Intel's Core Family is a Happy Family

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i5,2410.html' target='_blank'>http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...re-i5,2410.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Of course, that&rsquo;s only really funny for the folks who&rsquo;ve already seen how the Lynnfield-based processors actually perform and know they&rsquo;re not as anemic as an enthusiast might expect, given the fact that Intel is aggressively pursuing integration, aiming for a SoC-type design in the not-so-distant future. But Clarkdale is six months away, at least. Today is all about Lynnfield&mdash;the Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs for Intel&rsquo;s LGA 1156 interface."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1252583240.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>When Intel first came out with its Core i7 processors, they smacked all other CPUs around and cost enough to fund the American auto industry.&nbsp; It is now nearly a year later, and Intel has decided that mere mortals should now be able to have access to extreme computing power and have updated the Core i7 and introduced the Core i5 a more reasonably priced powerhouse.&nbsp; Tom's Hardware gives you the skinny, putting the new CPUs through the usual tests and noting the changes between generations and the improvements made such as on Turbo Boost.&nbsp; The takeaway from all this is that Intel is keeping busy trying to maintain its performance crown, but has made the mid-range pricing much more competitive.&nbsp; Whether you favour Intel or AMD, expect prices to be quite juicy in the coming weeks!</p>

[ptyork]

I'm sorry, but having two architectures--LGA 1366 and LGA 1156--for the same basic technology is a serious black mark against Intel. I really don't understand the logic. I get that one is dual channel and the other triple, but otherwise they are identical, confusing, and a downright dirty trick played on early adopters of the LGA 1366 line. I know of a number of folks who jumped on 1G Core i7 products hoping to "future-proof" themselves (more research might have swayed them from this path, sure). Now they are stuck with a strange step-child architecture that is not slated to get any mainstream attention and actually underperforms these "consumer" i7's. Yeah, a Gulfstream processor is coming sometime next year, but the 1156 platform is getting the bulk of the performance enhancement.

And why confuse matters by giving both the i7 moniker? That is insane. Now you have to see if this is a 1366 i7 or a 1156 i7. Would have been really easy to make the 1156 i7 and i5 HT or something (after all, it is just an i5 with Hyperthreading).

Anyway, aside from that, I'm really glad to see these processors coming out and finally giving consumers a true "future" direction to aim for.