The new Core i5-661 is certainly an interesting CPU. It beats Phenom II X4 965 with AMD 785G in almost all tests we performed. However on applications capable of using four CPUs, the CPU from AMD was faster: file compression with WinRAR, DivX encoding ...

With these new processors, Intel is offering an LGA1156 platform with performance/energy consumption ratios never seen before! The Clarkdales are as fast as the entry level Socket 775 quad cores, but with energy consumption on a par with entry level du...

Most items we get in for review are pretty linear and have a clear-cut target audience. This makes our job easier as reviewers and your job easier as the consumer. Some products, however, like the new 32nm Core i3 and i5 chips, fall somewhere outside ...

So where do the Core i5 600 series processors fit into the scheme of things? Well, if it means anything, a quick look at my favorite online retailer found 20 H55 motherboards. Out of the 20, 19 were mATX boards. There was one H57 board, and it was also...

I have used a lot of CPU’s in my time and I have never used one like the Clarkdale that was specifically designed for use, out of the box, as a media based PC build. I never mentioned this in the testing section because it is hard to “benchmar...

– How Does Clarkdale 32nm Measure Up? The objective of the Dual Core i5 and i3 aren’t to compete with the stronger Quad Core processors per se. Their purpose is to take what we as consumers appreciate about Dual Core processors and almost double the ...

For about three months now, we have been talking about the next step in Intel's tick-tock strategy of introducing products. All of the new i series CPUs were made using Nehalem architecture, so the new 32 nm CPUs represent only a die shrink, in ca...

By the way, to use the display output from the integrated GPU, you need the new Intel chipsets, the H55 or H57, the latter having storage acceleration. I used two new motherboards to try out the CPU. Intel's DH55TC is a decent well featured microATX...

After testing the Intel i5-661 processor for a month or so, I can definitely see where it will create a market for an affordable and much more simpler computer that will be easy on the wallet. The inclusion of the video processing on the same package...

I swear this is the longest it’s taken for an Intel architecture to penetrate the market. We first met Nehalem on November 3rd, 2008. It came to us as a high end quad-core processor and took a full year to make it to more affordable motherboards in th...

The Clarkdale Core i5 and Core i3 CPUs are worthy successors to the Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo and if you're looking to buy a new Intel system, there's really no way you ought to be looking at Core 2 chips any more, especially as the i3-530 expect...

For the new Clarkdale models Intel wants to have between 113 and 284 USD. So the Euro prices are most likely to stay at the same level, but are expected to drop into the area between 90 to 240 Euros soon. For gamers the quad-core Core i5-750, which co...

The Core i5-661 is more than just a dual core version of the Lynnfield core processor. A die-shrink from 45nm to 32nm gave Intel the space to fit both a dual core processor and their latest onboard graphics chip, GMA HD, onto the same package. This co...

If you took a look at our gaming benchmarks you quickly realize that Intel's Clarkdale IGP is definitely not made for gaming. Its performance is one order of magnitude below that of even the cheapest discrete graphics cards like the Radeon HD 4550 or...

These Clarkdale processors are complex beasts. To get a handle on what we think of them, we should break things down into several pieces. As a CPU technology, Clarkdale is excellent. I can't get over how the Core i5-661 kept nearly matching the Core 2...

The Intel i5 661 CPU with integrated graphics is a CPU that we've waited on for a long time. While the Gfx portion of the i5 661 isn't going to thrill you in high end games Intel makes no bones about it's place in the graphics hierarchy. They...

From a pure performance perspective, the CoreI5 661 gives us a lot to be delighted about – not just that, but since it’s a 32nm process, the overclocking potential on this chip should be very good. I plan on looking into this in a future mothe...

Intel Core i5-661 Performance PreviewFor a little over a year now, Intel’s been slowly phasing out Core 2, one of their most successful CPU architectures of all time. The process started in November 2008 with the introduction of Intel’s f...

With the release of the Core i5 Clarkdale based processors (650/660/661/670) Intel is making a bit of an unusual move. See, we all know that the 'system on a chip' concept is something which in the future we will see more and more. But after testi...

s I think the best way to look at Clarkdale, is to look at it as a CPU and CPU/GPU separately. Strictly as a CPU, it has its pros and cons. On one hand, it is clocked quite high (the i5 670 can reach up to 3.73 GHz with Turbo fully engaged – faster...

The new Clarkdale core processors are a new engineering marvel from Intel. The new Core i5 and Core i3 processor will both serve its intended market very well. These however are not enthusiast products, although some of us will possibly find the lowest...

I was shocked when I opened the box and pulled out the DH55 motherboard. I was looking for the graphics chipset on the board and there wasn't one. Sometimes even when you are aware that something has changed, it takes a while to sink in. Intel has tak...

When working in conjunction with its integrated Intel HD Graphics engine, the Core i5 661 also performs well, and compares favorably to AMD's top-of-line Phenom II, when it's paired to the AMD 785G IGP. Although AMD's platform pulled ahead in the low-res...

Realizing that the majority of computer users use their computer for other tasks than playing Dirt 2 or Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Intel's new Clarkdale CPU accomplishes two tasks. Full support of Blu-ray playback and encoding by the on-CPU integra...

From a technological standpoint, there is no doubt that Intel's new Core i5-661 is a cutting edge part. In fact, it's the world's first 32nm processor and also the first x86 chip to bring the processor and the graphics core in the same package...

We have Westmere parts in our hands (a bit earlier than we expected last year) with Clarkdale and while I am impressed to see the technology working, the processor really fills a specific market segment.  The most specific thing I can say to a potential b...

So what do we think of the Clarkdale? Our experience with the Core i5 661 is very positive indeed. We saw great performance given the fact that the Core i5 661 is only a dual core CPU with Hyper-Threading to allow for four threads per execution cycle. ...

Summing up everything we have just said, we can only state that the launch of new LGA1156 processors has significantly expanded the application field for this platform. It became a truly mainstream and universal platform, because now there are almost any kinds of LGA1156 processors available: starting with the cheapest..

When paired with the Intel DH55TC motherboard, the Core i5-661 provides the backbone for a solidly performing mainstream platform—especially if that motherboard is equipped with a decent graphics card to deliver a better gaming experience.

The new Core i5 661 may just be a dual-core processor, but it's still incredibly fast at 3.33GHz, even when compared to high-performance quad-core parts. Accompanied with the rest of the Core i5 and Core i3 line-up, we finally have Intel moving comple...

The new Core i5 6xx and Core i3 5xx series of processors are now amongst the fastest dual-core processors money can buy. Even some qu...