Pinout intel core i5 750. Intel Core i5 on Lynnfield core
2009 was marked by the release of the updated Lynnfield processor architecture, the most accessible representative of which at that time was the Core i5-750 chip. The characteristics of this semiconductor product are not so different from modern quad-core CPUs from this manufacturer. Therefore, this processor still continues to be relevant and allows you to solve most of all kinds of problems at the moment.
The niche of the processor market that the hero of this review was focused on
With the release of the LGA1156 platform, Intel divided the microprocessor market into the following segments:
Entry-level PCs were based on Celeron processors (these chips provided a minimum level of performance sufficient for office computers) and Pentium (in this case, one could even count on running some new games with minimal settings, but such a system unit could only be called a gaming one with a stretch ). The difference between these two products was an increase in cache size and an increase in processor clock speed, and this made it possible to obtain additional performance percentages in practice.
The mid-level segment was occupied by chips from the i3 and i5 families. It was to this group of CPUs that the processor solution discussed in this material belonged. The younger i3 models included only 2 physical code processing units. But due to the introduction of proprietary HT technology, this semiconductor crystal at the software level could already process information in 4 streams. But i5 were full-fledged processors with 4 physical cores. They also increased the amount of cache memory and introduced support for TurboBoost technology. The latter made it possible to adjust the CPU frequency depending on the degree of optimization of the program code for multi-threading, the thermal state of the semiconductor crystal and the level of complexity of the problem being solved.
The most productive system units, both then and now, are based on i7 family chips. They have 4 physical code processing units, but support for NT technology allows you to get 8 threads at the software level. Also, the frequency formula in this case is increased, as is the cache memory.
Although formally the hero of this review belongs to middle-class processor products, nevertheless, among almost all the software existing at that time, it was he who could easily compete with the flagship microprocessor. Most software even now is focused on using 4 physical cores, and it is for this reason that there is currently no big difference in terms of performance between older CPUs from a given manufacturer.
Contents of delivery
This product was sold in two configurations. The more modest of them was called TRAY. In this case, in addition to the CPU itself, an instruction manual, a warranty card, and a sticker with the name of the chip model for the front panel were purchased. This type of equipment is aimed primarily at large system unit assemblers, but it was also sometimes purchased by computer enthusiasts. The second configuration option for this processor product was called BOX. Among the common people, the name “boxed version” was assigned to it. In this case, the supply list was supplemented with a cooler and thermal paste.
CPU socket
The Kor i5-750 was oriented for installation. The characteristics of this processor socket indicated that it was aimed at assembling single-chip system units. In 2009, this socket made it possible to organize computer systems that were completely different in purpose and cost. This computer platform remained relevant until 2011, when it was replaced by LGA1155. But even now, the products in this series continue to be relevant for at least one reason: their level of performance still allows them to solve most problems.
Semiconductor chip production technology
At the beginning of 2009, the Kor i5-750 was produced using typical technology. The characteristics of this entire generation of chips indicate that they were all produced using the 45 nm process technology. At that time, it was perfectly developed and there were no significant problems with the yield of suitable silicon wafers in this case. Later it was replaced by technology with tolerance standards of 32 nm.
Cash
Like all modern, most advanced processor products, the three-level cache has an Intel i5-750. The characteristics of this semiconductor product in this case are as follows:
The first level included 4 segments of 64 KB each, tied to a specific computing module.
4 blocks of 256 KB each are organized in a similar way at the second level.
The cache memory at the third level was common to all CPU resources and had a total size of 8 MB.
RAM
The RAM subsystem in solutions based on LGA1156, including the Core i5-750, has been significantly redesigned. The characteristics of this product indicated that, along with the RAM controller, it was transferred from the motherboard to the semiconductor chip of the central processor. This made it possible to significantly increase the performance of RAM. But, on the other hand, the integration of the RAM controller led to the fact that the chip could only function with a certain list of RAM sticks. In this case, this set was limited to DDR3-1066. Also, in combination with this CPU, it was possible to use higher-speed RAM cards, but their operating frequency was limited to just one value - 1066 MHz. It was impossible to get anything more in this case.
Temperature Range. Thermal package
The i5-750 processor was designed for a thermal package of 95 W. The characteristics of this central processor model indicate the maximum permissible temperature value of 72 degrees. In normal mode, the temperature of this chip was limited to 40-50 degrees. In the case of overclocking, this range increased and was already within the range of 50-60 degrees. In practice, it was impossible to load this CPU in the nominal operating range so that it reached the maximum possible value. It was possible to go beyond the established boundaries only in two cases. One of them is a breakdown of the cooling system, and the second is overclocking the chip in combination with the supplied cooler and running several resource-intensive applications on the PC.
Frequencies
The initial frequency value for this CPU was set to 2.7 GHz. The characteristics of this CPU indicated support for TurboBoost technology. That is, this processor could regulate the frequency value and the number of active calculation units. When using all four blocks, the maximum frequency was limited to 2.8 GHz. If the processor operated in dual-threaded mode, then the frequency value was 2.93 GHz. Well, in the case when only one calculation unit was working, this value could generally increase to 3.2 GHz. It was also possible to overclock this CPU. Experience shows that with the proper configuration of the system unit, it was possible to overclock this processor to 4 GHz and thereby obtain an almost 30% increase in performance.
CPU architecture
As noted earlier, 4 physical code processing modules included an Intel Core i5-750. The characteristics of this product indicated that it did not support HyperTrading technology. Therefore, at the software level it was represented by the same 4 threads. And this value continues to be relevant even today due to the fact that most software is optimized for a maximum of 2 or 4 threads. In this case, the difference with the more expensive CPUs of the i7 family was practically not felt.
Owners' opinion. Price
This modification of the Core i5 was priced at $213. The CPU 750 (its characteristics were really excellent for 2009) made it possible to solve any problem. And even now this CPU can easily handle almost all loads. Only with the newest toys can problems arise. But in this case, you can lower the quality of the output image, which will allow you to fully immerse yourself in excellent gameplay.
Results
A worthy processor product for 2009 was the Cor i5-750. Its characteristics continue to be relevant to this day and still allow us to solve most problems. Also, the advantages of this CPU model include affordable cost, the presence of four physical code processing units and excellent energy efficiency, as for a 2009 chip. But still, the owners of such system units will very soon have to think about a planned update of their computing system.
Core i5-750 processor, the price of a new one on Amazon and ebay is 12,805 rubles, which is equal to $221. Marked by the manufacturer as: BX80605I5750.
The number of cores is 4, produced using a 45 nm process technology, Lynnfield architecture.
The base frequency of the Core i5-750 cores is 2.66 GHz. The maximum frequency in Intel Turbo Boost mode reaches 3.2 GHz. Please note that the Intel Core i5-750 cooler must cool processors with a TDP of at least 95 W at standard frequencies. During overclocking, the requirements increase.
The motherboard for Intel Core i5-750 must have an LGA1156 socket. The power system must be able to withstand processors with a thermal package of at least 95 W.
Price in Russia
Want to buy a Core i5-750 cheap? Look at the list of stores that already sell the processor in your city.Intel Core i5-750 test
The data comes from user tests who tested their systems both overclocked and unoverclocked. Thus, you see the average values corresponding to the processor.
Numerical speed
Different tasks require different CPU strengths. A system with a small number of fast cores will be great for gaming, but will be inferior to a system with a large number of slow cores in a rendering scenario.
We believe that a processor with at least 4 cores/4 threads is suitable for a budget gaming computer. At the same time, some games can load it at 100% and slow down, and performing any tasks in the background will lead to a drop in FPS.
Ideally, the buyer should aim for a minimum of 6/6 or 6/12, but keep in mind that systems with more than 16 threads are currently only suitable for professional applications.
The data is obtained from tests of users who tested their systems both overclocked (the maximum value in the table) and without (the minimum). A typical result is shown in the middle, with the color bar indicating its position among all systems tested.
Accessories
motherboards
- Asus H81M-A
- HP OMEN by HP Laptop 15-dc0xxx
- Asus TUF Z270 MARK 2
- HP Envy 13 Notebook PC
- Asus P5B-Deluxe
- Acer Aspire 6920
- HP Z220 SFF Workstation
Video cards
- No data
RAM
- No data
SSD
- No data
We have compiled a list of components that users most often choose when assembling a computer based on the Core i5-750. Also, with these components, the best test results and stable operation are achieved.
The most popular config: motherboard for Intel Core i5-750 - Asus H81M-A.
Characteristics
Basic
| Manufacturer | Intel |
| Description Information about the processor taken from the official website of the manufacturer. | Intel® Core™ i5-750 Processor (8M Cache, 2.66 GHz) |
| Architecture Code name for the microarchitecture generation. | Lynnfield |
| Date of issue Month and year the processor went on sale. | 03-2010 |
| Model Official name. | i5-750 |
| Cores Number of physical cores. | 4 |
| Streams Number of threads. The number of logical processor cores that the operating system sees. | 4 |
| Base frequency Guaranteed frequency of all processor cores at maximum load. Performance in single-threaded and multi-threaded applications and games depends on it. It is important to remember that speed and frequency are not directly related. For example, a new processor at a lower frequency may be faster than an old one at a higher frequency. | 2.66 GHz |
| Turbo frequency Maximum frequency of one processor core in turbo mode. Manufacturers have given the processor the ability to independently increase the frequency of one or more cores under heavy load, thereby increasing operating speed. It greatly affects the speed in games and applications that require CPU frequency. | 3.2 GHz |
| L3 cache size The L3 cache acts as a buffer between the computer's RAM and the L2 cache of the processor. Used by all cores, the speed of information processing depends on the volume. | 8 MB |
| Instructions | 64-bit |
| Instructions Allows you to speed up calculations, processing and execution of certain operations. Also, some games require support for instructions. | SSE4.2 |
| Embedded Options Available Two versions of cases. Standard and designed for mobile devices. In the second version, the processor can be soldered to the motherboard. | Yes |
| Technical process The technological production process is measured in nanometers. The smaller the technical process, the more advanced the technology, the lower the heat generation and energy consumption. | 45 nm |
| Bus frequency Speed of data exchange with the system. | 2.5 GT/s DMI |
| Maximum TDP Thermal Design Power is an indicator that determines the maximum heat dissipation. The cooler or water cooling system must be rated for an equal or greater value. Remember that TDP increases significantly with overclocking. | 95 W |
RAM
| Maximum amount of RAM The amount of RAM that can be installed on a motherboard with this processor. | 16 GB |
| Supported RAM type The type of RAM depends on its frequency and timings (performance), availability, and price. | DDR3 1066/1333 |
| RAM channels Multi-channel memory architecture increases data transfer rates. On desktop platforms the following modes are available: two-channel, three-channel and four-channel modes. | 2 |
| RAM Bandwidth | 21 GB/s |
| ECC memory Support for error-correcting memory, which is used on servers. Typically more expensive than normal and requires more expensive server components. However, used server processors, Chinese motherboards and ECC memory sticks, which are sold relatively cheaply in China, have become widespread. | No. Or we haven’t had time to acknowledge the support yet. |
Introduction
The launch of the Intel LGA 1156 platform was very successful, with online publications and user opinions being very positive. Our first articles about Core i5 covered processor and platform technologies, and gaming performance. Now is the time to explore the possibilities of overclocking new processors. How well can you overclock the latest Intel platform? What will be the impact of Turbo Boost technology? What about power consumption at higher clock speeds? We will try to answer all these questions in the article.
P55: “Next BX?”
This phrase is often used to describe a new chipset or platform that has the potential to become the de facto standard, that is, to dominate all direct competitors for longer than the life cycle of a conventional product would imply. Once upon a time, the 440BX chipset that powered the second generation Pentium II became the most popular chipset, although some competitors offered better specs on paper. The BX provided a lot for its price, and journalists often recall the name of this product.
Many users are still running a Pentium 4, Pentium D or Athlon 64/X2 or even the first generation Core 2 systems - and they want to upgrade to four cores and perhaps install Windows 7. The Core i5 is one of the most attractive options in terms of price/performance ratio today, especially for users with serious overclocking ambitions.
Does the P55 platform have the potential to become the next BX? Yes and no. On the one hand, Intel will be promoting the LGA 1156 socket interface for at least a couple of years, although the pinout and electrical specifications may change. From what we know today, we can assume that the base platform will survive until 2011, and this socket will be able to install all 32nm Westmere processors. So yes, he has good prospects.
However, there are some functions that promise to become relevant soon and which the P55 platform does not support today. The first is USB 3.0. The second is SATA with a 6 Gbit/s interface. Of course, the accelerated SATA interface will only have a significant impact on flash-based SSDs and eSATA snap-ins that connect multiple drives through a single eSATA interface. But USB 3.0, it seems to us, should become a mandatory standard when it appears, since most external drives are usually limited to a throughput of only 30 MB / s due to the bottleneck of the USB 2.0 interface.
Acceleration: good speeds, but some obstacles
For our project, we used the MSI P55-GD65 motherboard, planning to overclock the entry-level Core i5-750 processor to 4.3 GHz. However, we were able to reach frequencies just above 4 GHz by disabling some important processor functions.
Choosing the best LGA 1156 processor for overclocking
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Click on the picture to enlarge.
Intel has so far released three different processors, all based on the LGA 1156 interface: the Core i5-750 at 2.66 GHz, the Core i7-860 at 2.8 GHz, and the fastest Core i7-870 at 2.93 GHz. These processors differ not only in their standard clock speed, but also in the implementation of the Turbo Boost acceleration function. The 800 series processors can accelerate individual cores more aggressively than other models. Let me give you a small table.
| Turbo Boost: available steps (within TDP/A/Temp limits) | |||||
| Processor model | Standard frequency | 4 cores active | 3 cores active | 2 cores active | 1 core active |
| Core i7-870 | 2.93 GHz | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Core i7-860 | 2.8 GHz | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Core i5-750 | 2.66 GHz | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Core i7-975 | 3.33 GHz | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Core i7-950 | 3.06 GHz | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Core i7-920 | 2.66 GHz | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Many people expect that faster processor models will overclock better, but this is not always confirmed in practice. Since the cores of all existing LGA 1156 processors are the same, we decided to first analyze the prices. And the price when purchasing in a batch of 1000 pieces from the Core i7-870 is $562. We think this is a bit pricey for enthusiasts looking for the best price/performance ratio, so we decided to look at the remaining models: the Core-i7-860 for $284 and the i5-750 for $196.
Since in our review at the time of the processor's launch and related articles we usually used faster models, we initially decided to take an entry-level processor in the overclocking project. Indeed, this model will be the most attractive to most of our readers.
We'll start with a stock clock speed of 2.66 GHz, and this model's Turbo Boost implementation can increase the clock speed to a maximum of 3.2 GHz. Since the Core i7-870 tops out at 3.6GHz at maximum single-core Turbo Boost, we decided to start overclocking at 3.6GHz and then see what the highest frequency the most affordable Core i5 processor can reach.
Platform Description
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Click on the picture to enlarge.
On the Internet you can find many results of successful overclocking of different platforms on the LGA 1156 architecture (there are also results that are best avoided; we provided additional details in review of entry-level motherboards based on the P55 chipset). All major motherboard manufacturers consider the P55 chipset to be a key product, so they all invest a lot of money in development. We've already used three different P55 chipset motherboards in article dedicated to the release of the processor, so for overclocking we decided to take the flagship model MSI P55-GD65. There is also a P55-GD80 model on the market, which has a larger heatpipe cooling system, as well as three x16 PCI Express 2.0 slots instead of two. However, the three P55-GD80 slots are limited to 16, 8 and 4 lanes, while the P55-GD65 operates in 16 and 8 lane configurations.
MSI has implemented a seven-phase dynamic voltage regulator, a heatpipe cooling system and many other features that motherboard manufacturers usually install on models for overclockers. One small feature that sets this MSI board apart from many others is the OC Genie Overclocking System, a simple solution that automatically overclocks your system by increasing the base frequency once activated. MSI claims that the system manages all the necessary settings itself, but this feature requires high-quality platform components. But for this review, we decided to abandon all the unusual features and chose the traditional overclocking method.
We installed the latest BIOS, which allows us to disable Intel Overspeed protection, and then began our overclocking project. The largest multiplier we could select corresponded to the maximum Turbo Boost mode with four cores active - that is, one step above the default 20x (21 x 133 = 2.8 GHz). We got a higher clock speed by increasing the base frequency to 215 MHz.
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Click on the picture to enlarge.
The i5-750's stock voltage is 1.25V - and with it we were able to achieve exactly the same maximum clock speed that Intel specifies for the Core i7-870 processor with maximum Turbo Boost mode with a single core: 3.6 GHz.
3.6 GHz idle.
3.6 GHz - memory settings.
The result is quite impressive, but we didn't expect anything less. We were able to overclock Core i7 processors on the LGA 1366 socket in exactly the same way without raising the voltage too much.
3.7 GHz idle.
3.7 GHz under load.
3.7 GHz - memory settings.
We reached the 3.8 GHz frequency without any problems. However, we had to increase the voltage in the BIOS from 1.25 to 1.32 V.
3.8 GHz idle.
3.8 GHz under load.
3.8 GHz - memory settings.
3.9 GHz idle.
3.9 GHz under load.
3.9 GHz - memory settings.
4.0 GHz idle.
4.0 GHz under load.
4.0 GHz - memory settings.
We were able to reach 4.0 GHz with a further increase in voltage to 1.45 V. We also increased the PCH chipset voltage (P55) to ensure stability, but our first problems did not manifest themselves until 4.1 GHz.
Remember that it was the 1.45 V voltage that turned out to be problematic when we carried out tests of inexpensive motherboards. Three P55 models (ASRock, ECS and MSI) failed. We plan to release a story next week in which we will look at the steps each manufacturer has taken to address the identified deficiencies.
4.1 GHz idle.
4.1 GHz under load.
4.1 GHz - memory settings.
We were able to run the Core i5-750 at 4.1 GHz with the BIOS Vcore set to 1.465 V, but the system was unable to return from peak load to idle without crashing. Further increasing the processor or platform voltage did not help either. We were able to further increase clock speeds when we turned off C-state support in the BIOS.
Unfortunately, the power consumption of the system after this step in idle mode increased by a significant 34 W. Of course, we were able to achieve higher clock speeds, but we also had clear evidence that it is better to keep the processor in the lowest possible idle state, so that transistors and entire functional blocks are turned off when they are not needed.
4.2 GHz idle.
4.2 GHz under load.
4.2 GHz - memory settings.
To achieve stable operation at 4.2 GHz, we had to increase the voltage to 1.52 V.
4.3 GHz idle.
4.3 GHz under load.
4.3 GHz - memory settings.
By increasing the voltage of our Core i5-750 to 1.55 V, we were able to reach 4.3 GHz, but this setting no longer made a difference. The system was stable enough to run Fritz tests and take CPU-Z readings, but we were unable to complete the entire suite of tests. However, we still don't recommend this setting for everyday use, as power consumption in idle mode increases to 127 W. Let's see what level of performance we can get after overclocking to 4.2 GHz, and how such a frequency will affect efficiency.
Table of clock frequencies and voltages
| Overclocking Core i5-750 | 3600 MHz | 3700 MHz | 3800 MHz |
| Factor | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| 74 W | 75 W | 77 W | |
| 179 W | 190 W | 198 W | |
| BIOS Vcore | 1.251 V | 1.301 V | 1.32 V |
| CPU-Z VT | 1.208 V | 1.256 V | 1.264 V |
| CPU VTT | 1.101 V | 1.149 V | 1.149 V |
| PCH | 1.81 W | 1.81 W | 1.85 W |
| Memory | 1.651 V | 1.651 V | 1.651 V |
| Fritz Chess test results | 10 408 | 10 698 | 10 986 |
| C-states | Included | Included | Included |
| Stable work | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Overclocking Core i5-750 | 3900 MHz | 4000 MHz | 4200 MHz |
| Factor | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| System power consumption when idle | 78 W | 79 W | 125 W |
| System power consumption under load | 221 W | 238 W | 270 W |
| BIOS Vcore | 1.37 V | 1.45 V | 1.52 V |
| CPU-Z VT | 1.344 V | 1.384 V | 1.432 V |
| CPU VTT | 1.203 V | 1.25 V | 1.303 V |
| PCH | 1.9 W | 1.9 W | 1.9 W |
| Memory | 1.651 V | 1.651 V | 1.651 V |
| Fritz Chess test results | 11 266 | 11 506 | 12 162 |
| C-states | Included | Included | Off |
| Stable work | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Overclocking Core i5-750 | 4100 MHz | 4100 MHz | 4300 MHz |
| Factor | 20 | 20 | 20 |
| System power consumption when idle | 80 W | 114 W | 127 W |
| System power consumption under load | 244 W | 244 W | 282 W |
| BIOS Vcore | 1.465 V | 1.463 V | 1.55 V |
| CPU-Z VT | 1.384 V | 1.384 V | 1.456 V |
| CPU VTT | 1.25 V | 1.25 V | 1.318 V |
| PCH | 1.9 W | 1.9 W | 1.9 W |
| Memory | 1.651 V | 1.651 V | 1.651 V |
| Fritz Chess test results | 11 785 | 11 842 | 12 359 |
| C-states | Included | Off | Off |
| Stable work | No | Yes | No |
Test configuration
| System hardware | |
| Performance tests | |
| Motherboard (Socket LGA 1156) | MSI P55-GD65 (Rev. 1.0), chipset: Intel P55, BIOS: 1.42 (09/08/2009) |
| CPU Intel I | Intel Core i5-750 (45 nm, 2.66 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 and 8 MB L3, TDP 95 W, Rev. B1) |
| CPU Intel II | Intel Core i7-870 (45 nm, 2.93 GHz, 4 x 256 KB L2 and 8 MB L3, TDP 95 W, Rev. B1) |
| DDR3 memory (two channels) | 2 x 2 GB DDR3-1600 (Corsair CM3X2G1600C9DHX) 2 x 1 GB DDR3-2000 (OCZ OCZ3P2000EB1G) |
| Cooler | Thermalright MUX-120 |
| Video card | Zotac Geforce GTX 260², GPU: Geforce GTX 260 (576 MHz), memory: 896 MB DDR3 (1998 MHz), stream processors: 216, shader frequency: 1242 MHz |
| HDD | Western Digital VelociRaptor, 300 GB (WD3000HLFS), 10,000 rpm, SATA/300, 16 MB cache |
| Blu-ray drive | LG GGW-H20L, SATA/150 |
| power unit | PC Power & Cooling, Silencer 750EPS12V 750 W |
| System software and drivers | |
| operating system | Windows Vista Enterprise Version 6.0 x64, Service Pack 2 (Build 6000) |
| Intel Chipset Drivers | Chipset Installation Utility Ver. 9.1.1.1015 |
| Intel Storage Subsystem Drivers | Matrix Storage Drivers Ver. 8.8.0.1009 |
Tests and settings
| 3D games | |
| Far Cry 2 | Version: 1.0.1 Far Cry 2 Benchmark Tool Video Mode: 1280x800 Direct3D 9 Overall Quality: Medium Bloom activated HDR off Demo: Ranch Small |
| GTA IV | Version: 1.0.3 Video Mode: 1280x1024 - 1280x1024 - Aspect Ratio: Auto - All options: Medium - View Distance: 30 - Detail Distance: 100 - Vehicle Density: 100 - Shadow Density: 16 - Definition: On - Vsync: Off Ingame Benchmark |
| Left 4 Dead | Version: 1.0.0.5 Video Mode: 1280x800 Game Settings - Anti Aliasing none - Filtering Trilinear - Wait for vertical sync disabled - Shader Detail Medium -Effect Detail Medium - Model/Texture Detail Medium Demo: THG Demo 1 |
| iTunes | Version: 8.1.0.52 Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min. Convert to AAC audio format |
| Lame MP3 | Version 3.98 Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min convert WAV to MP3 audio format Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kbps) |
| TMPEG 4.6 | Version: 4.6.3.268 Video: Terminator 2 SE DVD (720x576, 16:9) 5 Minutes Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, 6-channel, English Advanced Acoustic Engine MP3 Encoder (160 Kbps, 44.1 KHz) |
| DivX 6.8.5 | Version: 6.8.5 == Main Menu == default == Codec Menu == Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading Enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search == Video Menu == Quantization: MPEG-2 |
| XviD 1.2.1 | Version: 1.2.1 Other Options/Encoder Menu - Display encoding status = off |
| Main concept Reference 1.6.1 | Version: 1.6.1 MPEG-2 to MPEG-2 (H.264) MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2) Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2-channel, 16-bit, 224 Kbps) Codec: H.264 Mode: PAL (25 FPS) Profile: Settings for eight threads |
| Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 | Version: 4.0 WMV 1920x1080 (39 sec) Export: Adobe Media Encoder == Video == H.264 Blu-ray 1440x1080i 25 High Quality Encoding Passes: one Bitrate Mode: VBR Frame: 1440x1080 Frame Rate: 25 == Audio == PCM Audio, 48 kHz, Stereo Encoding Passes: one |
| Grisoft AVG Anti Virus 8 | Version: 8.5.287 Virus base: 270.12.16/2094 Benchmark Scan: some compressed ZIP and RAR archives |
| Winrar 3.9 | Version 3.90 x64 BETA 1 Compression = Best Benchmark: THG-Workload |
| Winzip 12 | Version 12.0 (8252) WinZIP Commandline Version 3 Compression = Best Dictionary = 4096KB Benchmark: THG-Workload |
| Autodesk 3D Studio Max 2009 | Version: 9 x64 Rendering Dragon Image Resolution: 1920x1280 (frame 1-5) |
| Adobe Photoshop CS 4 (64-Bit) | Version: 11 Filtering a 16MB TIF (15000x7266) Filters: Radial Blur (Amount: 10; Method: zoom; Quality: good), Shape Blur (Radius: 46 px; custom shape: Trademark sysmbol), Median (Radius: 1px), Polar Coordinates (Rectangular to Polar) |
| Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional | Version: 9.0.0 (Extended) == Printing Preferred Menu == Default Settings: Standard == Adobe PDF Security - Edit Menu == Encrypt all documents (128-bit RC4) Open Password: 123 Permissions Password: 321 |
| Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 | Version: 2007 SP2 PPT to PDF Powerpoint Document (115 Pages) Adobe PDF-Printer |
| Deep Fritz 11 | Version: 11 Fritz Chess Benchmark Version 4.2 |
| Synthetic tests | |
| 3DMark Vantage | Version: 1.02 Options: Performance Graphics Test 1 Graphics Test 2 CPU Test 1 CPU Test 2 |
| Version: 1.00 PCMark Benchmark Memories Benchmark |
|
| SiSoftware Sandra 2009 | Version: 2009 SP3 Processor Arithmetic, Cryptography, Memory Bandwith |
All the games we tested showed impressive benefits. Left 4 Dead scales especially well with clock speed. 3DMark Vantage doesn't run much faster because it's a test that relies more on graphics performance.
Application performance also improves significantly after overclocking.
The same can be said about audio and video encoding tests. Higher processor clock speeds have a noticeable effect.
System power consumption remains virtually unchanged even if you increase the processor frequency and voltage. The processor's power-saving features provide excellent power efficiency by turning off blocks and cores when they are not needed. However, we had to disable C-state support to overclock the processor above 4 GHz, a move that had a noticeable impact on system idle power consumption.
The difference in energy consumption at peak load is also noticeable. Power consumption almost doubles when moving from 2.66 to 4.2 GHz. Of course, performance does not double, meaning system efficiency will suffer from overclocking.
Total energy consumed per PCMark Vantage run (Wh).
Average power consumption per PCMark Vantage run (power, W).
Efficiency: result in points per average power consumption in watts.
As you might expect, stock clock speeds with Turbo Mode active provide the best efficiency (performance per watt). Increasing clock speeds and voltages in the old-fashioned way improves performance, but increases power consumption even further. If you need an efficient machine, then it is better to avoid serious overclocking.
Our expectations for productivity gains were high but realistic. Intel's Nehalem architecture is unparalleled in terms of performance per clock today; we expected it to scale nicely with each megahertz added to the clock speed. In fact, our MSI P55-GD65 motherboard-based test system delivered a significant and almost linear increase in performance all the way up to 4GHz, where we had to turn off the processor's internal power-saving system (C-states) to reach the maximum clock speed. Of course, we don't recommend taking this step if you want to keep power consumption low during idle mode.
Knowing that there are many examples on the Internet demonstrating 4.5 GHz and above, our results seem disappointing. But remember that we used Intel's entry-level Core i5-750 processor in this project, which has a stock clock speed of 2.66 GHz. If we take the reasonable maximum of 4 GHz, we still get a clock speed increase of 1.33 GHz, or 50 percent. Additionally, we didn't care too much about the choice of cooling system. The Thermalright MUX-120 air cooler performed well, but liquid or more powerful air solutions can give even higher overclocking limits.
The Core i5-750 is a great processor for overclocking, but you still shouldn't get too carried away with the process to avoid excessive power consumption. Yes, you can get 4.2GHz frequencies similar to many LGA 1366 platforms, which have about the same overclocking potential - and for a lot less. But, again, we can't help but notice that the usual "rough" overclocking is no longer as attractive as it used to be.
Intel today is changing the very concept of overclocking, as it is changing processor specifications from clock speed to thermal package. As long as the processor does not exceed certain thermal and electrical thresholds, it can run as fast as possible. In fact, it is precisely this model that future AMD and Intel processors may be based on. The Core i5 processor and our overclocking project clearly show that static frequencies are no longer so interesting. What really matters is the clock speed range and thermal/electrical limits within which the processor can operate. And overclocking in the future may be about changing those limits rather than hitting any maximum clock speed.
We don't know if the P55 platform can be called the "next BX", but the Core i5/i7 processors for Intel's new LGA 1156 interface have great practical value whether you overclock them or not.
At present, the opinion has already been established, formed under the influence of system requirements, that a productive desktop computer focused on modern demanding games should have a powerful quad-core processor and a high-performance video card of the latest generation, and often a pair of video cards. However, given the prices for new processor models, such a computer can cost a pretty penny. For example: the most affordable processor of the latest generation, Intel Core i7-920, at the time of writing, costs more than $300. An entry-level motherboard based on the Intel X58 Express chipset (more details in the ASUS P6T review) compatible with this processor will cost about $200, and a modest three-channel RAM kit from $75. In total, for the combination “processor + motherboard + memory” you will need to pay an amount that is enough to buy a full-fledged ready-made computer based on AMD products, and the processor in such an assembly will also be quad-core, and the video card will be of the latest generation. To resolve this incident, Intel, whose brainchild the above proposed “expensive” system is, presented, in its opinion, more affordable proposals: Intel Core i7-860; Intel Core i7-870 and Intel Core i5-750 on the same Nehalem microarchitecture. Also, to reduce the cost of the finished system, the new Intel P55 Express system logic was introduced (more details in the GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2 review), on the basis of which you can create more affordable motherboards than on the Intel X58 compatible with the Intel Core i7-920. In this review, we will try to figure out how much more accessible high-performance solutions from Intel have become, and indeed, have they remained high-performance? We will judge by the Intel Core i5-750 processor, which at the time of writing is offered at a price of about $240 and is the most affordable offer on the revolutionary Nehalem microarchitecture.
Package
The CPU-Z program, although the latest version 1.52.1, is inherently unable to convey all the information about the capabilities of the processor. The fact is that the Intel Core i5-750 contains several innovative technologies that can only be seen during system operation, and a screenshot of the program can display the state of affairs only at one point in time. Naturally, all innovations will be examined and analyzed in detail, but a little later, since it is simply impossible to describe such a volume of information in one paragraph. At this stage, it should be noted that the processor in nominal mode operates at a frequency of 2.66 GHz, the voltage supplied by the motherboard in the “AUTO” mode is 1.232 V (with Turbo Boost technology enabled 1.304 V). It is also worth noting the QPI value of 2.4 GHz, which indicates the frequency of the bus of the same name. This bus, one might say, plays the role of an FSB, by analogy with processors for the Socket LGA 775 platform. However, unlike the “classic” FSB, which connected the processor with the north bridge of the motherboard, the QPI bus connects the processor core with the RAM controller and the bus controller PCI-E, it is noteworthy that the latter are built into the processor, and the northbridge is completely absent in Socket LGA 1156 motherboards.
To better understand the above image and innovations in the Socket LGA 1156 platform, you should track the evolution of Intel platforms and changes in the corresponding processors.
We should start with the Socket LGA 775 platform, which appeared on the market as a result of the improvement of Pentium 4 series processors. But it makes no sense to consider all stages of evolution, so let’s start with the still popular Intel P45 chipset today.
As can be seen from the block diagram of the Intel P45 chipset, the processor communicates with the north bridge (MCH) via the FSB bus (with a bandwidth of 10.6 GB/s). The north bridge, in turn, is capable of communicating with two channels of RAM (bandwidth 6.5 GB/s when using DDR2 or 12.5 GB/s with DDR3 modules), the south bridge (ICH) via the DMI bus (2 GB/s) and one PCI-E x16 v2.0 port or two PCI-E x8 v2.0 ports.
In such an “assembly” all elements are balanced and do not infringe on each other, with the exception of the limitation on PCI-E lines. The two video cards will operate in x8 mode instead of x16 and will lose a little performance due to the halving of the PCI-E x16 v2.0 port bandwidth.
The Intel X48 chipset is the latest and most productive for the Socket LGA 775 platform. It differs from the Intel P45 in the presence of as many as two PCI-E x16 v2.0 lanes, which, when using two video cards with the appropriate interfaces, will not be “impaired” in performance, because the bandwidth The PCI-E x16 v 2.0 port capacity is 5 GB/s.
Processors with the Nehalem microarchitecture brought with them the Intel X58 chipset and the Socket LGA 1366 platform, which over the years have rearranged the layout of the controllers. From now on, the memory controller has moved into the processor itself (similar to AMD solutions), thereby allowing the latter to communicate with the memory bypassing the north bridge. The processor itself began to communicate with the northbridge via the QPI bus. Its throughput is 25.6 GB/s, which is twice as much as that of the Socket LGA 775 platform (in the best case scenario, the FSB bus can provide a throughput of 12.8 GB/s). The north bridge, in turn, provided two PCI-E x16 v2.0 ports and communicated with the south bridge via the DMI bus. This arrangement of “forces” made it possible to more fully use a video system consisting of two video adapters with a PCI-E x16 v2.0 connection interface, a disk subsystem consisting of at least ten drives, a pair of network adapters, a powerful sound card, etc.
Such features could not be cheap, so it is not surprising that a set of a motherboard and a Socket LGA 1366 platform processor will cost about $500.
This is why Intel recently announced the “people’s” Nehalem and the accompanying Socket LGA 1156 platform with the only chipset supporting the Intel P55 Express.
Yes, the Intel P55 chipset is not full of “cosmic numbers”, but the absence of a north bridge is immediately noticeable. In the Socket LGA 1366 platform, the northbridge, by and large, served only as a QPI => 2xPCI-E x16 v2.0 + DMI switch. Moving it, after the memory controller, into the processor itself was simply a revolutionary move. Now the processor communicates with the RAM and video card practically without “intermediaries,” which will naturally affect the performance of the system as a whole. But, since the Socket LGA 1156 platform was released under the slogan: “people's Nehalem,” there are also some simplifications in comparison with the Socket LGA 1366 platform.
Firstly, the memory controller lost one channel and became dual-channel, like the Socket LGA 775 platform, but did not undergo any other changes, as evidenced by the Memory tab of the CPU-Z program. In all cases (using Intel Core i7-920 and Intel Core i7-860 processors), the timings and operating frequencies were the same.
Secondly, the number of PCI-E bus lanes was reduced to 16, which returned the video system throughput to the level of the Intel P45 chipset (one PCI-E x16 v2.0 or two PCI-E x8 v2.0).
Returning to the main topic, I would like to note that when buying a processor, you now have to, willy-nilly, buy part of the chipset (northbridge), which we discussed a little higher. Let's not forget about the processor characteristics itself, which are not limited to the clock frequency and QPI bus.
The Caches tab revealed to us the identity of both the volume and organization of the cache memory of the Intel Core i5-750 and Intel Core i7-9*0, and Intel Core i7-8*0 processors.
For a more clear comparison of all the above changes, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the following table, which presents the most “bright” models of all four generations.
|
Kernel codename |
||||
|
Number of cores, pcs |
||||
|
Clock frequency, GHz |
||||
|
Level 1 cache, MB |
||||
|
L2 cache, MB |
||||
|
Level 3 cache, MB |
||||
|
Multiplier (nominal) |
||||
|
System bus, MHz / GB/s |
||||
|
Technical process, nm |
||||
|
Power dissipation, W |
||||
|
Supply voltage, V |
0,8500 – 1,3625 |
|||
|
Maximum memory capacity, GB |
||||
|
Memory type, MHz |
determined by chipset |
DDR3-800/1066/1333 |
DDR3-800/1066/1333 |
|
|
Number of memory channels, pcs |
||||
|
Crystal dimensions, mm |
||||
|
Crystal area, mm 2 |
||||
|
Number of transistors, million pieces |
||||
|
Platform, Socket |
||||
|
Virtualization technology |
||||
|
Turbo Boost Mode |
||||
|
Multiplier for a single-threaded task / final clock frequency, MHz |
||||
|
Multiplier for a two-threaded task / final clock frequency, MHz |
||||
|
Multiplier for three-threaded and four-threaded tasks / final clock frequency, MHz |
||||
|
Hyper-Threading Technology |
Speaking of the Intel Core i5-750, we see an updated implementation of the Nehalem architecture, which involves the use of a high-speed QPI bus and communication with RAM and a video adapter without any “intermediaries,” which is a definite plus, not to mention a more pleasant price. Moreover, motherboards for this processor cost only a little over ~$100 (for example, GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2). This platform is noticeably more affordable than a combination of Intel Core i7-920 and even an inexpensive motherboard based on the Intel X58 chipset.
But the good news does not end on these optimistic notes. Intel Turbo Boost technology is simply revolutionary. And its version, which was implemented in the Intel Core i7-9*0 line of processors, simply looks frivolous compared to the implementation of the latter in the Intel Core i7-8*0 and Intel Core i5-7*0 line. Let us recall that processors of the Intel Core i7-9*0 line, when activating Intel Turbo Boost technology, could dynamically (independently) increase their multiplier by one, thereby increasing the clock frequency of all cores by 133 MHz. Here's what the new interpretation of this technology looks like:
When a processor performs a single-threaded task, it on one's own changes its multiplier from 20 (clock frequency 2.66 MHz) to 24 and ultimately gets the resulting clock frequency of one of the cores 3200 MHz, which is 540 (!) MHz is higher than nominal. What is this if not legalized overclocking? For some games where, due to the use of an old-style engine, only one core is used, this processor mode will be a real gift. Further, technicians and marketers apparently decided that single-threaded tasks are nothing more than an antiquity, and it was a long time ago, and in general it’s not true. But two-threaded tasks, i.e. optimized for dual-core processors are precisely a ubiquitous relic of the past. So why not speed up the work of two-threaded tasks? Therefore, when loading only two cores, the processor independently increases the multiplier, as in the first case, from 20 to 24, which ultimately makes it possible for two cores to operate at the same coveted clock frequency of 3.2 GHz (!) . Fabulous!
Operation of Intel Turbo Boost processor
To test the operation of Intel Turbo Boost technology, the processor was initially started in nominal mode without turning it on. The specialized program CPUID TMonitor monitored the operation of all cores separately.
As can be seen from the screenshot of the CPU-Z program, all cores operate at the standard x20 multiplier and remain in this mode regardless of the load. But this is not entirely true and you should not trust the CPU-Z program from now on. The Enhanced Halt State (C1E) power saving technology in idle mode reduced the clock frequency to 1200 MHz on all processor cores and this is already the true value, which the CPUID TMonitor program modestly proved to us.
The next step in the motherboard BIOS was disabled three cores for a more visual and unambiguous representation of the operation of Intel Turbo Boost. To put it simply, the Intel Core i5-750 processor has been converted to a single-core processor, and Intel Turbo Boost technology has been activated.
From the very beginning and without stopping, the processor worked at 3.2 GHz, regardless of the level and complexity of the task.
By switching the Intel Core i5-750 processor to dual-core mode (disabling two cores in the BIOS), the effect was similar to the previous one. Regardless of the type of task, both cores operated at 3.2 GHz. Fritz Chess Benchmark, running in dual-threaded mode, served as an excellent test suite.
Next, it's time to run the Intel Core i5-750 processor at full power. With all four cores enabled, he was given a clean single-threaded task using Fritz Chess Benchmark. To our great surprise, Intel Turbo Boost technology not only worked clearly and without any “jags”, increasing the multiplier of one core to x21, but also cleverly transferred the task from one core to another.
Deciding to repeat the previous experience, the once popular Super Pi program was adopted. The result turned out to be completely identical. Intel Turbo Boost technology still cleverly played with a single-threaded process, transferring it from a relatively more loaded core to an idle one. If the operating system, for personal needs, loaded one of the cores with the execution of some system service, then the Super Pi process “quickly jumped” to a freer core.
To be sure, the experiment was repeated a third time. Now the Lame Explorer utility, which is a shell for the corresponding codec, was taken as the “load”. Once again we were pleased with the effect! One of the cores serving compression worked properly at a clock frequency of 2.8 GHz.
No matter how much I would like to move on to testing on this optimistic note, there was still a “fly in the ointment” in this “barrel of honey”...
Cooling and power consumption
Important performance characteristics of the processor, and the entire system, of course, are power consumption and heat dissipation. It is doubly interesting to check the performance characteristics, because the processor under study has a declared thermal package of up to 95 W, and is equipped with a rather modest cooler. Therefore, we measured the power consumption of the entire system and the temperature of the Intel Core i5-750 in various modes using a “boxed” cooler and an ASUS Maximus III Formula motherboard.
|
Core supply voltage, V |
Core clock frequency, MHz |
Energy consumption of the system as a whole, Watt |
CPU heating, C° |
|
|
Idle, Intel Turbo Boost Technology disabled |
||||
|
Under load, Intel Turbo Boost technology disabled |
||||
|
Under load, Intel Turbo Boost Technology enabled |
As a result, we got very interesting results. Firstly, it is worth paying attention to power consumption - 165 watts at the very peak of load seems an implausibly small value. This is exactly how the architectural features of this platform affect it. After all, the main consumer is now the processor, which also acts as the north bridge, and the Intel P55 Express chipset consumes only 5 W. It also uses cost-effective DDR3 RAM. As a result, if you subtract all low-consuming components from the total power consumption of 165 W, it turns out that more than half of the energy is “eaten up” by the processor. And it is from the processor that the cooler will have to dissipate this energy in the form of heat.
Secondly, when using a “boxed” cooler, we recorded significant heating of the Intel Core i5-750 processor. Moreover, the system was assembled in a fairly well-ventilated CODEGEN M603 MidiTower case with a pair of 120 mm intake/exhaust fans. This is the “fly in the ointment”. When the processor was operating at maximum load, even with Intel Turbo Boost technology deactivated, its temperature exceeded the stated maximum of 72.7 C°. To be confident in the measurement results, we carried out repeated tests with different motherboards. The result turned out to be approximately the same, but with one caveat - different motherboards set the core supply voltage differently in the “AUTO” mode, although not in a very wide range. Depending on the supply voltage, there was a dependence on power consumption and processor heating, but with not a very large scatter. Thus, the advisability of using a “boxed” cooler, as well as its presence in the package, is doubtful. That is why the supplied “boxed” cooler E41759-002 was replaced with Scythe Kama Angle.
During testing we used Processor Test Stand No. 1
| Motherboards (AMD) | ASUS M3A32-MVP DELUXE (AMD 790FX, sAM2+, DDR2, ATX)GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P (AMD 790X, sAM3, DDR3, ATX) |
| Motherboards (AMD) | ASUS F1A75-V PRO (AMD A75, sFM1, DDR3, ATX)ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX (AMD 990FX, sAM3+, DDR3, ATX) |
| Motherboards (Intel) | GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P (Intel P45, LGA 775, DDR2, ATX)GIGABYTE GA-EX58-DS4 (Intel X58, LGA 1366, DDR3, ATX) |
| Motherboards (Intel) | ASUS Maximus III Formula (Intel P55, LGA 1156, DDR3, ATX)MSI H57M-ED65 (Intel H57, LGA 1156, DDR3, mATX) |
| Motherboards (Intel) | ASUS P8Z68-V PRO (Intel Z68, sLGA1155, DDR3, ATX)ASUS P9X79 PRO (Intel X79, sLGA2011, DDR3, ATX) |
| Coolers | Noctua NH-U12P + LGA1366 KitScythe Kama Angle rev.B (LGA 1156/1366)ZALMAN CNPS12X (LGA 2011) |
| RAM | 2x DDR2-1200 1024 MB Kingston HyperX KHX9600D2K2/2G2/3x DDR3-2000 1024 MB Kingston HyperX KHX16000D3T1K3/3GX |
| Video cards | EVGA e-GeForce 8600 GTS 256 MB GDDR3 PCI-EASUS EN9800GX2/G/2DI/1G GeForce 9800 GX2 1GB GDDR3 PCI-E 2.0 |
| HDD | Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS, 500 GB, SATA-300, NCQ |
| power unit | Seasonic SS-650JT, 650 W, Active PFC, 80 PLUS, 120 mm fan |
Choose what you want to compare Intel Core i5-750 with
Alas, the miracle did not happen... Although there was hope for the Intel Core i5-750 thanks to Intel Turbo Boost technology, synthetic tests showed another “vinaigrette” of results, giving preference either to one of the models - representatives of the Nehalem generation, or to the already outdated Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550. The AMD Phenom II X4 955 was a complete fiasco in synthetic tests, despite its clock frequency of 3.2 GHz and a total cache size of 8 MB, just like the Nehalem representatives.
Game tests showed a more linear picture. Resource-intensive games Word in Conflict, Far Cray 2 and Race Driver:GRID gave preference to representatives of the Nehalem architecture, placing them according to price requests. The now “outdated” Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 lags behind the top three quite significantly, although it is in a higher price category than the Intel Core i5-750. The exception was the demo version of Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X., which gave preference to the AMD Phenom II X4 955 and Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550. In her opinion, Intel Core i5-750, Intel Core i7-860 and even Intel Core i7-920 have insufficient performance. Apparently, this application is primarily important to the processor clock speed.
In general, given the cost of the new Intel Core i5-750 processors, they quite successfully compete with junior solutions for the LGA1366 platform and older processors for LGA775. Therefore, when equipping a new productive system, you should pay attention to the LGA1156 platform.
The Efficiency of Intel Turbo Boost Technology
Having received not quite the test results that were expected, it was decided to evaluate the effectiveness of Intel Turbo Boost technology in terms of its impact on performance.
|
Test package |
Result |
Productivity gain, % |
||
|
Rendering |
||||
|
Shading, |
||||
|
DirectX 9, High, fps |
||||
|
DirectX 10, Very High, fps |
||||
Oddly enough, the average performance increase in all test programs and games was only 2.38%, but it was completely free and without a noticeable increase in power consumption. Let's assume that this became possible due to a mismatch in the type of load, because to enable the mechanism for increasing the multiplier from x20 to x24, a strictly single-threaded or dual-threaded load is required. Achieving this from test programs turned out to be extremely problematic. But even under such conditions there is some acceleration, resulting in 1-6% additional performance. Therefore, we recommend that you do not forget to activate Intel Turbo Boost technology in the BIOS.
Overclocking
Method for overclocking Intel Core i5-750 processors; Intel Core i7-860 and Intel Core i8-870 (Socket LGA 1156 platform, Lynnfield core) are slightly different from the Intel Core i7-920 line (Socket LGA 1366 platform, Bloomfield core). The fact is that the ratio of the BCLK frequency (similar to the FSB on the Socket LGA 775 platform) and the RAM frequency is set by the corresponding multiplier, which can take a value from x2 to x6. Thus, the processor operating in normal mode (without overclocking) can theoretically work with memory, the frequency sometimes ranges from 533 MHz (133 * 2 * 2) to 1600 MHz (133 * 6 * 2). In turn, this makes it possible to overclock the processor to the desired level without using too high-frequency, and as a result, expensive memory. For example: when overclocking a processor to 4.0 GHz, you will need to increase the BCLK frequency from 133 (2660 / 20) MHz to 200 (4000 / 20) MHz, but in this case it is theoretically possible to use memory with a frequency of 800 MHz (200 * 2 * 2 ) up to 2400 MHz (200*6*2).
The processor that came to us for testing was overclocked to 4209 MHz (BCLK - 210 MHz) with a supply voltage of 1,440 V, which in percentage terms is 58% of the “additive” relative to the standard mode. Further overclocking was limited by the stability of the system, i.e. The operating system could also start with a processor frequency of 4.5 GHz, but it and the applications worked with errors. If this were a Socket LGA 775 platform, then this result would become a record, but for now this is just an isolated fact, many of which make up statistics. For comparison, the previously tested Intel Core i7-860 was able to overclock to 4074 MHz (BCLK - 194 MHz) with a supply voltage of 1.296 V; The Intel Core i7-920 conquered the frequency of 3990 MHz (BCLK - 190 MHz) with a supply voltage of 1,360 V, and the Intel Core i7-940 was able to show stable operation at a frequency of 3910 MHz (BCLK - 170 MHz) with a supply voltage of 1,296 V.
|
Test package |
Result |
Productivity gain, % |
||
|
Rated frequency |
Overclocked processor |
|||
|
Rendering |
||||
|
Shading, |
||||
|
Fritz Chess Benchmark v.4.2, knodes/s |
||||
|
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Demo, High, 1280x1024, AA2x |
||||
|
DirectX 9, High, fps |
||||
|
DirectX 10, Very High, fps |
||||
The average increase in test programs was 37,9 %. Comparing again with the Intel Core i7-860, Intel Core i7-920 and Intel Core i7-940, which showed an increase in performance when overclocked 28,7% , 18,8% And 13,8% , the acceleration result of the Intel Core i5-750 can be described as extremely high. Judging by the capabilities of processors targeted at the Socket LGA 775 and AM3 platforms, the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 and AMD Phenom II X4 955 “accelerated” due to overclocking 18% And 13% respectively. Therefore, we can say that the Intel Core i5-750 processor has a very high overclocking potential, which provides the opportunity to get a lot of “free performance”.
Features of the memory controller built into the processor
Updating the location of the memory controller could not but affect its properties. That is why we will test all possible memory operating modes and evaluate changes in performance.
The first thing that came to mind was to fill all the motherboard slots for memory. Four memory sticks were installed in four slots, the same type as was used in testing.
It’s worth noting right away that neither the frequency nor the timings of the modules have changed their values, but the Command Rate parameter, which characterizes the delay of the controller when executing commands, has changed its value from 1T to 2T.
The following testing will show how much such a “change” will affect performance:
|
Test package |
Result |
Change in productivity, % |
||
|
Rendering |
||||
|
Shading, |
||||
|
Fritz Chess Benchmark v.4.2, knodes/s |
||||
|
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Demo, |
||||
|
DirectX 9 |
||||
|
DirectX 10 |
||||
The performance drop is noticeable in all test programs. The average is 0.90%. Of course, this is not a lot, but, nevertheless, the conclusion is clear: due to the needs of modern games, the required amount of memory is at least 3 GB. And since two identical modules are needed to activate the Dual Channel mode, the best option would be to purchase two two-gigabyte memory sticks at once. The option “two one-gigabyte ones now and two more over time,” as you can see, is not entirely rational.
Actually, about Dual Channel and Single Channel... It is not uncommon that, due to financial difficulties, one stick of RAM is purchased, and later another one is purchased, sometimes with a capacity different from the first. We forcibly disabled Dual Channel mode by installing modules in only one channel to evaluate the performance drop in this case and obtained the following results:
|
Test package |
Result |
Decrease in productivity, % |
||
|
Rendering |
||||
|
Shading, |
||||
|
Fritz Chess Benchmark v.4.2, knodes/s |
||||
|
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Demo, |
||||
|
DirectX 9 |
||||
|
DirectX 10 |
||||
The average performance drop was only 4.49%, although in some tasks it was more noticeable. The conclusion is as simple as in the previous experience: you should not save on buying memory when switching (purchasing) to the Socket LGA 1156 platform.
The next experience was nothing more than a forced memory slowdown. This experiment was carried out in order to determine the dependence of system performance on the frequency of RAM. What if you decide to save money and buy stale DDR3-800
Thanks to the connection between BCLK and memory frequency through x2, x4 and x6 multipliers, implemented in processors of the Intel Core i5-7*0 and Intel Core i7-8*0 lines, changing the memory frequency was not difficult. The results speak for themselves:
|
Test package |
Result |
Decrease in productivity, % |
||
|
Rendering |
||||
|
Shading, |
||||
|
Fritz Chess Benchmark v.4.2, knodes/s |
||||
|
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Demo, |
||||
|
DirectX 9 |
||||
|
DirectX 10 |
||||
The average performance drop in test programs was 4.06%. This is even less than the loss of the Dual Channel mode. Of course, when performing tasks closely related to memory performance, the increase will be about 25%, but in all other applications this factor is not so significant. Thus, it is precisely on the memory frequency when purchasing a system that some savings are possible, although with dubious prospects.
Sufficient QPI bus bandwidth
And finally, I would like to check the feasibility of using the fast QPI bus, which directly connects the processor cores themselves and the memory controller with a PCI-E controller. The QPI bus was forcibly slowed down from 2400 MHz to 2133 MHz, which is a percentage reduction of -12.5%. The results of the performance changes are as follows:
|
Test package |
Result |
Decrease in productivity, % |
||
|
Rendering |
||||
|
Shading, |
||||
|
Fritz Chess Benchmark v.4.2, knodes/s |
||||
|
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. Demo, |
||||
|
DirectX 9 |
||||
|
DirectX 10 |
||||
So, with the QPI bus slowing down by 12.5%, the average performance drop was only 1.3%, which is a mere trifle. Obviously, the processors of the Intel Core i5-7*0 and Intel Core i7-8*0 lines received the high-performance QPI bus more as an “inheritance” from the processors of the Core i7-9*0 line than out of necessity. Considering that there are only three “consumers” of traffic on it (memory controller, PCI-E x16 v2.0 controller and DMI bus connecting the processor to the chipset), its bandwidth turned out to be somewhat unnecessary than necessary.
Conclusion
Intel is finally able to provide an Intel Core i5-750 processor that is affordable and worth the money spent. Firstly, the full implementation of Intel Turbo Boost technology makes the processor more flexible. Where else can you find a processor that independently increases the frequency of two cores at once by 540 (!) MHz? Secondly, its price, even taking into account some speculation about the new product, is more pleasant than that of other processors based on the Nehalem architecture, and it is even cheaper than the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 or AMD Phenom II X4 955. Thirdly, I would like to remember that even an entry-level motherboard based on the Intel P55 chipset, for example GIGABYTE GA-P55M-UD2, fully implements all the capabilities of the processor and at the same time costs only a little over $100. Thus, such a combination will be even cheaper than the average motherboard for the Socket LGA 775 platform with a processor of corresponding performance.
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In 2009, the American microprocessor manufacturer Intel presented a new model line of crystals built on the basis of modern Lynnfield architecture. The cheapest processor from this line was the Core i5 750, the technical characteristics of which were almost identical to last year’s line. Nevertheless, these crystals are very popular among users and allow solving many modern problems.
Market positioning and price range
Engineers from the innovative technology development section, when developing the LGA 1156 processor socket, divided the chip market into several categories:
— Processors of the Celeron and Penrium series. The former were intended for assembling budget system units, ideal for office tasks, while the latter had a higher level of performance, sufficient to run some modern computer games with low GUI settings. The main difference between both representatives was the amount of cache memory and clock frequency, thanks to which higher performance is achieved;
— CPUs of the Core i3 and i5 family, to which the model of the crystal discussed in our article today belongs. These processors are designed for advanced users who need increased performance. Budget models have only two physical cores, however, thanks to hyperthreading technology, capable of processing program code in four threads, these solutions are in no way inferior to similar AMD processors with 4 cores. CPU models of the Core i5 line are more powerful due to full four cores, increased cache, as well as proprietary TurboBoost technology, which provides a tremendous increase in performance when performing more complex tasks.
— Core i7 crystals are an ideal solution for enthusiasts and professionals who, due to the specifics of their activities, need powerful, productive desktop computers. These processor models have four physical cores and HyperThreading technology, thanks to which the crystal is capable of operating in eight-thread mode. In addition, this line of microprocessors has increased cache memory and increased clock speed.
Despite the fact that the CPU Core i5 750 is a representative of the mid-price range, in terms of its hardware characteristics and performance level it can easily compete with some of its older brothers. The thing is that most modern programs and computer games are designed to work with quad-core processors, so there is no noticeable difference in the process of performing various tasks between our today's hero and the flagship lines of crystals.
Factory equipment
There are two delivery options for this processor available to consumers: Tray and Box. The first option is cheaper and, in addition to the microprocessor itself, upon purchase the consumer receives a FGT, a proprietary Intel sticker that can be affixed to the system unit, and operating instructions. The Tree package is designed primarily for more advanced users who assemble a powerful system unit on their own and want to install a more powerful cooling system for their CPU. The boxed version, which is called a boxed version among ordinary people, in addition to all of the above, contains a proprietary Intel cooling fan and thermal paste to ensure better thermal conductivity between the crystal and the cooling radiator.
CPU Core i5 750 is designed to work with all motherboards developed on the basis of the LGA1156 socket. The peculiarity of this connector is that it operates on a single chip. At the time the processor went on sale, Socket LGA1156 made it possible to assemble completely different system units: from budget and simple machines to powerful gaming computers. This processor socket was popular until 2011, after which it was gradually replaced by the more modern LGA1155. Nevertheless, many users today continue to use processors and motherboards with socket 1156 due to the fact that their performance is still sufficient to solve a large number of tasks.
Technological process
Considering the fact that the CPU Core i5 750 hit store shelves in 2009, it is quite obvious that it was manufactured using a forty-five nanometer technological process, which was one of the most modern at that time. This technology made it possible to create reliable and productive processors with which there were no problems. Later, engineers from Intel developed a thirty-two nanometer technological process that made it possible to create thinner crystal wafers.
Architecture
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, the CPU Core i5 750 is designed based on four physical cores. However, support for HyperThreading technology is not provided in this model, as a result of which the processor operates in four-thread mode. However, this did not prevent the crystal from coping with the most complex tasks and working with all modern software. Therefore, if you compare it with representatives of older generation Core i7 crystals, the difference in the speed of completing tasks will be unnoticeable.
Cache memory
Like any other modern processor, the Core i5 750 has a three-level cache memory, which has the following hardware characteristics:
— The first level cache memory consists of four clusters, each of which is 64 KB, working with one computing module;
— The second-level cache memory is designed in the same way, however, the size of each block is 256 kilobytes;
— The third level cache is used by all computing modules of the processor, and the size of each cluster is 2 megabytes.
RAM memory compatibility
One of the key features of the 1156 processor socket is that engineers have completely redesigned compatibility with RAM memory modules. Among the main changes is the transfer of the north bridge, which is responsible for supplying power to the chip, and the RAM controller to the CPU, thanks to which the engineers were able to significantly increase the speed of RAM memory. As for compatibility with RAM modules, the Core i5 750 supports third-generation DDR RAM strips with a bandwidth of 1066 MB. It is worth noting that installing more expensive RAM memory that supports a higher frequency does not provide any increase in the speed of information exchange between the RAM and the microprocessor.
Thermal package and operating temperature
The thermal package of the microprocessor discussed in our article today is 95 watts. Thus, the maximum temperature of the crystal when performing complex operations does not exceed 72 degrees. The temperature in normal operation is around 45 degrees, and after overclocking it increases to 55 degrees. However, this all concerns the official information provided by the manufacturer, but how does this crystal behave in practice? Under maximum load, it is possible to bring the processor to maximum temperature only if the cooling cooler fails, or when an overclocked CPU is running resource-intensive applications on a weak cooling system.
Clock frequency
The maximum operating frequency of the Core i5 750 is 2.7 GHz, which is not used when performing everyday tasks. The chip supports innovative TurboBoost technology, which automatically adjusts the clock frequency of each core at the software level depending on the complexity of the operations being performed. When four cores are running simultaneously in four-thread mode, the peak clock frequency is 2.8 gigahertz, and when tasks are performed in 2 threads, this figure increases to 2.93 GHz. But when only one computing unit was operating, the operating frequency could increase to 3.2 gigahertz. In addition, the manufacturer supplies the crystal to stores with an unlocked multiplier, so anyone can overclock the CPU and get a thirty percent increase in performance.
Retail price and consumer reviews
Buying a CPU Core i5 750 will cost users approximately $213, which is very reasonable, since in 2009 it was possible to build a powerful gaming machine based on this crystal. Moreover, even today this CPU has not lost its relevance and copes excellently with any tasks assigned. Some problems may arise when running the latest computer games with maximum graphic effects settings, but at minimum settings this little guy provides a very comfortable gaming experience.
Conclusion
The CPU Core i5 750 from Intel became a real masterpiece of high technology in 2009, the demand for which remains to this day. This crystal will be an excellent solution for the majority of average users who do not distinguish between work and leisure, and use their computer both for office tasks and to enjoy their favorite toys. The main advantages of this model are low cost, excellent performance and low power consumption.