3dmark06
Latest
Unreleased Alienware M17x spotted running next-gen Intel Sandy Bridge chip
Intel's full unveil of the next-gen Sandy Bridge processor line isn't due until January, but the products are already starting to leak out. The M17x is our second 17-incher (HP's dv7 being the first), and this time we've got in-the-wild shots and benchmarks to chew on. In 3DMark06 a 2GHz Core i7-2630QM machine running Intel's integrated graphics scored 15,940, while a 2.2GHz i7-2720QM with AMD Radeon HD 6900M graphics nailed a 20,155 mark, and a 2.3GHz i7-2820QM chip paired with a GeForce GTX 460M GPU did 16,957. Of course, these numbers are supremely preliminary, but it sounds like Intel's integrated graphics are (finally) starting to pull their weight, just like Intel keeps promising. Otherwise, the M17x looks to be mostly unchanged, which is probably good news for gamers, bad news for anyone hoping Alienware would pursue some new sort of "understated" design language in 2011. [Thanks, vikingrinn]
Intel's Core i7 purchased, overclocked, benchmarked
Looking for the latest in CPU spice to keep your gaming rig flowing? You'd better go find your wallet/purse and head to your local computer shop for a fresh Core i7 (née Nehalem), because they are apparently available for sale right now -- before most of the major sites have even received theirs. User gooddog over at the Overclock.net forums has flaunted posted this picture of his recently purchased 3.2GHz Core i7 Extreme 965 CPU. Paired with an Asus P6T motherboard and running at the stock clock rate it scored a 5,606 in 3DMark06, in-line with what earlier testers found. O/C'ed up to 3.8GHz it delivered a tidy 6,608, a mark that surely gives it control of all benchmarks and, thus, the PC universe.[Thanks, Adam]
Intel Core i7 benchmarks make Core 2 Extreme look like a washed-up has-been
Presumably in an (utterly futile) attempt to bring down the power grid all around the Mediterranean, print magazine PC World Greece benchmarked three powerful Nehalem desktop processors -- the Core i7 Extreme Edition 965, and the apparently non-extreme Core i7 920 and 940. Names aside, performance from all three was extreme compared to most stuff currently on the market. The data for number nerds: in 3DMark06 the 920 finished ever-so-slightly behind the Core 2 Extreme QX9770's 4,922 marks with 4,818 while the 940 and the 965 both opened a can of you-know-what at 5,282 and 5,716 respectively. More titillating figures await enthusiasts through the read link, but for you normal folk only concerned that Nehalem wouldn't be fast enough to justify an upgrade (and you weren't), rest assured that it triumphed in this no-holds-barred CPU cage match.[Via techPowerUp! Forums, thanks sk]
