Intel Core i7 990X Testing Benchmarks for an Intel Core i7 990X Gulftown comparison. This is currently Intel's $999 USD fastest six-core system based on Gulftown, not Sandy Bridge. Look for more in an upcoming Phoronix article. Core i3 2100: Processor: Intel Core i3-2100 @ 3.10GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: SAPPHIRE Pure Black P67 Hydra, Chipset: Intel Sandy Bridge, Memory: 3072MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: ATI Device 6738, Monitor: DELL P2210H OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: vesa 2.3.0, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.9-devel, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1280x1024 Core i5 2500K: Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.30GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: SAPPHIRE Pure Black P67 Hydra, Chipset: Intel Sandy Bridge, Memory: 3072MB, Disk: 250GB Seagate ST3250310AS, Graphics: ATI Device 6738 (960/1150MHz), Monitor: DELL P2210H OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-999-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: radeon 6.14.99, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.11-devel Gallium 0.4, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Core i7 920: Processor: Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz (8 Cores), Motherboard: ASRock X58 Super, Chipset: Intel 5520/5500/X58 + ICH10R, Memory: 3072MB, Disk: 320GB Seagate ST3320620AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB (675/1100MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC889A, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-020638-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Core i7 970: Processor: Intel Core i7 970 @ 3.20GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: ASRock X58 Super, Chipset: Intel 5520/5500/X58 + ICH10R, Memory: 3072MB, Disk: 320GB Seagate ST3320620AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB (675/1100MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC889A, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-020638-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, OpenGL: 2.1 Mesa 7.9-devel, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5 + Clang 4.2.1 + llvm 2.6, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Core i7 990X: Processor: Intel Core i7 X 990 @ 3.47GHz (12 Cores), Motherboard: ASRock X58 Super, Chipset: Intel 5520/5500/X58 + ICH10R, Memory: 3072MB, Disk: 320GB Seagate ST3320620AS, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB (675/1100MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC889A, Monitor: DELL S2409W OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.38-020638-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: nouveau 0.0.16, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i: Processor: AMD Phenom 9950 @ 2.60GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ASRock AOD790GX/128M, Chipset: AMD RS780 + SB700/SB800, Memory: 5632MB, Disk: 40GB INTEL SSDSA2M040 + 640GB Western Digital WDC WD6400AAKS-2 + 250GB Western Digital WDC WD2500JB-00G, Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3300 384MB (700/400MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC889A, Monitor: DELL ST2210 OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.35-28-generic (x86_64), Desktop: GNOME 2.32.0, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: fglrx 8.78.30, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 Core i5 660: Processor: Intel Core i5 660 @ 3.34GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ASUS P7H55-M PRO, Chipset: Intel Core, Memory: 2 x 2048 MB DDR-1333MHz, Disk: 80GB INTEL SSDSA2M080 + 1000GB Western Digital WDC WD1001FALS-0, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB (626/1053MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC889 OS: Fedora release 14 (Laughlin), Kernel: 2.6.35.11-83.fc14.x86_64 (x86_64), Desktop: KDE 4.6.1, Display Server: X Server 1.9.5, Display Driver: NVIDIA 260.19.36, OpenGL: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 260.19.36, Compiler: GCC 4.5.1, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1680x1050 Core i5 660vK: Processor: Intel Core i5 660 @ 3.34GHz (4 Cores), Motherboard: ASUS P7H55-M PRO, Chipset: Intel Core, Memory: 2 x 2048 MB DDR-1333MHz, Disk: 80GB INTEL SSDSA2M080 + 1000GB Western Digital WDC WD1001FALS-0, Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 896MB (626/1053MHz), Audio: Realtek ALC889 OS: Ubuntu 10.10, Kernel: 2.6.35-28-generic (x86_64), Desktop: KDE 4.5.1, Display Server: X Server 1.9.0, Display Driver: NVIDIA 260.19.06, OpenGL: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 260.19.06, Compiler: GCC 4.4.5, File-System: ext4, Screen Resolution: 1680x1050 x264 2010-11-22 H.264 Video Encoding Frames Per Second > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 46.09 |=========== Core i5 2500K ....................... 74.17 |================== Core i7 920 ......................... 74.53 |================== Core i7 970 ......................... 113.53 |============================ Core i7 990X ........................ 135.23 |================================= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 40.66 |========== Core i5 660 ......................... 46.45 |=========== Core i5 660vK ....................... 46.74 |=========== FFmpeg 0.6.1 AVI To NTSC VCD Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 13.11 |=================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 10.98 |================ Core i7 920 ......................... 15.03 |====================== Core i7 970 ......................... 13.15 |=================== Core i7 990X ........................ 12.17 |================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 23.43 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 13.43 |=================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 13.59 |==================== LAME MP3 Encoding 3.98.2 WAV To MP3 Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 22.94 |==================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 19.22 |================= Core i7 920 ......................... 28.44 |========================= Core i7 970 ......................... 25.39 |====================== Core i7 990X ........................ 22.45 |==================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 38.41 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 25.76 |======================= Core i5 660vK ....................... 25.10 |====================== 7-Zip Compression 9.13 Compress Speed Test MIPS > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 7712 |=========== Core i5 2500K ....................... 12611 |================== Core i7 920 ......................... 13702 |=================== Core i7 970 ......................... 20413 |============================= Core i7 990X ........................ 23951 |================================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 7208 |========== Core i5 660 ......................... 7963 |=========== Core i5 660vK ....................... 8114 |============ Parallel BZIP2 Compression 1.0.5 256MB File Compression Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 19.96 |============================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 11.23 |================ Core i7 920 ......................... 10.95 |================ Core i7 970 ......................... 7.02 |========== Core i7 990X ........................ 6.05 |========= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 23.66 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 20.80 |============================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 21.94 |================================ Himeno Benchmark 3.0 Poisson Pressure Solver MFLOPS > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 286.89 |===================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 341.45 |========================= Core i7 920 ......................... 199.75 |=============== Core i7 970 ......................... 451.60 |================================= Core i7 990X ........................ 286.30 |===================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 131.97 |========== Core i5 660 ......................... 210.80 |=============== Core i5 660vK ....................... 201.09 |=============== Bullet Physics Engine 2.75 Test: 3000 Fall Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 15.52 |============== Core i5 2500K ....................... 12.36 |=========== Core i7 920 ......................... 16.19 |============== Core i7 970 ......................... 14.21 |============= Core i7 990X ........................ 12.91 |=========== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 38.18 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 18.03 |================ Core i5 660vK ....................... 17.83 |================ Bullet Physics Engine 2.75 Test: 1000 Stack Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 18.33 |================ Core i5 2500K ....................... 14.11 |============ Core i7 920 ......................... 19.37 |================= Core i7 970 ......................... 16.59 |=============== Core i7 990X ........................ 15.22 |============= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 38.64 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 20.14 |================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 19.76 |================= Bullet Physics Engine 2.75 Test: 136 Ragdolls Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 8.61 |============== Core i5 2500K ....................... 6.52 |========== Core i7 920 ......................... 8.50 |============= Core i7 970 ......................... 7.71 |============ Core i7 990X ........................ 7.00 |=========== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 21.64 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 9.42 |=============== Core i5 660vK ....................... 9.39 |=============== Bullet Physics Engine 2.75 Test: 1000 Convex Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 11.21 |=============== Core i5 2500K ....................... 8.83 |============ Core i7 920 ......................... 12.28 |================ Core i7 970 ......................... 10.59 |============== Core i7 990X ........................ 9.77 |============= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 25.51 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 13.81 |================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 12.35 |================ Bullet Physics Engine 2.75 Test: Prim Trimesh Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 11.21 |================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 9.12 |============== Core i7 920 ......................... 12.43 |=================== Core i7 970 ......................... 10.78 |================ Core i7 990X ........................ 9.99 |=============== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 22.53 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 10.97 |================= Core i5 660vK ....................... 11.27 |================= Bullet Physics Engine 2.75 Test: Convex Trimesh Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 20.59 |================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 17.03 |============== Core i7 920 ......................... 23.41 |=================== Core i7 970 ......................... 20.00 |================= Core i7 990X ........................ 18.56 |=============== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 41.17 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 23.03 |=================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 21.08 |================= Bullet Physics Engine 2.75 Test: Raytests Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 24.01 |================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 19.88 |============== Core i7 920 ......................... 27.40 |=================== Core i7 970 ......................... 23.40 |================= Core i7 990X ........................ 21.66 |=============== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 47.93 |================================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 24.70 |================== C-Ray 1.1 Total Time Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 128.42 |=============================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 61.65 |=============== Core i7 920 ......................... 71.29 |================= Core i7 970 ......................... 34.02 |======== Core i7 990X ........................ 35.94 |========= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 135.76 |================================= Core i5 660 ......................... 111.48 |=========================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 118.91 |============================= POV-Ray 3.6.1 Total Time Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 847 |===================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 708 |================== Core i7 920 ......................... 936 |======================= Core i7 970 ......................... 788 |==================== Core i7 990X ........................ 730 |================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 1404 |=================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 826 |===================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 817 |==================== Smallpt 1.0 Global Illumination Renderer; 100 Samples Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 225 |================================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 144 |===================== Core i7 920 ......................... 144 |===================== Core i7 970 ......................... 91 |============== Core i7 990X ........................ 72 |=========== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 234 |=================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 242 |==================================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 237 |=================================== Timed HMMer Search 2.3.2 Pfam Database Search Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 25.01 |=============================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 15.22 |=================== Core i7 920 ......................... 16.75 |===================== Core i7 970 ......................... 11.71 |============== Core i7 990X ........................ 10.27 |============= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 27.55 |================================== Core i5 660 ......................... 26.86 |================================= Core i5 660vK ....................... 27.10 |================================= Minion 0.9 Benchmark: Solitaire Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 143.97 |======= Core i5 2500K ....................... 115.05 |===== Core i7 920 ......................... 185.81 |========= Core i7 970 ......................... 187.49 |========= Core i7 990X ........................ 166.80 |======== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 693.78 |================================= Core i5 660 ......................... 171.61 |======== Core i5 660vK ....................... 178.20 |======== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: FT.B Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 3675.74 |================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 6574.63 |================================ Core i7 920 ......................... 4647.54 |======================= Core i7 970 ......................... 3246.42 |================ Core i7 990X ........................ 3959.76 |=================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 2184.47 |=========== Core i5 660 ......................... 2735.63 |============= Core i5 660vK ....................... 3007.52 |=============== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: IS.C Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 156.25 |============================ Core i5 2500K ....................... 184.42 |================================= Core i7 920 ......................... 124.31 |====================== Core i7 970 ......................... 133.89 |======================== Core i7 990X ........................ 148.22 |=========================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 62.62 |=========== Core i5 660 ......................... 104.43 |=================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 105.27 |=================== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: LU.A Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 5207.57 |============== Core i5 2500K ....................... 9338.24 |========================= Core i7 920 ......................... 8238.34 |====================== Core i7 970 ......................... 9827.74 |=========================== Core i7 990X ........................ 11466.98 |=============================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 3829.82 |========== Core i5 660 ......................... 4973.43 |============= Core i5 660vK ....................... 4664.75 |============= NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: MG.B Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 4211.86 |======================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 5760.77 |================================ Core i7 920 ......................... 4560.75 |========================= Core i7 970 ......................... 4361.57 |======================== Core i7 990X ........................ 4525.79 |========================= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 2058.99 |=========== Core i5 660 ......................... 2710.42 |=============== Core i5 660vK ....................... 2767.69 |=============== NAS Parallel Benchmarks 3.3 Test / Class: UA.A Total Mop/s > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 21.63 |============= Core i5 2500K ....................... 35.03 |===================== Core i7 920 ......................... 35.66 |====================== Core i7 970 ......................... 49.24 |============================== Core i7 990X ........................ 55.75 |================================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 13.98 |========= Core i5 660 ......................... 20.34 |============ Core i5 660vK ....................... 20.60 |============= OpenSSL 1.0.0a RSA 4096-bit Performance Signs Per Second > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 73.15 |============================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 86.53 |================================== Core i7 920 ......................... 45.68 |================== Core i7 970 ......................... 53.43 |===================== Core i7 990X ........................ 57.73 |======================= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 49.00 |=================== Core i5 660 ......................... 50.90 |==================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 51.03 |==================== GraphicsMagick 1.3.12 Operation: Local Adaptive Thresholding Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 40 |================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 49 |==================== Core i7 920 ......................... 57 |======================== Core i7 970 ......................... 79 |================================= Core i7 990X ........................ 89 |===================================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 36 |=============== Core i5 660 ......................... 43 |================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 43 |================== GraphicsMagick 1.3.12 Operation: Resizing Iterations Per Minute > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 96 |======================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 123 |=============================== Core i7 920 ......................... 103 |========================== Core i7 970 ......................... 128 |================================ Core i7 990X ........................ 143 |==================================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 80 |==================== Core i5 660 ......................... 93 |======================= Core i5 660vK ....................... 95 |======================== TTSIOD 3D Renderer 2.1v Phong Rendering With Soft-Shadow Mapping FPS > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 62.19 |========== Core i5 2500K ....................... 108.60 |================= Core i7 920 ......................... 118.00 |================== Core i7 970 ......................... 179.86 |============================ Core i7 990X ........................ 210.95 |================================= Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 45.37 |======= Core i5 660 ......................... 64.49 |========== Timed Apache Compilation 2.2.17 Time To Compile Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 34.99 |================================== Core i5 2500K ....................... 24.07 |======================= Core i7 920 ......................... 30.35 |============================= Core i7 970 ......................... 22.79 |====================== Core i7 990X ........................ 23.29 |====================== Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 8.50 |======== Core i5 660 ......................... 35.22 |================================== Core i5 660vK ....................... 35.09 |================================== Timed Linux Kernel Compilation 2.6.25 Time To Compile Seconds < Lower Is Better Core i3 2100 ........................ 612.55 |================================= Core i5 2500K ....................... 352.71 |=================== Core i7 920 ......................... 366.38 |==================== Core i7 970 ......................... 258.29 |============== Core i7 990X ........................ 227.78 |============ Compare Phenom 9950 to Intel Core i . 604.03 |================================= Core i5 660vK ....................... 599.37 |================================ PostgreSQL pgbench 9.0.1 TPC-B Transactions Per Second TPS > Higher Is Better Core i3 2100 .. 146.54 |====================================================== Core i5 2500K . 148.17 |======================================================= Core i7 970 ... 148.01 |=======================================================