentium G6950 2.8 GHz

Core i5 features Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost technology (just remember that Lynnfield-based Core i5s do not include Hyper-Threading). One model employs a 900 MHz graphics core, and the other models run with a 733 MHz GPU. You can tell these chips apart from the Lynnfield-based models by their model designators: Lynnfield populates the i5-700 series, while Clarkdale exists in the i5-600 series. Core i3 maintains Hyper-Threading, giving you the quad-threaded dual-core CPU, but sheds Turbo Boost, locking you in to one frequency. Both models employ a 733 MHz graphics core. Fortunately, there arent any other architectures overlapping Core i3; theyre all Clarkdales. Clarkdale-based Pentiums lose Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost. The graphics engine slows down to 533 MHz. But at this point, youre talking about a sub-$90 part. Because there exists a long list of Pentium processors centering on different cores, right now its best to remember the G6950 model name, as its the only Clarkdale-based model and the only Pentium to drop into LGA 1156 platforms.

Accelerating Encryption: AES-NI

If youre an average desktop user, encryption probably isnt very important to you today. After all, password-protecting everything just creates one extra layer of complexity when you want to actually use your machine, right? But for those with something to hide (and I think that includes all of us to some degree, thank you very much Eric Schmidt), theres value in being able to protect that information. All of Intels 32nm Westmere-based processors, starting with the dual-core Clarkdale desktop CPUs, include six new SIMD instructions that Intel calls AES-NI (Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions), which are designed to help consolidate the mathematical operations used in the block cipher algorithm. In conjunction with applications optimized for AES-NI, the new instructions help maintain the security of AES by protecting against side-channel attacks, while alleviating the performance overhead of encrypting and decrypting in software. Intel sees five different areas where its AES instructions apply: whole disk encryption (via apps like BitLocker, PGP, and TruCrypt), file storage encryption (7-Zip and WinZip are two favorites), conditional access of HD content (pay-to-play; yuck), Internet security, and VoIP communications. We have coverage upcoming putting AES-NI to the test with whole disk encryption, but wanted to at least run the new instructions through their paces in file storage encryptionsomething we all use in one form or another.

Our first round of tests pit the dual-core Core i5-661 against a number of quad-core models, along with Intels Core 2 Duo E8500, in the 9.10 beta of 7-Zip, which is optimized for AES-NI. Surprisingly, the Core 2 Duo actually finished our 334MB Ultra compression routine in less time than the Clarkdale chip. Of course, we didnt really have any reference point to compare against, so it was hard to say whether the performance delta was caused by the Core 2 architecture or some shortcoming inherent to Westmere. We nevertheless approached Intel with our findings, and the company let us know that 7-Zips compress/decompress algorithm operates in such a way as to cover up any benefit thatd otherwise be realized by AES-NI. Such a "heavy" algorithm doesnt help us much here, so we swapped to WinZip 14. Although we recently removed WinZip from our benchmark suite due to its single-threaded nature (and thus, generally slower performance than apps like WinRAR), this is another title optimized for AES-NI.

WinZip 14 256-bit AES

Processor Family
Clarkdale (i5-661) Lynnfield (i5-750)

Compress 334MB
2:17 2:01 2:12

Decompress 334MB
:09 :16 :09

No Encryption

Clarkdale (i5-661)

Lynnfield (i5-750)

1:52

:10

Without the use of encryption, both our Lynnfield- and Clarkdale- CPUs are on even footing and were able to assess each CPUs base performance in WinZip 14. The Core i5-750 is clearly faster in our compression test, finishing 20 seconds before the Core i5-661. However, Turbo Boost kicks in on the decompression, and the Clarkdale chip finishes the task a second quicker. Enabling 256-bit AES tells the story were looking for, though. The gap in compression narrows to 16 seconds. And while the Lynnfield chip, which lacks AES-NI, incurs a six second penalty attributable to encryption, the Clarkdale processor suffers no such slow-down.

With all of that said, it's easy to fire up SiSoftware's Sandra 2010, run the Cryptography test, and witness the massive jump in iAES bandwidth attributable to Intel's new instructions. As you can see, the NSA's SHA-2 hash functions aren't accelerated, and consequently don't enjoy the speed-up seen by AES. At least for now, the benefits of AES-NI are subtle at best. But, as is the case with any hardware capability reliant on software support, this will likely become a feature that has more of an impact as time goes onand especially as Intel prepares to launch its Nehalem-EX processors in a couple of months. The tenets of security and encryption are most deeply rooted in the enterprise space, after all.

Intel HD Graphics: Clarkdales On-Package GPU

In a fairly incredible contrast to the confusion that is its current processor model naming, Intel has done away with the numbering system used to identify past graphics and memory controller hubs by simply calling its integrated GPU Intel HD Graphics. The company isnt trying to spin this as a revolutionary update to its GMA X4500-series cores, which represented an improvement to past graphics cores and accelerated Blu-ray movie playback, but still wasnt an option for gaming enthusiasts. Rather, the message is that the home theater-oriented features have been improved, and the folks who play games like Bejeweled and The Sims should be able to enjoy their mainstream entertainment without a need for discrete graphics. The 3D Core The engine driving Intels HD Graphics is very similar to what weve already seen in the G45s GMA X4500HD, launched a year and a half ago. Organized as a unified shader architecture, HD Graphics does get a bit more compute horsepower via 12

scalar execution units (versus 10 in the generation prior). Moreover, the clock rate of Intels Core i5-661 is uniquely high at 900MHz100 MHz higher than G45s GMA X4500HD. The rest of Intels launch SKUs sport lower 533 and 733 MHz graphics processors. Official API support remains fixed at DirectX 10 and OpenGL 2.1 via hardware-accelerated Shader Model 4.0-compliant vertex and pixel shaders. Those are largely check-box specifications, though. In reality, the integrated GPU isnt fast enough to drive a DirectX 10-class title at sufficient speed.

Of course, the on-package graphics core with its on-die memory controller promises a substantial boost to memory bandwidthand not only in theory (from two channels of DDR3-1066 serving up to 17 GB/s to two channels of DDR3-1333 pushing up to 21 GBs). The gain should also be palpable in the real world, as lower latencies enable higher utilization of available throughput, which youll see in our synthetic memory bandwidth numbers. Performance is further improved by Hierarchical Z and Fast Z Cleartwo components originally featured in ATIs HyperZ suite, designed to maximize the use of available memory bandwidth and prevent unnecessary overdraw on Radeon GPUs back in 2000. Intel makes up to 1.7GB of system memory available to graphics, as with its previous-generation integrated graphics core, but theres really no reason to dedicate that much RAM in light of the GPUs performance characteristics. Just how significant of an improvement is HD Graphics over the GMA X4500HD? We set both platforms up in World of Warcraft and ran circuits around Dalaran for 60 seconds at a time with the aim of finding out.

World of Warcraft, Dalaran Circuit, 60 Seconds (FRAPS) 1680x1050, Ultra 1280x1024, Ultra 1024x768, Ultra 1024x768, Low Intel GMA HD Graphics
5.017 6.000 3.800 4.583 6.550 3.667 5.633 22.317 14.700 39.150

Intel GMA X4500HD Graphics 3.550 AMD Radeon HD 4200 (IGP)

3.967

Performance is clearly relative here. Yes, the HD Graphics implementation is significantly better than anything Intel has offered in the past. Yes, you can play World of Warcraft on a Clarkdale-based processor (specifically, the Core i5-661the only model with a 900 MHz graphics clock). But in order to do so, youll need to drop your resolution and detail settings so far as to make the game not enjoyable.

Intel can put a feather in its cap for besting AMD's 785G-based Radeon HD 4200 graphics core across the board in World of Warcraft with Ultra settings enabled. Drop to Low quality settings, though, and the 785G takes off ahead. And even then, I wouldn't want to play this fairly mainstream game on the Radeon HD 4200, either. As a general rule, if youre working with 3D, this is not the GPU youll want to use. If your games of choice are online, in 2D, Intels HD Graphics processor will likely suffice.

New Drivers And Great Home Theater Features

One area where Intel has put in significant work is its graphics driver interface. More than anything, the redesign simply modernizes the look and feel, going from a boring business to sleek home desktop motif. The company enables custom resolution settings, but aside from that, not much else is changed.

Intel HD Graphics In The Home Theater Most of Intels efforts in improving its integrated graphics core are directed at the home theater experiencea field on which the company actually stands a chance. The G45 chipset already put Intel on the map by enabling multi-channel LPCM audio output over HDMI and supporting accelerated MPEG-2, H.264, and VC-1 (the trio of Blu-ray codecs) decoding. But Clarkdales HD Graphics core goes a few steps further by offering dual video decode streams for picture-in-picture, dual simultaneous HDMI outputs (though we havent yet seen any motherboards exposing this yet), DisplayPort audio (also recently enabled on ATIs Radeon HD 5000-series discrete boards), and lossless Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master Audio bitstreaming to compatible stereo receivers. Intel also makes it a point to mention that its HD Graphics core supports xvYCC, a color space used to expand the overall color gamut beyond RGB and YCbCr. This likely isnt worth touting right now, though. After all, this is one of those features requiring support from every component in the chainfrom source to outputand it is not supported by the Blu-ray format. Rather, itd be one of those additions to home video taken with AVCHD-compatible camcorders. Windows 7 also supports xvYCC, and we've asked Microsoft about the possible ramifications of hardware support for this on the desktop and in games (we'll update when a response comes through). Update: As promised, we've received word back from Microsoft on the issue of xvYCC in Windows and gaming. In essence, the Windows 7 desktop does not currently make use of xvYCC directly, although full-screen games certainly can. The use of this in games is recommended by the Games for Windows Technical Requirements in the Showcase Appendix as S.6 Support High Color. The new WDDM 1.1 driver WHQL tests include more robust testing of these High Color display modes, and almost all DirectX 10.x/11-era and most DirectX 9 Shader Model 2.0/3.0-era discrete video cards already have >8-bit DACs, so most users (certainly most, if not all, hardcore gamers) already have at least part of the High Color display hardware support.

The most accessible feature for most home theater enthusiasts is probably going to be the ability to bitstream high-def audio formats. Intel gave us a beta build of CyberLinks PowerDVD 9 Ultra with preliminary support for H55/H57s protected audio/video path, enabled through the chipsets Manageability Engine. Weve had bad luck with Onkyos TX-SR507 in the past, so we fired up our 24-bit/96 kHz test disc with a bit of trepidation. But the hardware/software combination worked like a charm and the receiver was able to decode the TrueHD signal without a problemwell, almost. We did run into an issue where the system would lock up completely after four or five minutes of playback. A couple of months back, I noted that companies like Asus and Auzentech were in trouble with their HTPC-oriented soundcards, designed specifically to enable bitstreaming. ATIs Radeon HD 5750 and 5770 made the same technology available as a value-add. Now you can get that functionality from a simple motherboard upgrade.

Of course, if you dont have a receiver able to decode either high-def format, you can also set PowerDVD to decode the signal itself and Intels chipset will still output multi-channel linear PCM to your receiver. Youll only get 16-bit/48 kHz sound, but in truth, most Blu-ray movies employ 16-bit sound anyway.

H55 And H57 Chipsets

As with Intel chipsets past, theres a four-lane DMI pathway connecting the Clarkdale chips to component number two in Intels dual-chip platform. Capable of moving 1 GB/s in each direction, this should once again be plenty of bandwidth for the I/O not yet integrated onto the processor. This time, however, theres another interface between the CPU and PCH called the Intel Flexible Display Interface (FDI). Enabled by DisplayPort, this connection carries a display output from the processor packages core to the connectors attached to H55/H57. The FDI consists of two separate links (one for each of the GPUs display pipelines), and the unidirectional downstream pairs can be scaled depending on bandwidth requirements. This is why, while the core technically supports output resolutions up to 2560x1600, our Asus P7H57D-Evo only offers DVI output up to 1920x1200. H55 And H57: Anti-Climactic Core Logic With all of the integration that Intel is pushing, theres actually very little left to talk about once we get into the chipset itself. Youre already familiar with P55Intels first Platform Controller Hub, necessitated by a move to a two-component platform (and away from the processor/northbridge/southbridge configuration it once employed).

Features Socket Support HD Graphics with PAVP 1.5 USB 2.0 SATA Ports PCI Express 2.0 Graphics PCI Express 2.0 (2.5 GT/s) Legacy PCI Remote PC Assist for Consumers Rapid Storage Technology Anti-Theft Technology Identity Protect Technology Quiet System Technology AMT 6.0 w/ Remote PC Assist for Business ME Ignition Firmware ME Firmware 6.0

H57
LGA 1156 Yes 14 6 x SATA 3 Gb/s 1 x 16 8 4 Yes Yes Yes Yes 8MB

H55
LGA 1156 Yes 12 6 x SATA 3 Gb/s 1 x 16 6 4 Yes Yes Yes 8MB 8

Q57
LGA 1156 Yes 14 6 x SATA 3 Gb/s 1 x 16 8 4 Yes Yes Yes Yes 8MB 8

P55
LGA 1156 14 6 x SATA 3 Gb/s 1 x 16 or 2 x 8 8 4 Yes Yes 2

SPI Device Size Required (in MB) 8

There are actually three chipsets launching today, but well keep our focus on the two most relevant to desktop users: H55 and H57. Q57 is more interesting to system builders working on business machines, since it enables Active Management Technology. Still, between these, youll find very few differences. Lets start at the top of our chart and work downward. As with P55, H55 and H57 are designed to complement LGA 1156 processors. Duh. H55 and H57 are differentiated in that they support Intels HD Graphics core with a protected audio and video pathneeded to support HDCP and bitstream high-def audio. This PAVP 1.5, as its called in the chart, is a component of the management engine built into both chipsets. P55 doesnt have it, which makes sense since its a discrete graphics-only platform.

Of course, you also get the I/O normally found in a southbridge. H55 offers 12 USB 2.0 ports, six SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and six lanes of 2.5 GT/s PCI Express 2.0, while H57 serves up 14 USB 2.0 ports, six SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and eight lanes of 2.5 GT/s PCI Express 2.0 connectivity. Both offer four legacy PCI slots, too. From there, the two chipset are identical, except that H57 offers Intel Rapid Storage Technology 9.5follow-up to what was once called Intels Matrix storage technology with software RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10.

Test System And Software

Though Intel shipped us its H55-based Tom Cove board for this launch, we went with Asus' P7H57D-Evo for our test platform, as the Asus board is loaded with overclocking options. Its dual PCI Express x16 slots also proved useful for confirming that H57 does, in fact, support multi-card configurations with a Lynnfield-based CPU installed.

Test Hardware Processors

Intel Core i5-661 (Clarkdale) 3.33 GHz, LGA 1156, 4MB L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled Intel Core i5-750 (Lynnfield) 2.66 GHz, LGA 1156, 8MB L3, Power-savings enabled Intel Core 2 Quad Q9400S (Yorkfield) 2.66 GHz, LGA 775, 1,333 MT/s FSB, 6MB L2, Power-savings enabled Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (Wolfdale) 3.16 GHz, LGA 775, 1,333 MT/s FSB, 6MB L2, Power-savings enabled AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE (Deneb) 3.4 GHz, Socket AM3, 4 GT/s HyperTransport, 6MB L3, Powersavings enabled

Motherboards

Asus P7H57D-V Evo (LGA 1156) H57, BIOS 0401 Gigabyte EP45-UD3P (LGA 775) P45/ICH10R, BIOS F9 Asus M4A79T Deluxe (Socket AM3) 790FX/SB750, BIOS 2304

Memory

Corsair 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3-1600 7-7-7-20 @ DDR3-1333 Corsair 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2-1066 5-5-5-15 @ DDR2-1066

Hard Drive

Intel SSDSA2M160G2GC 160GB SATA 3 Gb/s Intel SSDSA2MH080G1GN 80GB SATA 3 Gb/s

Graphics Power Supply Heatsink

Gigabyte Radeon HD 5850 1GB Cooler Master UCP 1100W Thermalright MUX-120

System Software And Drivers Operating System DirectX Platform Driver Graphics Driver
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit DirectX 11 Intel INF Chipset Update Utility 9.1.1.1015 Catalyst 9.12

Benchmarks and Settings

Audio Encoding

iTunes

Version: 9.0.2.25 (64-bit), Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min., Default format AAC

Video Encoding

TMPEG 4.7

Version: 4.7.3.292, Import File: "Terminator II" SE DVD (5 Minutes), Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9

DivX 6.8.5

Encoding mode: Insane Quality, Enhanced Multi-Threading, Enabled using SSE4, Quarter-pixel search

XviD 1.2.2

Display encoding status=off

MainConcept Reference 1.6.1

MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS), Profile: Toms Hardware Settings for Qct-Core

HandBrake 0.9.4
Applications

Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai to .mp4, High Profile

Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 (64-bit)

Version: 2009 Service Pack 1, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)

WinRAR 3.90

Version 3.90 (64-bit), Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)

7-Zip

Version 4.65, Built-in Benchmark

Adobe Photoshop CS4 AVG Anti-Virus 9

Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates filters Virus scan of 334MB of compressed files

Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings

3DMark Vantage

Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores

PCMark Vantage

Version: 1.00, System, Memories, TV and Movies, and Productivity benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646

SiSoftware Sandra 2010

CPU Test=CPU Arithmetic/Multimedia, Memory Test=Bandwidth Benchmark, Cryptography

Games

Crysis Left 4 Dead 2 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 DiRT2

Very High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, 4xAA / No AF, vsync off, 1280x1024 / 1680x1050 / 1900x1200, DirectX 10, Patch 1.2.1, 64-bit executable High Quality Settings, No AA / No AF, 8xAA / 16xAF, vsync off, 1680x1050 / 1920x1200 / 2560x1600, Tomshardware Demo, Steam Version Ultra High Settings, No AA / No AF, 4xAA / No AF, 1680x1050 / 1920x1200 / 2560x1600, The Gulag, 60 second sequence, Fraps Ultra High Settings, No AA / No AF, 8xAA / No AF, 1680x1050 / 1920x1200 / 2560x1600, In-Game

Benchmark, Steam Version

Benchmark Results: Synthetics

The performance of Intels Core i5-661 in PCMark Vantage is going to depend on whether you use the processor with its integrated graphics core or add a discrete card, like our Radeon HD 5850. In the case of the former, performance lags due to the on-package GPUs modest specifications. But if youre going with an add-in board, we actually see the i5-661 jump in front of all competitors in the Overall suite score. Good numbers trail off in the Memories suite, which is more dependent of graphics performance for GPU-accelerated image manipulation. Thus, its little surprise that the on-package logic comes up way short. Core i5-750 is our winner here, and the Core 2 Duo E8500 at 3.16 GHz ends up in second place. The Lynnfield-based i5-750 takes first again in TV and Movies, but is bested by the Clarkdale-based i5-661 in the Productivity test. Most surprising, perhaps, is that in all four of these synthetic benchmark tests, Intels dual-core Core i5-661 is able to displace the companys quad-core Q9400 priced right in the same league. Might it be time to forsake the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quads altogether, now that Clarkdale is upon us? The real-world tests will have to tell that tale.

The charts say it all in 3DMark Vantage. Starting from the bottom, the CPU suite clearly favors threading and Intels Core i5750 takes a first-place finish, followed by AMDs Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. Although its a dual-core chip, the Core i5661s Hyper-Threading capabilities gives it enough horsepower to trounce the only other dual-core processor in our comparison and come up just behind the quad-core Q9400. Futuremarks GPU suite places all of the contenders fairly close to each other, with the exception of Intels integrated GMA HD core, which falls flat on its face. In turn, this causes that configurations 3DMark Vantage overall score to tank. The Core i5-661 loses to the Core 2 Quad Q9400, Phenom II X4 965, and Core i5-750 when the Overall suite results are tabulated.

The benefits of four cores are apparent in the Drystone iSSE4.2 test, as Intels Core i5-750 takes a commanding lead, followed by the Core 2 Quad Q9400. The Whetstone test favors AMDs Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, followed by Intels Core 2 Quad Q9400. AMDs Phenom II X4 wins both multimedia tests, followed by the Core i5-750 and Core 2 Quad Q9400, each of which takes second place in one of the tests. The Clarkdale-based Core i5-661 bests the Core 2 Duo E8500 in the two multimediaoriented metrics. The Core i5-750s true integrated memory controller gives it a marked advantage against the Core i5-661s, which sits on the 45nm graphics die and not the 32nm processor die. In fact, Intels newest design falls to AMDs dual-channel integrated memory controller. The good news is that Clarkdale is an upgrade from the Core 2 Duo and Quad processors, which relied on an MCH-based controller connected via front side bus.

Benchmark Results: Media/Transcoding Apps

We start things off with iTunes 9, which is not optimized for threading and will most likely reward the most efficient architecture with the highest clock rate.

The fast Core i5-661 CPU gets an extra kick from Turbo Boost in this single-threaded application to take the win in our CD conversion test. Its followed by the Core i5-750, which also gets Turboed into second place, and the Core 2 Duo E8500, which doesnt need Turbo.

Its important to remember that, while our comparison here covers Intels architecture powering its newest entry-level processors, the Core i5-661 is priced to compete against the fastest CPU that AMD sells: its Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. The flagship Phenom II exerts itself in our MainConcept test, taking a first-place finish. Without Hyper-Threading to help it, and with Turbo Boost lending minimal benefit, the Lynnfield-based Core i5-750 takes second place. The Core 2 Quad Q9400 shows that four true cores trump two Hyper-Threaded cores as it takes third.

HandBrake has been popularly requested by our readers, so weve added it to our 2010 benchmark suite, converting a .vob from The Last Samurai to .mp4 format. AMDs Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition repeats its victory, besting Intels Core i5-750 by one second. The Core 2 Quad Q9400 takes third place, beating out the Core i5-661. Nevertheless, Intels Clarkdale-based CPUs demonstrate the benefits of Hyper-Threading by finishing the job more than five minutes faster than the 3.16 GHz Core 2 Duo E8500.

The Lynnfield-based Core i5-750 wins in the DivX and Xvid codecs, breezing past the Phenom II in both cases. The Clarkdale CPU takes second place in Xvid, which isnt well-optimized for threading and instead gets by on its higher clock rate and Turbo Boost acceleration. The Phenom II does take second in DivX, though, by virtue of the codecs threaded nature.

Benchmark Results: Productivity

Our threaded filters favor the true quad-core chips, placing Intels Core i5-750, Core 2 Quad Q9400, and AMDs Phenom II X4 965 first, second, and third, in that order. The Core i5-661 places fourth, followed by the dual-core Core 2 Duo.

As noted in our recent exploration into overclocking and Intels Turbo Boost technology, AVG 9 demonstrates interesting behavior in that it uses very little resources, but takes drastically different amounts of time to finish its task, depending on the logical core count of its host platform.

This is another app able to appreciate threading. Intels Core i5-750 takes first place by just one second, followed by AMDs Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition. The quad-core Core 2 Quad Q9400 comes in third, though the dual-core, Hyper-Threadingequipped Core i5-661 is right behind. The Core 2 Duo E8500 sticks out as the only processor really lagging here.

Also well-threaded, WinRAR puts Intels Core i5-750 in first place, with AMDs Phenom II coming in 20 seconds behind. The Core 2 Quad Q9400 is just behind, and the Core 2 Duo interestingly takes fourth place here. Hyper-Threading seems to impede the Core i5-661, which brings up the rear.

AMDs Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition pulls first place in 7-Zips built-in benchmark by achieving more than 10 MB/s in the compression test and a MIPS rating of more than 11,900. The Core i5-750 is just behind, followed by Intels Yorkfield-based Q9400. The Core i5-661s come in fourth, while the Core 2 Duo falls to last place.

Benchmark Results: Crysis

Its hard to go wrong with any of our choices, so long as youre using a discrete graphics card. Even at 1280x1024, were GPU-limited by the Very High detail setting in Crysis, and more so when anti-aliasing is enabled.

Benchmark Results: Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead is much more contingent on processor performance, but that dependency is only really prominent at low resolutions and without anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering. At 1680x1050, we see the Lynnfield-based Core i5-750 delivering the highest frame rates, followed by AMDs Phenom II X4 965. Those two are on even footing once you add AA and AF into the mix, though. At 1920x1200 and then 2560x1600, its much harder to tell between the CPUs on our test bench. Only one thing remains consistent: the Core 2 Duo E8500 pulls up last place, making our past recommendations that you invest in a triple- or quadcore CPU all the more relevant.

Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 isnt the most graphically-demanding title out there, but it is immensely popular, making it a good candidate for our benchmark suite. At 1680x1050, the Phenom II X4 965 looks like its out to the most solid start (even with anti-aliasing enabled). However, things start to normalize at 1920x1200 with 4xAA turned on. The differences between these quad- and dual-core with HyperThreading processors are slim.

Benchmark Results: DiRT2

Next to AMDs Phenom II X4 965, Intels Yorkfield-based Core 2 Quad looks to be the strongest performer in DiRT2, even with 8xAA applied. The Core i5-750 averages a third place finish, while the Core 2 Duo E8500 comes in fourth. This time, its the Core i5-661 in last place. If youre read the analysis up until this point and wondered why Intels Core i5-661 with integrated graphics sported one blank line after another, its because the on-package GPU isnt able to do its job in any of these titles. We already know Intel isnt going for the gamer crowd with this solution, but know that even something wed consider lightweight, like Left 4 Dead, wont display properly with integrated graphics.

Power Consumption

This chart is good news for the folks who make decisions in offices around the world. The Core i5-661Intels highest-TDP Clarkdale-based CPU at 87W (the rest are 73W parts)idles little more than 7W above the Core i5-750, despite its dual-die package. Amazingly, its 36W below the Lynnfield-based processor under load, though. Core i5-661 uses less power at idle and under load than the Core 2 Duo E8500. It almost defies reality that the Core 2 Quad Q9400 would use such little power in comparison. But were actually using the Core 2 Quad Q9400S, rated for 65W (same as the 65W dual-core model). Now those load consumption numbers make a lot more sense, dont they? And while AMDs Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition uses less power at idle, its a gross consumer under load (and this is the 125W version, too). At the end of the day, the Core i5-661 is an absolute win in the power department for anyone already planning to use integrated graphics. Add discrete graphics, though, and that 45nm die largely goes to waste. Your outlook on Clarkdales power picture will largely depend on which side of that fence youre standing.

Conclusion
So as we draw our entry-level epic to a close, its time to reflect on what weve just seen andalmost as importantwhat we havent seen yet. Intel sent one processor over to represent the Clarkdale lineup: the Core i5-661. Up near the top of the Clarkdale stack, i5-661 gives us the quickest graphics core, clocked at 900 MHz. It runs at 3.33 GHz and Turbos up to 3.6 GHz. But it also costs $200. Lots of stuff costs $200. In fact, every one of the processors in our test lineup approaches the $200 markand there were some definite favorites. In the threaded applications, Intels Core i5-750 was perhaps the strongest contender. Dont forget AMDs Phenom II X4 965 Black Editionanother powerful option. Intel admits that its Core i5-661 will probably be a relatively low-volume part for SIs who prefer integrated graphics as a means to minimize total system power consumption. The merits of this approach are reflected in an efficiency story from Patrick going live tomorrow, where we see integration playing a huge role in improving the performance per watt of power used. The company expects Lynnfield to continue serving as its volume driver in the enthusiast space. But with that said, we've seen some early numbers from Intel with the Core i3-530, and the results aren't really that far off of the Core i5-661 in threaded applications, once you take away the benefit Turbo Boost gives to the higher-priced model.

Is there any reason to buy Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad processors now that Clarkdale is here, front and center? Core 2 Quad: sureit still shows fairly well, and might make a reasonable upgrade if you dont want to replace your LGA 775 motherboard. Core 2 Duo: no, not really. Though the Core i5-661 is also a dual-core CPU, its use of Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost makes it superior in both parallelized and single-threaded applications. The Core 2 Duo E8500 did win a couple of tests against Clarkdale, but when it lost, it lost big.

Unfortunately, Intel did not send any of its lower-cost models, which would have invariably had to stand up against lowerclocked quad-core contenders from AMD. No worries there. Once the CPUs are available at retail, you can be sure well grab a couple and run some tests of our own to see how Clarkdale-based Core i3s do battle once you take away Turbo Boost. Until then, were left with a positive impression of Clarkdale as the engine in a business platform, specifically. The Core i5661 we testedwhich could easily be substituted for the i5-660 at the same price pointcompletely eclipses the Core 2 Duo E8500 and solidly rivals some of the fastest Core 2 Quads. Our opinion is reinforced by Intels limiting the H55 and H57 chipsets to a single graphics card. Moreover, the companys simultaneous launch of the Q57 platform gives the channel AMT 6.0 for out-of-band management. Business, business, business. Clarkdale also shows promise in the home theater. Support for hardware accelerated Blu-ray playback, multi-channel LPCM output, and lossless bitstreaming of high-def audio formats leaves very little else to be desired from a media-oriented platform, so long as you dont intend to game on it. Not having to buy a discrete Radeon HD 5000-series graphics card means well be seeing remarkably powerful mini-ITX platforms with 73W Clarkdale CPUs taking care of processing and graphics in one compact (affordable) package. What about the enthusiast? At least at the upper range of the mainstream segment, Core i5-750 and Phenom II X4 965 rule the roost. P55 is still going to be your platform of choice, too. But does that mean were counting out a Clarkdale/P55 combination? Not at all. Once the motherboard vendors start releasing BIOS updates that solidify Clarkdale support on P55 platforms with discrete graphics, well revisit the matchup with a mind to overclocking. Were curious to see if brute-force overclocking will allow the 32nm Hyper-Threaded Core i5 to overcome the i5-750s four cores. After all, 4.5 GHz on air isnt half-bad.

THE END