Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
With every new architecture comes a certain amount of intrigue. Intel's Sandy Bridge brings much higher clocks, but it's also interesting to note how performance compares on a clock-for-clock basis.
To find out, we compared the new Core i7-2600K running at 2.9GHz with Turbo disabled to the old Core i7-870, again at 2.9GHz with Turbo disabled. Also worth noting is the performance of the new video transcoding core and the integrated 3D graphics. In their own way, both are frankly staggering.
Stock clocked benchmarks
Cinebench R10 multi-thread
Intel Core i5-2500K: 39s
Intel Core i7-2600K: 35s
Intel Core i7-870: 46s
Intel Core i5-750: 59s
Intel Core i7-980X: 32s
Cinebench R10 single-thread
Intel Core i5-2500K: 2m 22s
Intel Core i7-2600K: 2m 19s
Intel Core i7-870: 2m 58s
Intel Core i5-750: 3m 17s
Intel Core i7-980X: 3m 00s
x264 HD video encode
Intel Core i5-2500K: 27fps
Intel Core i7-2600K: 35fps
Intel Core i7-870: 28fps
Intel Core i5-750: 19fps
Intel Core i7-980X: 43fps
World in Conflict
Intel Core i5-2500K: 91fps
Intel Core i7-2600K: 96fps
Intel Core i7-870: 78fps
Intel Core i5-750: 75fps
Intel Core i7-980X: 90fps
Memory Bandwith
Intel Core i5-2500K: 18.6GB/s
Intel Core i7-2600K: 18.7GB/s
Intel Core i7-870: 17.3GB/s
Intel Core i5-750: 16.9GB/s
Intel Core i7-980X: 17.8GB/s
Idle power consumption
Intel Core i5-2500K: 125W
Intel Core i7-2600K: 130W
Intel Core i7-870: 115W
Intel Core i5-750: 110W
Intel Core i7-980X: 145W
Peak power consumption
Intel Core i5-2500K: 190W
Intel Core i7-2600K: 215W
Intel Core i7-870: 210W
Intel Core i5-750: 180W
Intel Core i7-980X: 245W
Overclocking
Maximum overclock
Intel Core i5-2500K: 4.4GHz
Intel Core i7-2600K: 4.6GHz
Intel Core i7-870: 3.9GHz
Intel Core i5-750: 4.1GHz
Intel Core i7-980X: 4.2GHz
Cinebench R10 multi-thread
Intel Core i5-2500K: 34s
Intel Core i7-2600K: 29s
Intel Core i7-870: 30s
Intel Core i5-750: 43s
Intel Core i7-980X: 26s
x264 HD video encode
Intel Core i5-2500K: 32fps
Intel Core i7-2600K: 41fps
Intel Core i7-870: 33fps
Intel Core i5-750: 27fps
Intel Core i7-980X: 51fps
World in Conflict
Intel Core i5-2500K: 98fps
Intel Core i7-2600K: 102fps
Intel Core i7-870: 90fps
Intel Core i5-750: 89fps
Intel Core i7-980X: 94fps
Clock-for-clock comparison (Turbo disabled)
Cinebench R10 multi-thread
Intel Core i7-2600K @ 2.9GHz: 46s
Intel Core i7-870 @ 2.9GHz: 51s
Cinebench R10 single-thread
Intel Core i7-2600K @ 2.9GHz: 3m 5s
Intel Core i7-870 @ 2.9GHz: 3m 28s
x264 HD video encode
Intel Core i7-2600K @ 2.9GHz: 27fps
Intel Core i7-870 @ 2.9GHz: 25fps
World in Conflict
Intel Core i7-2600K @ 2.9GHz: 88fps
Intel Core i7-870 @ 2.9GHz: 77fps
Integrated graphics
Call of Duty 4 @ 1,280 x 800
Intel Core i7-2600K – HD Graphics 3000: 32fps
Intel Core i5-655K – HD Graphics: 14fps
World in Conflict @ 800 x 600
Intel Core i7-2600K – HD Graphics 3000: 22fps
Intel Core i5-655K – HD Graphics: 8fps
Quick Sync Video transcode engine
720p H.264 encode in software
Intel Core i7-2600K: 45s
720p H.264 encodewith Quick Sync Video
Intel Core i7-2600K: 12s
AWS, Azure and Google Cloud credentials from old accounts are putting businesses at risk
This AI art app is so good I'm ready to cancel my Photoshop subscription
Build your own super mini PC with this $338 AMD AM5 barebone workstation that has OCuLink, two 2.5Gb LAN ports and can drive four 8K monitors once you add a GPU to its dock
