Intel® Core™ i7 Processor
For Desktops
Intel’s leading-edge PC processor for unmatched intelligent performance
Hardcore multitaskers rejoice. The Intel® Core™ i7 processor delivers maximum processing power in response to peak demands. You’ll fly through everything you do on your PC – from playing intense games to creating and editing digital video, music and photos.
Key Features
Unlimited creativity
Now you can really let your imagination go wild. Unleash leading edge digital media creation with up to 92% faster‡ video encoding, plus incredible performance for photo editing and publishing.
A smarter way to work and play
With the Intel Core i7 processor, you’ll multitask demanding applications up to 27% faster.‡ No more lost productivity while waiting for your computer to catch up.
Gaming on the edge – and beyond
Experience the full power of today’s most complex and immersive games with a 55% improvement in artificial intelligence for game characters and realistic physics for game worlds.‡
Performance on demand
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology◊ accelerates performance to match your workload, and you’ll also get more than 43% better performance‡ on highly threaded applications with the multi-threaded power of Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology.◊
Let Your Inner Creature Loose
Customize a creature and set it loose on the social world! Intel's Me InTru™ 3D brings you to Intel’s Secret 3D Labs where you'll get a glimpse of what happens when you let your inner creature loose and bring it to life in 3D.
Compare Processor Numbers
Is faster always better? Yes, but it's not always what you should buy.
So as you evaluate the performance of the components below, don't analyze them in isolation from each other, but consider them interdependent partners that make up your projected system. And, keep in mind that your future needs—adding software from a growing family or a growing business—might be different later.
Processor Family
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Processor
Number 
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Cores/Threads
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Clock Speed
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Intel® Smart Cache
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Silicon
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Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
|
Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology
|
| i7-950 | 4 Cores /
8 Threads |
3.06 GHz | 8 MB | 45 nm |
|
|
| i7-940 | 4 Cores /
8 Threads |
2.93 GHz | 8 MB | 45 nm |
|
|
| i7-920 | 4 Cores /
8 Threads |
2.66 GHz | 8 MB | 45 nm |
|
|
| i7-870 | 4 Cores /
8 Threads |
2.93 GHz up to 3.60 with turbo boost | 8 MB | 45 nm |
|
|
| i7-860 | 4 Cores /
8 Threads |
2.80 GHz up to 3.46 with turbo boost | 8 MB | 45 nm |
|
|
Intel processor numbers are not a measure of performance. Processor numbers differentiate features within each processor family, not across different processor families. See www.intel.com/products/processor_number for details.
Performance Benchmarks
Best processors on the planet ‡8
The performance results shown represent processor performance of the new Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor compared with the Intel Core™2 quad processor Q9450.
Great performance on compute-intensive workloads
If you have serious computing requirements, then you want the Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor. Whether it is physics, artificial intelligence, or fluid dynamics, rest assured, Intel® Core™ i7 processors are the choice.
Click here for SPEC* CPU2006 Performance system configuration.
Multitasking with Adobe Premiere Elements* 4 and ImToo* YouTube* to iPod* Converter
Run two applications at the same time instead of one at time. The Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor allows you to experience smooth performance with multiple applications running. These results display the time taken to edit a 1 minute video from an HD camcorder while you convert five 8 minute flash videos from YouTube.
Create spectacular slide-shows
Share memories with friends and family on DVD, PC, and the Web. Create visually compelling slide shows quickly with the new Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor. The results have been extrapolated to calculate the number of photos you can prepare in 5 minutes.
Video editing with Adobe Premiere* Pro CS3
Working with HDV 1080p content is CPU-intensive and requires lots of compute power. With the new Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor you can apply effects and render Hi-def video faster than before. The results have been extrapolated to calculate the time to edit and render 5 minutes of Hi-Def video.
Create cutting edge video content and visual effects
As a video professional you need to go through the time-consuming process of applying filters and effects over and over to achieve that definitive look you're going after. Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor helps you get through this pain-staking process quickly so you can preview your concepts and meet your intense deadlines. The results have been extrapolated to calculate the time taken to encode 30 minutes of Hi-Def video.
Click here for performance system configuration‡,‡.
Click here for detailed performance information.
‡1 Performance based on Cyberlink PowerDirector 7* test results, comparing Intel® Core™ i7-950 processor to the Intel® Core™2 processor Q9650. Actual performance may vary. See www.intel.com/performance/desktop/ for more information.
‡2 Performance based on iTunes* 7.4.3 with Virtual Dub* 1.7.2 using the DivX* 6.7 codec. Test results compare the Intel® Core™ i7-950 processor to the Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor Q9650. Actual performance may vary. See www.intel.com/performance/desktop/extreme/ for more information.
‡3 3DMark* Vantage CPU test covers the two most common CPU-side tasks: Physics simulation and artificial intelligence. Measurements compared for the Intel® Core™ i7-950 processor and the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor Q9650.
◊1 Intel® Turbo Boost Technology requires a PC with a processor with Intel Turbo Boost Technology capability. Intel Turbo Boost Technology performance varies depending on hardware, software, and overall system configuration. Check with your PC manufacturer on whether your system delivers Intel Turbo Boost Technology. See www.intel.com/technology/turboboost/ for more information.
‡4 Performance based on Pov-Ray v3.7 Beta 28* test results, comparing Intel® Core™ i7-950 processor to the Intel® Core™2 processor Q9650. Actual performance may vary. See www.intel.com/performance/desktop/ for more information.
◊2 Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology) requires a computer system with a processor supporting Intel® HT Technology and an Intel® HT Technology-enabled chipset, BIOS and operating system. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software you use. For more information including details on which processors support Intel® HT Technology, see www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading/.
‡5 Performance tests and ratings are measured using specific computer systems and/or components and reflect the approximate performance of Intel® products as measured by those tests. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configuration may affect actual performance. Buyers should consult other sources of information to evaluate the performance of systems or components they are considering purchasing. For more information on performance tests and on the performance of Intel products, visit Intel® Performance Benchmark Limitations.
‡6 Relative performance for each benchmark is calculated by taking the actual benchmark result for the first platform tested and assigning it a value of 1.0 as a baseline. Relative performance for the remaining platforms tested was calculated by dividing the actual benchmark result for the baseline platform into each of the specific benchmark results of each of the other platforms and assigning them a relative performance number that correlates with the performance improvements reported.
‡7 "Best processors on the planet" is based on SPECint_rate_base2006* scores. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configuration may affect actual performance.
‡8 SPECint*_rate_base2006 and SPECfp*_rate_base2006 are capacity-based metrics used to measure throughput of a computer that is performing a number of tasks. This is achieved by running multiple copies of each benchmark simultaneously with the number of copies set to set to the number of logical hardware cores seen by the operating system. SPEC* CPU2006 provides a comparative measure of compute intensive performance across the widest practical range of hardware. The product consists of source code benchmarks that are developed from real user applications. These benchmarks depend on the processor, memory and compiler on the tested system. SPEC, SPECint, SPECfp, SPECrate are trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. For more information go to: www.spec.org/spec/trademarks.html.
‡9 ImTOO* YouTube* to iPod* Converter and Adobe Premiere Elements* 4.0 - The Premiere Elements input file is a 1 minute, ~190MB 1440x1080 HD video imported from an HD camcorder. The output is a ~9.7MB 320x240 video in FLV format intended for YouTube. The ImTOO input consists of eight 5 minute, ~40MB 640x480 FLV files similar to those available via YouTube. The output is eight 5 minute 320x240 MPEG4 files ready for playback on an iPod.
‡10 Photodex ProShow Gold* 3.2 allows the user to combine photos, videos and music to create spectacular slide shows. The workload takes 29 high resolution jpeg photos and converts them to an mpeg2 DVD quality slideshow video file. The photos are in 3872x2592 resolution and total about 170MB. The output slideshow file is about 3 minutes and 9 seconds long.
‡11 Adobe Premiere Pro* CS3 is a video editing tool for professionals with features like color correction and specials effects creation. In this test the project "F1 Demo 3wayCC.prproj" contains two 30-second segments HDV 1080p25 footage with a cross-dissolve transition applied across the entire 60s. The first 30s also has the effect "Three-Way Color Corrector" applied, independently adjusting the scene's shadows, highlights, and midtones. Additionally the 25fps input clip is converted to 29.7fps. The performance test measures the time to render a non-realtime preview of the first 7s (210 frames). This involves reading the two HDV source streams, applying the cross-dissolve, the Three-Way Color Corrector, and then encoding the result to a HDV file that is stored by Premiere Pro for later use when a preview of the rendered region is requested. Extrapolation of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 rendering the first 7 seconds sed to calculate how long to render a 2-minute video based on the original 7 second workload.
‡12 Adobe After Effects* CS3 is a comprehensive set of tools to efficiently produce motion graphics and visual effects for film, video, multimedia, and the web. Based on Adobe After Effects* 7, this test applies filters and effects to a variety of input file types including Adobe Photoshop* PSD, Adobe Illustrator* AI and EPS, TIF, and Apple* QuickTime* MOV files. Filters and effects include: blur, bulge, color key, frame blending, glow, motion blurring, fading, 2D and 3D manipulation, shadows, echo, median, radial blur, and invert. After each filter is applied, the composition is rendered to an uncompressed AVI movie file of the same resolution as the input files.