The Intel® Core™ i7 Processor Extreme Edition

For Desktops

The fastest PC processor on the planet‡

Dominate the world of extreme gaming like never before with the ultimate intelligent performance of the Intel® Core™ i7 processor Extreme Edition. You’ll get maximum PC power for whatever you do, thanks to the combination of Intel® Turbo Boost Technology and Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology, which together activate full processing power exactly where and when you need it.

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Key Features

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor Extreme Edition

Adrenaline on a chip
Prepare to lose yourself in the action of an immersive gaming experience with improved artificial intelligence for game characters and realistic physics for game worlds‡.

Fast and efficient multitasking
Whether you’re casually checking email and surfing the web or hopping between intensive apps like HD video encoding, the Intel Core i7 processor Extreme Edition lets you multitask demanding applications up to 25% faster‡.

Power on demand
Maximize speed for demanding applications with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology◊, which accelerates performance to match your workload, and untangle highly-threaded apps with the blazing fast, multi-threaded performance of Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology◊.

Blast through digital media creation
Unleash the ultimate digital media creation experience with up to 79% faster video encoding‡, plus incredible performance for photo editing and publishing.

Gaming without limits
Feed your need for speed with overspeed protection removed to enable tuning your system for extra performance‡.

Learn more about the breakthrough technology behind your ultimate gaming experience.

Processor Rating

Learn what the star rating tells you about this processor

Compare Processor Numbers

Is faster always better? Yes, but it's not always what you should buy.

Processor Family

Processor
Number
Processor Number

Cores/Threads

Clock Speed

Intel® Smart Cache

Silicon

Intel® Turbo Boost Technology

Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology

i7-975	4 / 8	3.33 GHz	8 MB	45 nm
i7-965	4 / 8	3.20 GHz	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.

Processor Number

Processor models vary according to cache size, clock speed and RAM speed. If you run computer-intensive programs, the more L2 Cache you have the better. If, however, you use your PC for gaming, streaming video or watching movies, the size of your L2 Cache is not as significant as having a speedy Front Side Bus and increased Clock Speed. That said, every year, software developers design programs and applications that demand more and more of all three of these elements. So, our advice is to think about tomorrow’s needs as well as today's. Still don’t know how much to err on the side of caution? Choose the best processor you can afford. No matter what, you’re bound to be impressed.

Here is some guidance to consider when looking at our laptop processors:

Intel® Core™2 Extreme mobile processor:
X9000 series: For ultimate mobile gaming and/or media performance

Intel® Centrino® processor technology:
T9000/T8000 series: Great for visually intense gaming and/or high definition media
T7000/ T5000 series: Create and store your photos, videos and music

Intel® Pentium® dual-core processor:
T2000 series: Aptly handles a variety of simple computing tasks simultaneously

Intel® Celeron® dual-core processor:
T1000 series: For when you want to run a few basic tasks simultaneously

Intel® Celeron® processor:
500 series: For when you just need the basics

Extend your hand and place four marbles in the palm. That's the gist of quad-core. It’s that simple.

Quad-core technology is a single processor chip (your hand), including four processor cores (the four marbles) or rather four simultaneously hard working brains. And just like those marbles, each core can work either separately, or together on one large task.

Software developers chop up their code (known as threading) and run each piece concurrently through whatever processor core happens to be most available. Increasingly, software developers rely on Intel® quad-core and dual-core technology so their multithreaded program can do more things simultaneously producing faster, more efficient results for you.

Tip: for exceptional multitasking, look for Intel® dual-core processors. If you’re a mega-multitasker, gaming elitist, or multimedia maven, look for Intel quad-core processors.

The simplest way to understand clock speed is to imagine a stopwatch measuring laps. Question is, where is the stopwatch? At an Olympic pool, a racetrack or your child's sports day?

Just like a stopwatch, a clock speed measures how fast a processor performs an activity. But which activity?

That’s up to you. How do you plan to use your computer? Will you video your child with your new HD camera? Then find a benchmark test that tells the clock speed of the processor running a media-intensive program. Do you love re-touching photos? Then look up how a processor was benchmarked running the photo software you like to use.

Tip: yes, you will find numbers. You will see rates in gigahertz (GHz), which means a billion cycles per second.

But numbers don’t tell the story. How you use your processor is what you want to find out. After all, you wouldn’t compare a lap time from your local swimming pool with a grand prix race, would you?

Imagine the RAM of your computer as one city, and the CPU as another. Between them is a wide road (the Front Side Bus). When you’re making calculations, developing graphics - anything you and your software demands - the Front Side Bus transfers data quickly to meet that demand.

Tip: whatever system you choose, make sure the components work together. For example, if you’re building a media computer, having a 1333 MHz front side bus that can handle HD video is wonderful - but make sure the CPU is adequate for the challenge.

Imagine arriving at your local shop and having all your favourite food fly off the shelves and fill the shopping trolley in minutes.

That’s L2 cache. It remembers the information you access most frequently in your computer so you can easily get to it without those annoying lags. (Just don’t expect it to remember documents you didn’t save.)

Tip: more L2 cache reduces bottlenecks and helps speed memory performance.

45nm – A nanometre is one-billionth of a metre. The processors we have on the market are just 45-billionths of a metre wide. To get an idea of the size of the technology: you could lay over 2000 of our transistor gates side-by-side and almost equal the diameter of a strand of human hair. The new Hafnium-infused Intel 45nm process allows transistors to be packed more densely than the 65nm process. With the use of hafnium oxide replacing silicon dioxide (in use since the 1960s) the new transistors leak less energy, produce less heat and switch faster.

Nearly doubling the density of our processors means extra performance, an up-to-50-percent larger L2 cache, and new levels of breakthrough energy-efficiency. Cool – in many ways.

Performance Benchmarks

Highest performing processor on the planet ‡9

The performance results shown represent processor performance of the new Intel® Core™ i7-965 processor Extreme Edition compared with the Intel Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770.

Undisputed leadership on compute-intensive workloads

If you have serious computing requirements, then you want the Intel® Core™ i7-965 processor Extreme Edition. 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

Performance for the most demanding multitasking

These days we have so much work to do and very little time to play. Why not do both at the same time? Play a video game while you render an intense scene. These results display the game performance when playing a PC game while you are using another application to render an intense 3D scene.

Create your own movie masterpieces

Intel® Core™ i7-965 processor Extreme Edition speeds up video editing performance. Use CyberLink* PowerDirector* and edit over 1.7x more videos when compared to the previous generation Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770. These results display the time taken to apply special effects to a Hi-Def video clip.

Quickly compress, store, and share your Hi-Def home videos

Intel® Core™ i7-965 processor Extreme Edition makes quick work of the toughest computing tasks like Hi-Def video encoding for sharing on DVD. These results display the time taken to convert and compress 10 minutes of Hi-Def video.

Immersive and Threaded Gaming

Computer games evolved tremendously over the years. Particles, textures, physics and artificial Intelligence have created an immersive and realistic experience that puts you inside the game. The Intel® Core™ i7-965 processor Extreme Edition has the ability to process all of these characteristics simultaneously taking your gaming experience to a whole new level!

Click here for performance system configuration. ‡15 ‡16

Click here for detailed performance information.

+ Product and Performance Data

‡¹ Based on SPECint_rate_base2006* scores. Results have been based on internal Intel analysis and are provided for informational purposes only. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configuration may affect actual performance. See www.intel.com/performance/desktop/extreme/index.htm for additional information.

‡² 3DMark* Vantage CPU test covers the two most common CPU-side tasks: Physics simulation and artificial intelligence. The CPU tests measures the contribution of the processor on 3D graphical performance while the graphics test measures game simulation performance.

‡³ Performance based on ImTOO* v1.0.92 build 0704 and Adobe* Premiere Elements 4 test results, comparing Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme Edition to the Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770. Actual performance may vary. See www.intel.com/performance/desktop/extreme/ for more information.

◊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.

◊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/.

‡⁴ CyberLink PowerDirector* 7 test results, comparing Intel® Core™ i7-975 processor Extreme Edition to the Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770. Actual performance may vary. See www.intel.com/performance/desktop/extreme/ for more information.

‡⁵ WARNING: Altering clock frequency and/or voltage may (i) reduce system stability and useful life of the system and processor; (ii) cause the processor and other system components to fail; (iii) cause reductions in system performance; (iv) cause additional heat or other damage; and (v) affect system data integrity. Intel® has not tested, and does not warranty, the operation of the processor beyond its specifications.

‡⁶ Enabling Intel® Turbo Boost Technology (Intel® TBT) requires a PC with a processor with Intel TBT capability. Intel TBT performance varies depending on hardware, software and overall system configuration. Check with your PC manufacturer on whether your system delivers Intel TBT. For more information, see: www.intel.com/technology/turboboost.

‡⁷ Warning: Altering clock frequency and/or voltage may: (i) reduce system stability and useful life of the system, processor and other system components; (ii) cause the processor and other system components to fail; (iii) cause reductions in system performance; (iv) cause additional heat or other damage; and (v) affect system data integrity. Intel has not tested, and does not warranty, the operation of the processor beyond its specifications. Intel has not tested, and does not warranty, the operation of other system components beyond their industry standard specifications. Intel assumes no responsibility that the processor and other system components, including if used with altered clock frequencies and/or voltages, will be fit for any particular purpose.

‡⁸ "Highest performing 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.

‡¹⁰ Autodesk 3ds Max 2009* and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars* - The workload for Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 is called Dragon_Character_Rig.max. The workload consists of a scene of a Dragon_Character_Rig.max that is rendered at 1920x1080 for frames 1-5. For Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the file etqw1_5.ndm is a time demo of game play. It can only be used with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars* version 1.5. While the dragon character is being rendered, the time demo is then played simultaneously.

‡¹¹ CyberLink* PowerDirector 7* workload consists of a one minute high-definition AVC-HD 1080P video clip from a HD camcorder where the second pencil sketch effect is applied over the duration of the movie as the movie is exported out to an HD MPEG-2 1080i video file.

‡¹² Sony* Vegas Pro* 8.0b is a video editing, audio production, and DVD authoring tool. Using the DivX* 6.8 encoder, this test shows how long it took to convert and compress a 1-minute, 59 seconds, 370MB, 1440x1080 HD camcorder video file to a 108MB 1440x1080 HD video file in DivX* format. Extrapolation used to calculate the time it takes to convert and compress 10 minutes of Hi-Def video.

‡¹³ 3DMark* Vantage is a 3D graphics benchmark, designed for Microsoft Windows Vista* and DirectX*10. It includes two graphics tests, two CPU tests, and several feature tests. The CPU tests measures the contribution of the processor on 3D graphical performance while the graphics test measures game simulation performance.

‡¹⁴ Lost Planet* is a third-person shooter video game, created by Capcom that takes place in the past and future of the planet E. D. N. III. For more information visit www.lostplanet-thegame.com.

‡¹⁵ 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.

‡¹⁶ 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.

‡¹⁷ 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.