Core i7-2600K Overclocked: Speed Meets Efficiency

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Most of Intel's Core i5 and i7 CPUs lock out overclocking enthusiasts, which we hate. But the K-series chips win us back over with insane scalability. Would you believe that cranking the dial on performance doesn't necessarily tank overall efficiency?

Test Setup And Benchmark Settings

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Socket LGA 1155 Platform
Socket LGA1155 PlatformGigabyte P67A-UD5 (Rev 1.0), Chipset: Intel P67, BIOS: F6a (2011-01-11)
LGA1156 ProcessorsIntel Core i7-2600K (32 nm, Sandy Bridge, D2 stepping), 4C/8T, 3.4 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 Cache, 8 MB L3 Cache, w/ HD Graphics 3000, 95 W TDP, 3.8 GHz max. Turbo Boost
Common Platform Components
Dual DDR3 Memory2 x 4 GB DDR3-2133 @ 1333 MT/s, G.Skill F3-17066CL9D-8GBXLD
Discrete GraphicsSapphire Radeon HD 5850, GPU: Cypress (725 MHz), Graphics RAM: 1024 MB GDDR5 (2000 MHz),  Stream Processors: 1440
Hard DriveWestern Digital VelociRaptor (WD3000HLFS), 300 GB, 10 000 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 16 MB Cache
Power SupplyPC Power & Cooling, Silencer 750EPS12V 750 W
System Software & Drivers
Operating SystemWindows 7 Ultimate x64, fully updated on 2010-07-29
Drivers and Settings
AMD Radeon DriversAMD Catalyst 10.12 Suite for Windows 7
Intel Graphics DriversDriver Release 8.15.10.2246
Intel Chipset DriversChipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.2.0.1016

The Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD5 provides lots of overclocking options and did a great job for us during testing.

G.Skill provides a pair of its Ripjaws DDR3 DIMMs, which are capable of up to DDR3-2133 speeds.

Benchmark Settings

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3D Games Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
Audio Benchmarks and Settings
BenchmarkDetails
iTunesVersion: 9.0.3.15 Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min. Convert to AAC audio format
Lame MP3Version 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
BenchmarkDetails
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.94 Video: Big Buck Bunny (720x480, 23.972 frames) 5 Minutes Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, 6-Kanal, English, to Video: AVC1 Audio1: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
MainConcept Reference v2Version: 2.0.0.1555 MPEG2 to H.264 MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2) Audio: MPEG2 (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
BenchmarkDetails
7-ZipVersion 9.1 beta LZMA2 Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinRARVersion 3.92 RAR, Syntax "winrar a -r -m3", Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
WinZip 14Version 14.0 Pro (8652) WinZIP Commandline Version 3 ZIPX Syntax "-a -ez -p -r" Benchmark: 2010-THG-Workload
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010Version: 10 x64 Rendering Space Flyby Mentalray (SPECapc_3dsmax9) Frame: 248 Resolution: 1440 x 1080
Adobe After Effects CS5Create Video which includes 3 Streams Frames: 210 Render Multiple Frames Simultaneosly: on
Adobe Photoshop CS5 (64-Bit)Version: 11 Filtering a 16 MB TIF (15000x7266) Filters: Radial Blur (Amount: 10; Method: zoom; Quality: good) Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark symbol) Median (Radius: 1px) Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar)
Adobe Acrobat 9 ProfessionalVersion: 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 2007Version: 2007 SP2 PPT to PDF Powerpoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer