Overclocking: Get The Performance Of A Core i5 From Core i3
Features
published
Intel’s $115 Core i3-530 doesn't include Turbo Boost technology and it doesn't boast hardware-based AES-NI, but it overclocks like a fiend. We benchmarked this dual-core, HT-equipped chip at 4.4 GHz and determined the most power-efficient overclock.
Test Setup And Overclocking Table
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System Hardware | |
---|---|
Hardware | Details |
Performance Benchmarks | |
Motherboard (Socket LGA 1156) | Gigabyte P55A-UD7 (Rev. 1.0); Chipset: P55; BIOS: F4 |
CPU Intel | Intel Core i3-530 (32 nm, 2.93 GHz, 4 x 256KB L2 and 4MB L3 Cache, TDP 73W) |
CPU Intel II | Intel Core i5-750 (45 nm, 2.66 GHz, 4 x 256KB L2 and 8MB L3 Cache, TDP 95W, Rev. B1) |
CPU Intel III | Intel Core i5-661 (32 nm, 3.33 GHz, 2 x 256KB L2 and 4MB L3 Cache, TDP 87W, Rev. B1) |
RAM DDR3 | 2 x 2GB DDR3-1333 (OCZ3G2000LV4GK 8-8-8-24) |
Graphics | Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 GPU: Cypress (725 MHz), Graphics RAM: 1,024MB GDDR5 (2,000 MHz), Stream Processors: 1,440 |
Hard Drive | Western Digital VelociRaptor, 300GB (WD3000HLFS), 10,000 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 16MB Cache |
Power Supply | Enermax Pro 82+, EPR425AWT |
System Software & Drivers | |
Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Updated on 2010-03-03 |
Drivers and Settings | |
Intel Chipset Drivers | Chipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.1.1.1025 |
Intel Storage Drivers | Matrix Storage Drivers Ver. 8.9.0.1023 |
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Audio Benchmarks and Settings | |
---|---|
Benchmark | Details |
iTunes | Version: 9.0.3.15 Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min. Convert to AAC audio format |
Lame MP3 | Version 3.98.3 Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min. convert WAV to MP3 audio format Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kbps) |
Video Benchmarks and Settings | |
Benchmark | Details |
Handbrake CLI | Version: 0.94 Video: Big Buck Bunny (720x480, 23.972 frames) 5 Minutes Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, 6-Channel, English to Video: AVC1 Audio1: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile) |
Mainconcept Reference v2 | Version: 2.0.0.1555 MPEG-2 to H.264 MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec 28 sec. HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2) Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kbps) Codec: H.264 Pro Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS) Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
Application Benchmarks and Settings | |
Benchmark | Details |
7-Zip | Version 9.1 beta LZMA2 Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload |
WinRAR | Version 3.92 RAR Syntax "winrar a -r -m3" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload |
WinZip 14 | Version 14.0 Pro (8652) WinZIP Commandline Version 3 ZIPX Syntax "-a -ez -p -r" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload |
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 | Version: 10 x64 Rendering Space Flyby Mentalray (SPECapc_3dsmax9) Frame: 248 Resolution: 1440 x 1080 |
Cinebench 11.5 | Version 11.5 Build CB25720DEMO CPU Test single and multi threaded |
Adobe Photoshop CS 4 (64-Bit) | Version: 11 Filtering a 16MB TIF (15000x7266) Filters: Radial Blur (Amount: 10; Method: zoom; Quality: good) Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark sysmbol) Median (Radius: 1px) Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar) |
Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional | Version: 9.0.0 (Extended) == Printing Preferenced Menu == Default Settings: Standard == Adobe PDF Security - Edit Menu == Encrypt all documents (128-bit RC4) Open Password: 123 Permissions Password: 321 |
Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 | Version: 2007 SP2 PPT to PDF PowerPoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer |
Fritz | Fritz Chess Benchmark Version 4.3.2 |
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
Benchmark | Details |
3DMark Vantage | Version: 1.02 Patch 1901 Options: Performance Graphics Test 1 Graphics Test 2 CPU Test 1 CPU Test 2 |
PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.0.2.0 Patch 1901 PCMark Benchmark Memories Benchmark |
SiSoftware Sandra 2010 | Version: 2010.1.16.10 Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwith |
Overclocking Table
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Core i3-530 | 2,933 MHz | 3,300 MHz | 3,608 MHz | 3,806 MHz | 4,004 MHz | 4,202 MHz | 4,400 MHz |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Multiplier | 22x | 22x | 22x | 22x | 22x | 22x | 22x |
Base Frequency | 133 MHz | 150 MHz | 164 MHz | 173 MHz | 182 MHz | 191 MHz | 200 MHz |
RAM | 10x | 8x | 8x | 8x | 6x | 6x | 6x |
RAM | 1,333 MHz | 1,200 MHz | 1,312 MHz | 1,384 MHz | 1,092 MHz | 1,146 MHz | 1,200 MHz |
System Idle Power | 80W | 80W | 80W | 82W | 82W | 83W | 84W |
System Peak Power | 127W | 129W | 135W | 138W | 145W | 155W | 170W |
BIOS Vcore | 0 mV | 0 mV | 0 mV | 25 mV | 50 mV | 100 mV | 175 mV |
VTT | 1.1V | 1.1V | 1.1V | 1.12V | 1.14V | 1.16V | 1.2V |
CPU-Z VT idle | 0.944V | 0.944V | 0.944V | 0.976V | 1.008V | 1.056V | 1.120V |
CPU-Z VT load | 1.168V | 1.168V | 1.184V | 1.200V | 1.232V | 1.280V | 1.344V |
PCH | 1.8V | 1.8V | 1.8V | 1.8V | 1.8V | 1.8V | 1.8V |
RAM | 1.5V | 1.5V | 1.5V | 1.5V | 1.5V | 1.5V | 1.5V |
Fritz chess benchmark | 5363 | 5985 | 6529 | 6907 | 7201 | 7551 | 7916 |
Stable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
QPI | 44 | 36 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 28 | 28 |
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