It must be fun having the fastest desktop processor going, as you earn the right to charge whatever premium you desire.

With competitors struggling to compete in the ultra high-end space, that’s where Intel often finds itself and its latest greatest – the Core i7 975 Extreme Edition – will arrive in stores next week with a wallet-busting price tag of around $1,130.

The chip, clocked at 3.33GHz and equipped with 8MB of L3 cache, features D0 stepping – a change that tends to suggest a refined silicon package that could result in lower power consumption and should provide greater overclocking headroom.

Although yet to be officially launched by Intel, the Core i7 975 Extreme Edition is expected to replace the existing Core i7 965 Extreme Edition and is being listed by a number of etailers – one of which suggests a U.S. launch on May 31st.

It’s mega expensive, sure, but then the fastest of them all always is. Those looking for something just a tad more palatable will note that Intel will also be introducing a second new Nehalem-based part, the Core i7 950. The not-so-extreme but still mighty quick chip will be clocked at 3.06GHz and includes 8MB of L3 cache – it’ll replace the Core i7 940, and could be yours for just $649.

Want to know just how quick the 975 Extreme Edition is before you place your order? Stay tuned for our forthcoming review.

Intel D-0 Stepping Core i7-920

The overclocking performance of D-0 Core i7-920 is superior to that of C0/C1 stepping. New stepping Core i7-920 features a few changes including S-Spec from SLBCH to SLBEJ, and the CPU ID from 0×000106A4 to 0×000106A5, so a BIOS update is required. Besides, the Ink Swatch number has been also removed.

Intel D-0 Stepping Core i7-920

D0 Core i7-920 has hit retail at AKIBA at price tag of Yen 30780 which is about $306.

Source: [AKIBA]

Although this is hardly a huge step up from the current 965XE part which is clocked at 3.2GHz, the new 975XE seems to overclock much better. Using a Gigabyte EX58-Extreme motherboard, Fugger managed to push the new CPU to 5.26GHz without any problems and with the help of a pair of Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics cards, him and his partner Mikeguava managed to break 47,000 in 3DMark 05 which is a new world record. Its likely that Fugger will achieve even higher scores with this CPU given time and it looks like all the overclockers out there will have a new toy to play with in due time. As there are other chips in circulation already, wed expect more benchmark results to pop up over the next few weeks.

Intel i7 975 ES D0 stepping
Gigabyte EX58-EXTREME
Gigabyte 4870X2 Quadfire (pure stock)
Corsair 1866C8 with Pelt cooling
K|ngp|n F1 EE Pot
750W Silencer PSU

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They did it on an Intel desktop motherboard powered by Intel’s desktop control center, something that lets you overclock from Windows. The voltage was all the way to 1.44V, whereas the chipset needed 1.21V.Host frequency clock, something that we used to call FSB speed of the machine is 144MHz, which multiplied by the 32 multiplier gives you the 4610MHz number.

The CPU temperature was at 61 degree Celsius while the CPU Voltage regulator was at 31 °C and chipset at 41 °C. The clock is much higher than the one you can score on Phenom II, but Intel’s CPU used here is much more expensive.

Nehelem, Core i7 is definitely better water overclocker than Phenom II but Phenom II still overclocks higher at 6GHz+ domains.

Intel Core i7 Overclocking - Core i7 Overclocking

No surprises with the temperatures for the 130W CPU’s especially the 965EE hitting 4GHz on a stock air cooling solution.

The voltage configuration set to Auto at first and increased the BCLK from 133 MHz to 150 MHz as a jumpstart. From there steadily increased the BCLK in increments of 5 MHz. Guys at tbreak managed to hit the wall at 180 MHz which was the limit at which we could enter Windows, but the OCCT test threw off a bit and there was no stability.

Intel Core i7 Overclocking - Core i7 Overclocking

With the bus speed down in 2 MHz decrements with stress tests at each level and success arrived at 168 MHz. Next up was the Multiplier, which hit 4 GHz on the 965EE while the 920 stayed at 3360 MHz due to its multiplier limit of 20x. Increasing the voltage wasn’t doing us any good as we weren’t able to manage a stable one hour stress test. Although, higher clocks could be possible with a better cooling solution and a lot more time.

Conclusion:

Intel Core i7 has started out as a good overclocker. Getting to the sweet spots wasn’t really difficult and all this achieved on the stock air cooling solution provided by Intel and stock core voltages. The overclocked Core i7’s do make excellent performers and those seeking not only thrills from overclocking their CPU’s are in for a ride.
source:tbreak.com

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Technical specifications are the same: 6 SATAII ports, two GB LAN controllers, 12 USB 2.0 ports, 6 PCI Express x1 slots, Intel HD audio etc. Real difference is existence of one PCI slot and no PATA connectors.At first sight Intel DX58SO is so different from any other tested motherboard and since we got technical sample we cannot comment on accessories that will be in retail package. Motherboard itself looks conservative and at the same time very contemporary. As you may already conclude, it is based on X58 chipset. This model belongs to Intel Extreme series of motherboards. Layout is drastically different from earlier models from this series. DDR3 memory slots are located on same positions as on legendary DFI NF4 LanParty Ultra-D model. There are 4 DIMM memory slots but it is not clear why Intel didn’t implement all 6 slots. Triple Channel mode for memory is achievable by inserting memory modules in blue colored DIMM slots. Fourth slot is almost useless in this configuration because it can be cause of problems with memory addressing (degradation of performances can occur), especially if we take into account integrated memory controller. Location of memory slots affected position of CPU socket that is located almost at the center of motherboard. Six-phase power unit is placed right beside CPU socket and mosfet transistors are covered with aluminum heat-spreaders. On the right are positioned 24-pin power connector and I/O Hub (IOH) that is also cooled by blue colored aluminum heat-spreader on which can be mounted 40mm transparent fan. This small fan is lighted by blue diodes and can be mounted thanks to supplied plastics clips. EPS12 connector has unusual location: at the middle of motherboard closer to right edge. We assume that this location is used because of closeness with CPU power unit so current will be more “ironed” and with less loss. Other components on motherboard have more or less standard positions.
Besides standard and many times seen options, most interesting options are those that are used for overclock. Overclock options can be found in “Processor Overrides” section while other important settings can be found in “BUS Overrides” and “Memory Overrides” sections. In BUS Overrides menu you can set voltage and basic speed of integrated memory controller and QPI bus. In Memory Overrides section can be found settings for all memory timings. Interesting detail is that only upon inserting Core i7 965 CPU we unlocked some of the options in Memory Overrides section. One of those “new” options were two additional multipliers for memory (10 and 12) besides “old” 6 and 8 values. After we plugged in “weaker” Core i7 920 CPU those options disappeared but despite that we managed to achieve stable clock for QPI of 195MHz which resulted in 3.9 GHz frequency for Core i7 920 CPU model. Very impressive! Unfortunately we didn’t manage to determine are those 195 MHz limit of motherboard or is it only for our CPU. The fact was that motherboard booted even on QPI set on 210 MHz but system was very unstable. Most surprising fact was that even with new BIOS (updated) motherboard didn’t allowed us to lower multiplier so we didn’t manage to test limits of QPI bus. Nor “regular” (920) nor EE (Extreme Edition – 965) Core i7 didn’t allowed us to lower multiplier so we think that it is “fresh” BIOS to be blamed for that and the hope remains that this “bug” will be ironed in next BIOS version.

Introduction:

It is now time for some temperature tests and to see how high these processors can be overclocked using the ASUS P6T motherboard. So it was now time to see how hot these babies got on a one hour OCCT stress test.

The bus speed is down in 2 MHz decrements with stress tests at each level and success arrived at 168 MHz. Next up was the Multiplier, which we toggled around a bit until we hit 4 GHz on the 965EE while the 920 stayed at 3360 MHz due to its multiplier limit of 20x. Increasing the voltage wasn’t doing us any good as we weren’t able to manage a stable one hour stress test. Although, higher clocks could be possible with a better cooling solution and a lot more time.

Conclusion:

From this you can say the fact that the Core i7 has started out as a good overclocker. Getting to the sweet spots wasn’t really difficult and all this achieved on the stock air cooling solution provided by Intel and stock core voltages. We feel that with better cooling and a lot more time, these processors can be taken even further to new heights.

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The new Core i7 brings with it new chipsets, motherboards, and a new LGA1366 processor socket. What sets the Core i7 processor apart from the other processors is its QuickPath Interconnect, which replaces Intel’s front side bus. This new 40-lane (20 each way), bi-directional serial link provides communication to Intel’s I/O hub and then fans out to PCI Express. The Core i7 also incorporates an integrated, triple-channel memory controller that offers over three times the memory bandwidth of the previous dual-channel controller at DDR3-1066. Intel also brought back Hyper-Threading Technology with the Core i7, which provides two logical threads per processor core, for a total of eight available processing threads in a quad core CPU.Like many enthusiast system manufacturers, Velocity Micro makes hand-built, high-end gaming rigs using the latest components, such as Intel’s Core i7 processors. Velocity Micro claims that they pride themselves on their extensive customization options, meticulous assembly procedures, a technically trained staff, and in-house US-based support. Each system is hand-assembled by expert engineers and run through extensive testing to ensure complete functionality. As you’ll see, Velocity Micro’s engineers are also appear to be very careful about how they route and tie cables to ensure optimal airflow within the chassis.

Velocity Micro offers two series of gaming rigs—the Raptor and Edge series. The Raptor is “the best of the best” with more customization and tweaking options along with higher-end specs. The Raptor line offers two models: the Raptor Signature Edition (starting at $5,499) and the Raptor Z90 (starting at $3,599). The Edge series is also geared towards serious gaming enthusiasts, but strikes a balance between high-end specs and affordability. You’ll find five models in the Edge series: the Edge Z5 (starting at $859), Edge M10 (starting at $1,099), Edge Z15 (starting at $1,499), the Edge M40 (starting at $1,699), and the Edge Z55 (starting at $2,199).

Velocity Micro added a few options to our Edge Z55 test system, bringing the cost up to $2,399. Read on to see how the Edge Z55 Intel Core i7 Gaming System faired as we put the system through the usual level of rigorous HotHardware testing and hands-on evaluation.

So, if you overclock the BCLK to high, you might end up with a bottleneck with the QPI. For those who are familiar with AM2, QPI is similar to HT on the AM2 platform. ALthough on the AMD platform you can lower the max limit of HT so that it won’t exceed a certain value. There is no such option (as yet) on Intel X58 boards for you to do that.

A ES 965 processor is tested for the max BCLK it can reach with the lowest CPU multiplier available (12x). The maximum stable BCLK that can be reached is 200MHz. (Default is 133MHz).

Here is a screen shot.