Intel's V8 platform reviewed: are 8-cores for you?
The idea of running your rig with 8-cores working their magic has already been available in various forms, but Intel is apparently hoping to effectively fire back at AMD's Quad FX with the unveiling of the V8 platform. Reviewers found that flexing the muscles of twin Xeon processors provided speed that was simply unparalleled in several testing scenarios, but for common jobs such as 3D gaming and unzipping gigabytes of data, the setup essentially fell flat on its face. Sure, blasting past competition in SiSoft Sandra XI and POV-Ray 3.7 is admirable, but unless you're looking to whisk away your day crunching AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max (read: working), this V8 isn't likely to be worth the investment. Notably, the reviewers were flabbergasted by the peaks and valleys in performance depending on what application was being critiqued, so be sure and hit the read link for the full skinny if you've got this one tabled on your must-have list.
