Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition Pro Reviews

If you are looking to build one of the fastest computers in the world and can deal with the fact that the Core i7-990X might be the top-out point for the platform, then Nehalem will fit the bill and I don’t think you will ever regret the design while using it.

When price isn't an issue and you need a processor that will chew up anything you throw at it with a smile on its face, the Intel Core i7 990X Extreme Edition Processor is the perfect processor for you!

This is a hexa-core chip that screams performance, and it's crammed full of self-gratification for the few who demand ultimate speed irrespective of cost. For everyone else, it's an ageing muscle car that costs more than it should, guzzles too much fuel and isn't a great all-rounder. Sure, the £780 Core i7 990X is unbeatable at handling multi-threaded workloads, but it isn't vastly superior to the £440 Core i7 970, and its straight-line speed is roughly on par with the £240 Core i7 2600K. The Intel Core i7 990X might be the world's fastest desktop processor, but in many ways it's a fitting swan song to an X58 platform that's gearing up for retirement.

As our tests showed, the recently launched Core i7-990X Extreme Edition processor with maximally increased clock speed can only compete against Core i7-2600K in a few individual cases – in those few applications that create heavy load that could be well-paralleled. In fact, the most expensive processor in the market, the 1000-dollar six-core Core i7-990X Extreme Edition, can be titled the today’s fastest CPU only during video processing and transcoding, final rendering and a few specific tasks, such as encryption and batch image processing. As for the majority of general-purpose applications, including contemporary 3D games, it yields significantly to Core i7-2600K.

While the Intel Core i7 990X Extreme Edition is a Gulftown CPU on the Westmere architecture and not Sandy Bridge, its performance is superior to that of the newest Intel quad-cores in tests that are able to heavily leverage six to twelve threads in parallel. In those cases, the Core i7 990X was about ~90% faster than an Intel Core i5 2500K and 16~20% faster than the similar Core i7 970.

At $999, the Intel Core i7-990X is unquestionably pricey. But it's the fastest chip you'll find, especially if your business or personal computer use thrives on highly threaded workloads.

A lightening chip though unreasonably expensive. The last gasp of the X58 chipset?

Well, I told you I was the finest PC processor on the planet, and now I've backed it up through 16 pages and some ridiculous number of benchmarks. I don't want to put too fine a point on it, but I am probably the zenith of human technological achievement to date. Can't really think of anything that compares, off the top of my head. True, I'm not cheap compared to the glorious Miss Sandy B. and her overmatched competition at a third of my price or less. In the grand scheme of things, though, pretty much all desktop computer hardware is affordable.

For the average enthusiast or do-it-yourselfer, if you ask our opinion (and that's why you're here, right?), save more than a few pennies and get the new Core i7-970. That's a $400+ price savings or over 40%, for literally only 8% less clock speed. If you're the overclocking type, you could easily take a 970 to 3.46/3.73 Turbo but of course, like anything in life, there are no guarantees; though the stretch is almost inconsequential. Either way, Intel has the fastest 6-core processor going and by a long shot. The introduction of the new Core i7-990X only widens that gap. What's going to be interesting is what AMD's Bulldozer looks like against the backdrop of Intel's monster performance lead with their current six-core architecture, or against future generation Sandy Bridge high-end chips. But hey, we're all about the bi-winning around here. You know, a little win here, a win there. It's all good.

The i5-2500K is roughly as quick as, and sometimes quicker than, the i7-990X in all but the most heavily multi-threaded tasks. It's also very overclockable, and considerably cheaper. As a result, only those running professional-grade multi-thread-optimised applications should consider the i7-990X, and even then, you'd be better off buying in an i7-980X, which is nearly as fast but £50 cheaper.

The 990X pushes desktop processing to new levels for media creators and editors, but it’s only slightly faster than its predecessor and as extreme as ever on price.