The past year has been tremendous for the hardware world. Some of this is due to the new graphics subsystems that have come about, and some of it is due to new types of memory and advances in hard drive technology. However, the main reason the hardware world has been thriving for the last year is Intel’s Core 2 Duo. There are no two ways to describe the product: it single-handedly changed the way we look at processors. Recent developments bring news that not only is Intel quite happy with the success of the Core 2 family, they do not plan to sit back and relax as they have in the past. Intel is actively developing new and improved technologies to push the limits of desktop processing further than we could have imagined just a short year and a half ago. With Intel in full stride, the 2007 Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing has taken on a far more interesting plot of real estate in the trade show world.

A few weeks ago we brought you news of Intel’s new “Penryn” processor and the success they have been enjoying with it. Intel’s boss Paul Otellini did not pull any punches when he expressed his delight at seeing the early Penryn cores flawlessly running four operating systems. While Penryn is basically a die shrink of the current Kentsfield and Conroe cores, some added features have tossed in to supposedly boost performance significantly. Despite the tremendous success it has recently endured, Intel is no stranger to making claims that turn out lackluster when realized. For instance, we recall the Pentium 4 was supposed to hit 5 GHz a couple of years ago. As far as we know, that never happened. So with this claimed performance increase with Penryn, objective observers have reason to be skeptical. However, if there is one thing we have learned from Intel is the past year, it is that there are some pretty smart dudes over there. To combat any skepticism, Intel is bringing something new to the table at IDF: Cold hard proof.

We have received benchmark scores from Beijing that directly compare two new Penryn processors to Intel’s current second in command, the Core 2 Extreme QX6700. Enjoy.

Test Setup and Features
Hardware Configuration

• Power Supply: Antec TruePower Trio 650
• Motherboard: Intel Desktop Board D975XBX2 (Bad Axe 2) Rev. 505
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (2667 MHz) | 2x Pre-Production Penryn Processors (See below for details)
• Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10 7200RPM 16MB Cache (Perpendicular Recording)
• Video: ASUS NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX
• Memory: 2048MB 2x1024MB Corsair* TWIN2X2048-8500C5 @ DDR2 800 5-5-5-15
• Optical Drive: Sony DVD-ROM DDU1615

Software Configuration

• Motherboard BIOS: Pre-Production BIOS
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit
• Video Driver: NVIDIA ForceWare Version 100.65 WHQL Certified (February 20 release)

Processors Used


We went over the new features to be included with the Penryn package in our “Intel’s Up and Coming: Penryn and Nehalem” article back in March. To briefly summarize what we learned about the new Penryn design:

• A superior microarchitecture featuring many enhancements over the base Core architecture
• Higher performance at current levels and even greater frequencies overall
• SSE4 instructions for better gaming and graphics performance
• Increased cache’s and quicker bus rates, up to 6MB and 12MB
• Increased number division capabilities, doubling previous divider speed with Radix 16 45nm High-K gate technology which will allow for more transistors, a 20% increase in transistor switching which allows for more instructions per clock.