Intel Core i5 750 (2.66 GHz)

We tested and compared the Intel Core i5 750, codenamed

Lynnfield, with  Intel Core i7 870 which we had tested before. Intel Core i5 750

is another Quad Core CPU based on 45nm technology from the Intel family that

lives up to its ancestral name. Priced reasonably at  Rs 10,550 -which is about

a third as compared to Intel's Core i7 870, the Core i5 750  delivered very good

results in our  benchmarks.

 The wide difference in performance of Intel Core i5 750

over the Intel Core i7 870 is completely overawed by the major difference in

price. In our test bed, the average performance difference in both the

processors is around 20%. This makes Intel Core i5 750 a much better bet for

workgroup users. Plus the performance to price rating is further accentuated by

a major dip in power usage by the Intel Core i5 750 at full tilt.

Performance



Both chips were  run on  Asus 97P55D Deluxe motherboard with 2GB of DDR3

RAM, nVIDIA  9600 GT graphics card and 120 GB Seagate HDD at 7200 rpm spindle

speed. In both the cases, Windows XP SP3 Pro Edition was used.

In 3D Mark06, the Intel core i7 870 managed a healthy 5905

whereas the Intel Core i5 750 notched up 4589, a 20 % dip but impressive

nonetheless. In  PCMark05,   Intel Core i7 870 achieved an impressive 10053

whereas the Intel Core i5 750 managed a not so bad 8767.

When the Intel Core i7 870 was put to POV-Ray test, the

result was a render average of 89240 PPS in 2.20 sec over 196608 pixels whereas

the Intel Core i5 750 achieved 78643 PPS in 2.50 sec over 196608 pixels.

In the Power Test, the Intel Core i7 870 consumed 102 watts

in idle mode, 87 watts on stand-by and 185 running on full blast. Compare this

with the Intel Core i5 750 which ate up 99 watts while idle, 85 watts on

stand-by and only 170 watts running at full tilt.

This is a major plus for the Intel Core i5 750 as it

consumes much less power as compared to the Intel Core i7 870; and when we talk

about large deployments with thousands of workstations, this can actually save

you a good amount of money in terms of power and backup.

Bottomline: Brilliant

performance, low power consumption at an affordable prices  is what makes this

chip a worthy buy.

Shikhar Mohan Gupta