Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU BX80601920
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Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU BX80601920 Features
- Intel Core i7-920
- 4.8 Intel QuickPath Interconnect
- 3 Channel Memory
- 8MB L3 Cache
- LGA-1366 package
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU BX80601920 Technical Details
- Brand Name: Intel
- Model: BX80601920
- Processor Count: 1
- Computer Cpu Speed: 2.66 GHz
- Computer Cpu Manufacturer: Intel
- Cache Memory Installed Size: 8 MB
- Warranty: 3 years warranty
- Processor Model Number: I7-920
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Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU BX80601920
The Intel Core i7-920 processor combines the power of four 3.06 GHz computing cores into a single processor, guaranteeing enough processing power for the most demanding applications. With 8 MB of smart cache, the Core i7-920 processor ensures that you get maximum responsiveness from your system, even when several intensive programs run simultaneously. Compatible with motherboards based on the Intel X58 Express chipset, the Core i7-920 processor takes your computing and gaming experience to the next level.
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 With four cores in one processor, users will experience better multitasking and multithreaded performance. |
 The Intel Core i7-920 processor delivers unmatched performance for demanding tasks. |
The i7 family is Intel's flagship processor, and for good reason. With the i7 family, Intel engineers invented a revolutionary new style of microarchitecture. They replaced the front side bus -- a longtime staple of processor design -- with a new technology called QuickPath Interconnect (QPI). Using QPI, the i7-920 achieves unprecedented levels of bandwidth, and can use its four computing cores to their maximum potential. To put it simply, users will enjoy faster and more streamlined processing than ever before. Your computer will handle multiple projects and applications without the slowdown you'd experience with a lesser processor.
Extremely intensive programs like high-definition media editors will run more smoothly and responsively. And you'll be able to experience next-generation games without frame-rate hiccups and slowdowns.
New Technologies Boost Performance
The Intel Core i7-920 processor also makes use of several other cutting-edge technologies:
- Turbo Boost Technology allows the processor to run up to 133 MHz faster when it's operating below power/thermal limits.
- Hyper-threading Technology enables more efficient use of processor resources, making the most of highly threaded software like media players and next-generation games.
- Smart Cache Memory increases available RAM resources, leading to less lag while multi-tasking.
Whether editing high-definition videos, touching up family photos, or splicing up music, the Intel Core i7-920 processor provides the processing power needed. The processor's four cores are optimized to keep up with the most advanced digital editing software. It also accelerates DVD encoding and compression, allowing you to easily share your HD home videos with everyone.
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With the advent of next-generation games, PC gaming is more immersive than ever. The latest games take advantage of multi-threaded programming, allowing for more realistic graphics, physics, and artificial intelligence (AI). But you'll need more than just a good graphics card with high GPU output to fully experience all these effects. Underlying the visual realism and advanced AI scripts are thousands of high-speed calculations that your CPU must process. Fortunately, Intel Core i7-920 processor is specifically designed to handle these calculations. Using multi-thread architecture, it has the ability to process thousands of graphical characteristics at once, resulting in a smooth and lag-free experience. Intel worked closely with CryTek -- the developers of the advanced game engine behind such games as Crysis and Far Cry -- to guarantee that gamers have an immersive and lifelike experience.
The Intel Core i7-920 processor is backed by a three-year limited warranty.
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Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 2.66GHz 8 MB LGA1366 CPU BX80601920 Reviews :
Review 1 :
i am glad i purchased this cpu. this is one fast chip. i upgraded from amd 4200x2 90nm cpu. get a new hsf as soon as possible..i am personally using a thermalright true 120 ultra 1366 w\fan mount, my idle temps are about 15c cooler than stock hsf and close to 20c under full load. this chip is an easy overclocker as well. i took it to about 3.5ghz without changing any settings but the QPI(went from 133(stock) to 180) before i had to add voltage.i finally settled on 3.94ghz stable with prime95 and intel burn in test.my dual core athlon took about 40 minutes to convert dvd(on hard drive) to mp4 with nero recode, with my i7 at 3.94ghz it takes about 12-16 minutes. i could probably get over 4ghz but i don't want to exceed the recomended voltages just for 60mhz.needless to say i could'nt be happier with this cpu(almost 50% overclock).
i paired this cpu with evga x58 motherboard and corsair dominator 6gb ddr 1600mhz ram.i only have 1 video card at this time but like having the upgrade path for later. don't even consider the 940 as the extra 300mhz does not warrant the hefty price increase...i was able to exceed the 965 stock speed at my stock settings. also just fyi for you overclockers i had more luck turning of turbo and hyperthreading..i encoded video with 4 cores and 8 cores and saw no real difference between them..the disabling of turbo lost me a x21 multiplier but no big deal as i used a x19 multiplier with a 208 QPI.
cpu vcore 1.350v
cpu vtt +175
pll vcore 1.375v
vdimm 1.625v
ht off
turbo off
x16 uncore 3333mhz
ram 2:8
8-8-8-24 74 1T
3.94ghz cpu
1660mhz ram speed
8800 gts 512 @ 800 core 1998 shader 1125 memory
idle temps are 30c-35c
load with prime95 about 58c
load with intel burn in about 68c
looks like there are advantages with the batches as well
my batch number is
3839A589
i hear good things about the 3841's
it definitely pays to overclock this CPU at stock speed of 2.66ghz temps idle were only about 3c different than running at 3.94ghz and maybe 8c different under load. running in u2-ufo case with 9x120mm fans +1x120mm on CPU cooler.
Review 2 :
Stepping up from a Pentium D, or the Core 2 Duo P9500 on my laptop, I'm just amazed at the power of this CPU. I'm currently running Windows 7 (RC) 64-bit, with 12GB of Corsair 1333MHz DDR3 RAM on an Asus P6T motherboard, with two WD 1TB drives. Everything is at stock speeds. Video is nVidia GeForce 9600 GT with two ViewSonic monitors.
Windows 7 delivers everything you'd want with the Core i7 processor in terms of speed and power. The 8MB L3 cache is a great adaptation for 64-bit processing - it's not widely noted, but running in 64-bit mode will give a 1.2x to 1.4x speed reduction, because the larger addresses reduce cache utilization. The Core i7's cache configuration compensates nicely for this. The QuickPath Interconnect, DDR3 memory, and three memory channels also help speed up memory access, so that memory is never a bottleneck. Overall, my system rates a Windows Experience score of 5.9, based on graphics and disk speed, but the Core i7 rates an amazing 7.4 score, and memory is 7.5.
In the task manager performance panel, you see 8 CPUs, for the 4 cores and their hyperthreads. Windows 7 scheduling and threading has been updated to work with more cores and to use hyperthreads effectively; if you want more on this, listen to this podcast:[...] featuring one of the Windows kernel development team members who works on thread scheduling.
In terms of user experience, I've never experienced such a responsive machine. Nothing makes it break a sweat! Photoshop uses the GPU for image rendering, and it's breathtakingly fast on image editing. Visual Studio compiles large projects many times faster than the same project on my old machines. Whatever I want, this machine does it, right now!
For those who ask if there is software that can take advantage of the multiple cores, the answer is yes. Photoshop and other Adobe image and video editors have been multicore-aware for many years. Most of the MS Office apps are heavily threaded and very responsive (Outlook, Word, and Excel especially). Visual Studio runs background compiles constantly for syntax checking, and Intellisense support is always immediate. And for web development, IIS and your database of choice (SQL Server, in my case) are right ther in the background, ready to go. SQL Server, in particular, is well-designed for multicore systems.
This is simply a fantastic machine, even if you're not a gamer.
Review 3 :
I cannot believe how fast this processor loads Vista compared to my "little" C2D (E6300 Core2Duo) gaming machine which loads Windows XP. Very few games take advantage of this Quad Processor. Even though I don't play first person shooters, I had to get this bad boy on the new block. When my new system based on this processor first started up, I sensed it was a thing of beauty. Blazing fast! It installed Vista like it was no challenge. It took less than 30 minutes to install and load it up (upon restart). When my system restarted after Vista was installed, I was amazed at how quick it loaded to the desktop. I gushed over the fact that when you press <control> <alt> <del> there it was; what looks like 8 processors running (also known as 8 threads)! Wow! I actually bought this on sale for $219 at Micr-c----. I plan to O/C later on as I've read that this overclocks very easy and can reach up to 4GHZ. The processor on the front end looks similar to the Core2Duo as it fits into the socket (Socket 1366 which is not compatable with LGA775) when you align the pins on the side. When closing the metal gate onto the proceessor, it gives just a little more resistance than what you are used to (for people who build their own). I will say this, a stat heavy baseball game that I play (Out of the Park Baseball), I've gone through 10 seasons so far, and when I reach the end again, this processor eats it up quickly and loads my next season with blazing speed.
Loading all my drivers was fast and easy after I loaded Vista.
Many people complain (it's their choice) about the Intel heatsink that is included and yeah, if you overclock, it's best to get a better heatsink. If you don't overclock, then the included Intel heatsink will do just fine. I have the Intel heatsink on my C2D system and never had any heat issues and always kept the processor cool (even at its peak).
I will update when I load newer games such as The Sims 3.
<Update>
I've installed and played Flight Simulator X and I could swear that I hear it laughing and saying," Is that all you got!" All my graphic options as well as AI traffic and ground vehicles are pumped to the max and it's running like a charm. All the graphic options are set to Ultra High. Flying an airplane is once again, ever so cool, now that I have a processor that can handle it! High framerates! Smooth flying!
Sims 3 runs great on my system. With a virus scanner on my previous system, it turned my system into a turtle and The Sims 2 didn't like that. With my present i7 system, everything is running great; no hiccups, no crashes, no slowdowns....just smooth running.
Review 4 :
I've been using this processor for about 1 month now, and it performs flawlessly. I would have to say, given it's higher price (compared to other processors) and high level of performance, at this time (early 2010) this unit is intended for computer enthusiasts like myself, and the average computer user would probably be happy with a less expensive processor.
This unit has 4 physical cores, so it's technically a "quad core" chip, however each core has hyperthreading automatically built in. This means 8 threads of data can be computed simultaneously.
Although you can run multiple programs at the same time (each program using a single thread of the processor), your programs must be specially designed to use ALL the threads at the same time. Many newer programs have been designed to use multiple threads. Photo/Video editing tasks are completed much faster with this chip.
If your budget allows, and you have a need for an (excessively) faster processor, I would highly recommend the Intel 920.
Review 5 :
The heat sink and chip are packed in the standard clam shell polycarbonate we're all used to, but the two halves are not glued together in any way. Make sure you open the package on a flat surface like a table top. If you try to slide it out into your hand in mid-air, the massive heat sink and the chip package will both end up on the floor.
On the plus side neither one was the worse for wear. Installed w/ASUS P6T, 6 GB DDR3 1333, ATI 4870/1G. It is blindingly fast.
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Review 6 :
i7 is a beast. PC gaming is more GPU intensive than CPU, so game make very poor benchmarks for a processor like the i7. Many PC games are only single core optimized. Only a hand full are dual threaded. Windows XP will not see more than 4 thread while i7 has 8 thread capabilities via Hyper Threading.
If you are going to get a processor like this, you need a 64-bit OS. 32-bit OS such as XP, and 32-bit Vista, have a 4GB addressing limit, which includes video memory and addressable space for PCI devices. The result is 3GB to 2GB of memory even when you got 4GB installed depending on how much video ram you got on your video card (or cards *SLI or Cross Fire).
what would truly test this CPU is video editing, and virtual machines. With 8 threads, I can run 8 VMs simultaneously with very little lag, or encode High Definition AVC in a fraction of the time I currently can.
My Core Duo 2.66 is a monster, the i7 is like having 2 of my processors that can do twice the amount of work. It's insane.
Oh BTW, for all you n00bs who already have a Intel Core processor, guess what, you got to change your motherboard. The i7 don't got a Front side Bus no more. It also has 3 channels DDR3 for blistering memory speed.
AMD just does not have anything that come close to it.
Review 7 :
Pros:
It's my first build and coming from a Pentium 4 3.4 ghz in my Dell to this processor is simply amazing. I can now play Oblivion and L4D in the settings I want! Everything else it pretty much cuts through it like butter. It get a Windows 7 WEI of 7.6 3dmark Vantage CPU score P42500+ and I have it overclocked to 3.67 with blck of 184 vcore 1.225 with vdroop. Coupled with a Cooler Master V8 it's prime 95 stable (small ffts - 2 hours, large - 2 hours, blend - 9 hours) and LinX stable (max memory 10 runs) 75 degrees C max. Ambient 80 F
Cons:
None
Other thoughts:
If you are new to overclocking like I was here are some simple steps for a modest overclock:
WARNING: It is entirely possible to burn your CPU! Don't go crazy and set a high base clock from the start. Follow the steps!
1) download Realtemp.exe, cpu-z, prime 95, and LinX (google em)
2) go into your bios and increase the base clock by 5 (or 10 if impatient but remember my warning)
3) Load Windows and breath a sigh of relief if it does. But thats only 1/5 of the battle.
4) Run CPU-z to verify your overclock, close it then run realtemp.
5) Run LinX max memory, 3 runs. If it blue screens, restarts or errors then you've gone too far and you need to dial it down to keep your machine stable. Your last setting is your max overclock without adding vcore (cpu voltage).
6) If it passes with no errors and your max temps aren't above 85 C (some people use 80) then you're good, and you can add more base clock.
7) Go back to step 2 rinse and repeat.
8)Once you get to a speed you're happy with and it passes LinX, and is below 85 C, run prime 95 stress test for at least 6 hours of blend, 2 hours of small ffts, and 2 hours of large ffts. If it survives that then you're good for gaming and most everyday apps. If it survives p95 blend for 24 hours (no errors, < 85 C) then you're rock stable ready for mission critical or server work.
You can run Linx for more passes or folding@home SMP for further stability testing.
Finally don't expect much if you're using the heatsink that came with the processor.
Good luck. If I made a mistake somewhere please correct me in the comments.
BTW my motherboard is the EVGA X58 vanilla. The folks at the forums in their website are the most helpful and supportive folks you can find. Really that's the stuff that money can't buy, I strongly recommend their motherboards just for that. They have guides for more serious overclocks and guides explaining voltages, guides on optimizing Vista etc.
All the info about overclocking and stability testing comes from the stickied threads on the EVGA forums
Review 8 :
I got my second Core i7 920 here on Amazon in early November, and received the D0 stepping. You can tell by looking for a sSpec number of SLBEJ on the box. (SLBCH was the C0 stepping.) You don't need to unseal the Intel box to know what you're getting, so you could just return it if you didn't get the D0. Not that that's likely anymore. I initially wasn't impressed by the D0, using the same overclock settings I'd zeroed in on for the C0. If anything, it seemed to run even hotter. Then I learned the secret. You can turn the core voltage WAY down, which is the key to heat. I was at 1.30 volts to run the C0 stable at 3.7ghz (air cooled with Coolermaster V10). I've been able to turn it down to just a hair over 1.20 volts with the D0. With the bclk at 194, multiplier at 21, I'm now running over 4.0 ghz. That's running Prime95 all night on all eight threads, with max core temps at 73 C or below. To summarize, the big improvement with the D0 stepping is being able to run with much lower voltages, which in turn allows higher overclocks with safe temps.
Review 9 :
Wow, this thing is a beast. The pins are not on the processor, but rather on the motherboard. This was strange to me, as the only reason I can think they would do this is that if you bend a pin during installation, the processor will still be okay. However, good luck finding an x58 motherboard for less than the cost of this processor. The 920 has a fixed multiplier, so for you plan on overclocking, you still can but just be aware that you are adjusting the core speeds (the multiplier is fixed at 20, although you can take it lower.) Heat is not an issue, I have mine overclocked at 3.35 Ghz and I don't get over 40C with the Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme CPU HSF. Buy this processor, the speed can't be beat!
Review 10 :
I got this CPU and the ASUS P6T MB combo at fry's for $400 and I had the CPU for almost a year, but then for about a year I was having problems with the CPU not recognizing my full 6GB 1600MHZ Memory sticks from Corsair,at the time I didn't know it was the CPU, so I had everything replaced (motherboard,power supply,memory sticks all RMA'd) but the only thing I didn't replace at the time was the CPU so I was still having problems, so then I finally took the time, contacted intel and they had me send back the CPU and they sent me a brand new replacement, I guess there was something wrong with that CPU, I love intel for they're customer service, and they had the replacement sent to me 2nd day air via UPS, THANKS INTEL!!!!
now everything works perfect, not a single problem now, this processor is the best I ever purchased.
BUY IT NOW
Review 11 :
Today (8-2010) in servers you can either build your own or buy one off the shelf from a mfgr. I needed 2 servers, so I did one of each.
The buy off the shelf system was an i7 975 3.33 ghz, 24 GB RAM, 1.7G 216 cuda core nvidia graphics, windows 7 ultra. I bought it from HP with some good discounts and got the price down to 2100 delivered, which at the time the proc had a street price of 1000 bucks alone. Forget the 24G of ram - that's 12 banks of 4 GB and today 2GB ram is about all you can find on the street - bigger configs are getting taken by companies like HP depleating the store supplies.
The second system I built had a more modest 8GB ram, asus motherboard, just enough to get by on VGA card until the newest cards from nvidia come out, and most importantly used this processor along with a decent power supply built for sli x4 systems. Cost was around $700, but will have a $200 hit when the new graphics card comes out for $900 with expected exceptional performance.
The ability of the graphics card to take over some of the processor's duties with cuda and the follow on from Nvidia, Fermi was an important factor in making the second system with a reduced speed i7 processor. In the futue, the pairing of the graphics card and the processor will dictate where the money does the most good.
This processor is a very economical entry into the i7 series of chips from intel. Pairing it with a 512+ processor graphics card from Nvidia will likely make more economic sense than buying a 3.33 ghz quad core duo (8 threads) - I see that as the logical progression of high performance computing solutions down the road. My only regret is the limited (8G) main memory - by creating a ramdisc on the 24G machine it runs extremely fast with 8G of main ram and 16G of ramdisc used sortof as a cache. We'll have to wait a while for the 4G dimms to come out and offer us large memory environments in the future.
Basically - don't toss all your money into the processor in future custom builds - make an evenly distributed system where the graphics card lends a hand at a performance boost. Future software won't need massive processors but balanced systems with high performance graphics. What took a week to render in high definition (1920x1080x120Hz) on a 2.83 Ghz quad core 8 GB 1 year old system was done in 1 hour on the 3.33 Ghz quad core system with the nvidia cuda 216 processors and 1.7 GB ram graphics assistant.
Review 12 :
If you haven't built your own PC in awhile, be warned: it's easier than ever and the engineers at Intel are part of the reason why.
The new mounting system is completely simply. No pins to line up into tiny holes. Alignment is fool-proof, as is the clamping.
Note that this kit comes with its own heat-sink. No need to buy another, unless you are really nervous about heat. I thought the included sink was great, and I've used it for 3 months now with no issues whatsoever.
Fast? Absolutely. Team this with an SSD and you will have the fastest computer you've ever owned.
Review 13 :
Excellent performance; you will not be disappointed. The processor is highly overclockable - with a decent aftermarket cooling solution, it can easily be clocked over 4ghz. Even with the stock cooler, I was able to reach 3.3ghz with safe temperatures (fan at 100%) under normal usage (but prime95 stress test would push the temps a little too high at this speed). Even without overclocking, I noticed an improvement in speed and multitasking ability over my core 2 duo system. Highly recommended, particularly for those building a new rig. I use the core i7 primarily for gaming and general computing.
Cons - stock fan is somewhat loud to me even at low speeds, though I strive for silent computing. Invest in a quality aftermarket heatsink/fan (plus it will enable you to push performance well beyond the stock 940 at less expense).
Review 14 :
My last computer was running an AMD 5000+ 2.67ghz Dual Core Processor, 4 gigs of ram and Vista 32 bit and it didn't handle my video editing well at all. I do a lot of video in AVCHD that is really hungry to eat your processor. With this processor now I can watch the playback of the files from my Sony SR 12 smoothly with no lag in it. I can render the video in about three quarters less the time now with the power of this processor. The only thing holding it back at times is Vista even though I upgraded to 64 bit for the memory reasons of course it still takes about the same amount of time for everything to boot. Sometimes when browsing Vista locks up for some odd reason but as far as transferring files and rendering video this thing is a devouring beast of my video files. Gaming is another top thing with this processor going back to older games at full everything an saying wow thats nice. I just played Medieval 2 again and had everything maxed out with huge battles and there was no slide shows like I was used to. The top thing though overall is watching AVCHD clips and rendering video in so much less time and being able to do other things while its doing that.
When I get more free time I will start overclocking since this thing is destined for it. From my understanding thats what most people do with it anyways. Its made for overclocking and now that I have put all new fans and everything in my case I am ready to go and do it now. This is probably the best bargain for the i7 if you can get it overclocked and running stable. Though I found it to be the best bargain mostly because I was on a budget with my new computer. My setup is now this Intel X58SO motherboard, i7 920, 6 gigs Corsair Dominator 1600, Cooler Master V8 EVGA 8800 GTS 640MB and Vista 64. All of this comes together to make one incredible computing experience.
Review 15 :
This thing is a monster if you know how to unleash it. Spend $45 on a third party cooler and push this thing to amazing levels of performance. I am not a gamer, I am using the 920 in a workstation environment with frequent heavy load. With a Xigmatek Dark Knight and a decent case I was able to EASILY overclock this to 4GHz (the most I was willing to go). With hyper threading, it can handle numerous simultaneous graphic programs, including parallel use of Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Bridge, iTunes, and Firefox. It never skips a beat.
I should warn you, if you are planning on using the 920 at it's full potential, these things run hotter than most past Intel chips. At 4Ghz, 70+ Celsius is normal at full burn (on third party air). Realistically, real world use will rarely be pushing 100% for long periods of time, and enabling Speed Stepping can help keep temperatures lower at idle. Also, don't gimp your system with crappy RAM. You'll need something that is stable at 1600 MHz without requiring ridiculous amounts of vDIMM. Do your homework and know what will run with what. It will save you a lot of headaches.
All in all this is a great chip that will last me quite a long time.
BUY IT NOW
Review 16 :
This CPU is absolutely stunning. When I upgraded my custom-built Core 2 system for Windows 7 I wanted a CPU and motherboard that was ready for 64 bit applications. Together with this upgrade we upgraded the chassis with an over-engineered CPU fan and a bigger power supply, and the resulting performance is spectacular. Applications that used to take a minute or more to load now take ten seconds.
This CPU will really come into its own when 64 bit applications become available. Digital photographers, in particular, must manipulate huge amounts of data and 64 bit processing, together with the ability to access more than 4GB of DRAM, should make a huge performance difference. This CPU combined with Windows 7/64 bit will be ready for this.
My unit has worked flawlessly on a 24/7 basis using Win7/64 Pro. No overheating issues, just great performance.
Highly recommended. RJB.
Review 17 :
I upgraded to the i7 from an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400. The main reasons I made the upgrade were:
1. Low power consumption (significantly lower than a Q6600 which is about $100 cheaper than the i7)
2. 8 logical cores available (quad core + hyper threading)
3. The ability to play cutting edge games that take advantage of all 8 cores.
4. The potential ability to load share between CPU & GPU once Windows 7 is released.
The upgrade might have been a bit premature, as the primary reason to buy an I7 processor won't be possible until Windows 7 is released. Windows 7 will allow load sharing between GPU (graphics card) and CPU. This will enable some really nice performance gains in games, or other graphic intensive applications like video editing software. Allegedly, games like Crysis will get a 20-30 percent performance increase. However, I heard that before when Windows stated that Vista would provide significant performance gains for DirectX10 games, which has not proved to be the case.
Regardless, the i7 920 is truly an amazing CPU. I've yet to experiment with overclocking much, but I do have it running at 3.12ghz stable and with a core temperature of 41C at idle and around 60C under load. I'll likely push things further in the coming weeks, and I'll give updates on temperatures and performance when I do.
Combining this card with two 4870hd 512mb graphics cards in Crossfire mode produced a 3DMark06 score of just over 19,000! That is a 5,000 point gain from my previous rig, and is in about the top 4% of all systems out there. That is pretty phenomenal performance. In Crysis with all settings at very high and DX10, I average over 50 frames at 1980x1200. This CPU is a gaming beast.
If you plan to overclock this card even a little, invest in an aftermarket heat sink and some Arctic Silver thermal compound. The heatsink provided with the retail package is small and ineffective at cooling an overclocked card. I recommend this Zalman Cpu Cooler for moderate overclocking. It is a very quite and very effective fan.
If your in the market for a 'future-proof' processor, this is a great option at a reasonable price point. The ceiling speed of processors is growing increasingly unimportant as multi-thread programing become the norm in both games and applications. You could spend a lot more for a higher GHZ CPU, but you're not really gaining as much performance as the jump from 2 to 4 cores, and then quad core to octo core. This processor will eat anything you throw at it and come back for more. Just make sure your mother board supports i7 chips before you buy one.
Review 18 :
This cpu is amazing, An overclockers dream!!! I bought this processor for my new gaming computer build which consisted of the best of the best parts. Instead of spending $900+ for the top of the line i7 cpu, i decided i would buy this i7 920 and try my hand at overclocking. I have never overclocked anything in my life, but within minutes of goggling around, i had found a couple good tutorials. I originally clocked my i7 920 2.67ghz cpu to 3.6ghz plus hyper threading using just the standard intel cpu cooler. I was amazed and the performance was drop dead amazing. Suprisingly, the i7 at 3.6ghz was running fairly cool at idle and load. I def reccomend this cpu to anyone looking for a super powerful cpu for an amazing price.
Word to the wise, if you do wish to overclock past 3.6ghz, i suggest an aftermarket cooler to keep your idle/load temps cool. Currently my i7 920 is running at 4.2ghz with a cooler master v8 cpu cooler(which i also highly recommend)and my full load temps never get hotter then 70'c.
DONT BUY ANY OTHER MORE EXPENSIVE i7 CPU!!! This i7 920 will fulfill all your needs including take alot of abusive overclocking!
Thank you
Review 19 :
My previous "favorite" CPU was the E8400 for price and overclocking ability. The i7 920 is now my new favorite CPU for this!
Pros:
* FAST
* Easy overclocking - I'm overclocking to about Core i7 975 Extreme levels (recommend the D0 stepping which should be widely available now)
* 4 cores, each with hyperthreading
* Great for dual video cards (or more) with more PCI-E lanes than the 8xx and lower series which only have 16 PCIe lanes for graphics use (I use dual video cards to run 4 monitors)
* Triple channel memory - lets me use 6x2GB sticks for 12GB with Windows 7 x64 (I'm using Corsair XMS3 1600 8-8-8-24 memory)
* Much less expensive than next higher model - the 940 - but can overclock to be faster
* SpeedStep technology lets my processor sip power when not computing - saves a bunch of energy, generates less heat, and keeps CPU really cool
* Did I say FAST?
Cons:
* Cost money?
Other:
* If overclocking, I would recommend an aftermarket CPU cooler. I use a Scythe MUGEN-2 but it's big and a bit of a pain to install... but has great cooling.
Review 20 :
I upgraded a system that had an Intel Core 2 Quad (Q9550) 2.83GHz CPU to the Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz CPU. My previous Core 2 Quad processor was blazingly fast. The new Core i7 920 processor seems marginally faster than the Core 2 Quad, but it seems to handle multitasking a bit more adeptly. I'm sure that when more software becomes available that's optimized for a quad core hyperthreading CPU (like having 8 cores running simultaneously) I'll see even improved performance with this processor. A word to the wise...make sure your system provides good cooling for this CPU. In my original 'closed' ATX case I was seeing temperatures of the hottest core at around 50 degrees Celsius at idle (using Core Temp version 0.99.4.65 - 32 bit) with the stock heat sink. I changed to a Theraltake V9 "Black" ATX case and my hottest core idle temperature dropped to 39 degrees and the coolest core at 35. It's amazing what good airflow can do for your CPU. I recently put Windows 7 Home Premium (32 bit) on my self built computer (Core i7 920 CPU, 6GB OCZ Gold DDR3 PC12800 SDRAM, Asus P6T LGA 1366 Triple CrossFireX/SLI Motherboard, EVGA GeForce 9800GT 512MB DDR3 PCI-e 2.0 Graphics Card and two Western Digital 1TB Caviar "Black" 7200 RPM SATA hard drives with two controllers and 32MB Cache on each drive). Once I find a compatible TV card I will 'clean' install the 64 bit version of the OS. I should get even better performance from the Core i7 920 CPU with that version of Windows 7 since it will recognize all 6GB of my RAM rather than the 3GB recognized by the 32 bit OS. Overall the processor is AWESOME! I hardly have to wait for anything to happen after I click for it to do so. Exceptions to that are when you're performing a simultaneous visus scan or backup. I understand that this processor is very good for overclocking...a realm of performance that I've not yet explored. I don't think you can go wrong with this one!
BUY IT NOW
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