Four months ago, I called Intel’s Lynnfield design the company’s mainstream magnum opus. The Core i5-750, specifically, rose to the top of our test lab’s pile of processors as a solid performer, overclocker, and overall value at less than $200.
But is $200 really a mainstream price point? Aren’t there plenty of models (especially in AMD’s own lineup) that touch the $150 and $100 levels, yet still serve up a solid computing experience? I’ll 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 code-named 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 isn’t 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. Intel’s 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 we’ll soon explain. ¡Ay, caramba!
Intel’s Naming: What Does It Even Mean?
Before we break into the specifics of Clarkdale, let’s talk about the models Intel is launching. The six desktop processors include four Core i5s and two Core i3s. There’s also a seventh CPU, the Pentium G6950, which Intel’s press deck doesn’t discuss, but we know is an option for the resellers.
Now, just to summarize/boggle your enthusiast minds:
There’s the Core i7 for LGA 1366. There’s the Core i7 for LGA 1156. There’s Core i5 for LGA 1156, based on Lynnfield. There’s Core i5 for LGA 1156 based on Clarkdale. There’s Core i3 based on Clarkdale. There’s Pentium based on Clarkdale. And there’s Pentium based on Wolfdale. Damn. What a mess.
Somewhere, on someone’s whiteboard, this naming convention looked like a great way to simplify purchasing decisions for end-users who can’t 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 Intel’s Core ix lineup.
| Intel's Retail Nehalem/Westmere Lineup For Q1/2010 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | Code Name | Clock | Max. Turbo | HT | Cores/Threads | Power | Price |
| Core i7-975 Extreme | Bloomfield | 3.33 GHz | 3.6 GHz | Yes | 4/8 | 130W | $999 |
| Core i7-950 | Bloomfield | 3.06 GHz | 3.33 GHz | Yes | 4/8 | 130W | $562 |
| Core i7-920 | Bloomfield | 2.66 GHz | 2.93 GHz | Yes | 4/8 | 130W | $284 |
| Core i7-870 | Lynnfield | 2.93 GHz | 3.6 GHz | Yes | 4/8 | 95W | $562 |
| Core i7-860 | Lynnfield | 2.8 GHz | 3.46 GHz | Yes | 4/8 | 95W | $284 |
| Core i5-750 | Lynnfield | 2.66 GHz | 3.2 GHz | No | 4/4 | 95W | $196 |
| Core i5-670 | Clarkdale | 3.46 GHz | 3.73 GHz | Yes | 2/4 | 73W | $284 |
| Core i5-661 | Clarkdale | 3.33 GHz | 3.6 GHz | Yes | 2/4 | 87W | $196 |
| Core i5-660 | Clarkdale | 3.33 GHz | 3.6 GHz | Yes | 2/4 | 73W | $196 |
| Core i5-650 | Clarkdale | 3.2 GHz | 3.46 GHz | Yes | 2/4 | 73W | $176 |
| Core i3-540 | Clarkdale | 3.06 GHz | N/A | Yes | 2/4 | 73W | $133 |
| Core i3-530 | Clarkdale | 2.93 GHz | N/A | Yes | 2/4 | 73W | $133 |
| Pentium G6950 | Clarkdale | 2.8 GHz | N/A | No | 2/2 | 73W | - |
- Introduction
- Clarkdale: Engineering Smarts Behind Marketing’s Mess
- Accelerating Encryption: AES-NI
- Intel HD Graphics: Clarkdale’s On-Package GPU
- New Drivers And Great Home Theater Features
- H55 And H57 Chipsets
- Test System And Software
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Benchmark Results: Media/Transcoding Apps
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Crysis
- Benchmark Results: Left 4 Dead 2
- Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Benchmark Results: DiRT2
- Power Consumption
- Conclusion

Only drawback with the AMD CPUs is the power consumption, that I feel can be brought down with slight undervolting...
I was waiting until the Clarkdale-based i5 launched, thinking it would be a quad-core that was more competitively priced against the Phenom II X4, but it looks like a Phenom II X4 is my only option to get more cores for less money.
The only good news coming out of this launch is that LGA1156 is not changing for the Clarkdale chips, so it looks to be the most future-proof platform to upgrade to, if one was so inclined. I'm personally going with a Phenom II since I can get one without changing motherboards. This is one of the more disappointing launches in the last year or so.
Fixed! Had to keep it private pre-launch
Only drawback with the AMD CPUs is the power consumption, that I feel can be brought down with slight undervolting...
I was waiting until the Clarkdale-based i5 launched, thinking it would be a quad-core that was more competitively priced against the Phenom II X4, but it looks like a Phenom II X4 is my only option to get more cores for less money.
The only good news coming out of this launch is that LGA1156 is not changing for the Clarkdale chips, so it looks to be the most future-proof platform to upgrade to, if one was so inclined. I'm personally going with a Phenom II since I can get one without changing motherboards. This is one of the more disappointing launches in the last year or so.
We have another overclocking piece planned--I wanted to get a Core i3, at least, to include
Last preview I read showed it doing fine in windowed mode, but blowing chunks at full screen playback, dropping to 15fps and lower.
E8500 was beaten badly...
Wud really like to see what these chips can do once overclocked.
If you use a E8600 with integrated G45 graphics, I bet you that power consumption will be lower that the 661 (integrated). This GPU-on-package is all just a marketing ploy.
I really wish you had benchmarks for the low end chips though I doubt IT managers will be running out to replace their fleets of E7500's.
Wolfdale is a awesome gaming chip. Its a first to me that the Core 2 Quad is faster in Crysis and all the other games vs. Wolfdale...
Are you sure it was running at full speed?
Wolfdale is a awesome gaming chip. Its a first to me that the Core 2 Quad is faster in Crysis and all the other games vs. Wolfdale...
Are you sure it was running at full speed?
I hope this is just a mistake...
E.g. in Crysis 1920 x 1200 with (breace yourself) 8x AA! No way in hell are these scores correct.
Did you test the E8500 with a slower video card?