The Intel Core i7 860 Review

by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 18, 2009 12:00 AM EST

Adobe Photoshop CS4 Performance

To measure performance under Photoshop CS4 we turn to the Retouch Artists’ Speed Test. The test does basic photo editing; there are a couple of color space conversions, many layer creations, color curve adjustment, image and canvas size adjustment, unsharp mask, and finally a gaussian blur performed on the entire image.

The whole process is timed and thanks to the use of Intel's X25-M SSD as our test bed hard drive, performance is far more predictable than back when we used to test on mechanical disks.

Time is reported in seconds and the lower numbers mean better performance. The test is multithreaded and can hit all four cores in a quad-core machine.

Adobe Photoshop CS4 - Retouch Artists Speed Test

While the Core i5 750 couldn't beat the i7 920, the 860 can. Thanks to Hyper Threading and a higher base clock speed, Lynnfield proves to be an able performer.

SYSMark 2007 Performance Video Encoding Performance
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  • blyndy - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link

    Intel Core i7 920
    214 / $284 = 0.75 SYSmarks per $

    Intel Core i7 870
    233 / $562 = 0.41 SYSmarks per $

    Intel Core i7 860
    223 / $284 = 0.79 SYSmarks per $

    Intel Core i5 750
    217 / 196 = 1.11 SYSmarks per $

    AMD Athlon II X4 620
    147 / 99 = 1.48 SYSmarks per $
  • yacoub - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link

    Your prices are wrong. The 860 is $230, which makes it 0.97 SYSmarks per $.
    The 750 is $160, which means 1.36 SYSmarks per $ by your measurement.
  • johnsonx - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link

    I just love it when someone quotes some below cost, loss-leader sale price they heard about somewhere once to prove a value arguement.
  • yacoub - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link

    You mean "on-going, still valid sale prices that you can get today".
  • stanljl - Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - link

    Most of the US doesn't live reasonable close to the 21 cities that have microcenters. In cause you haven't looked there really aren't that many locations so "on-going, still valid sale prices you can get today", really doesn't apply to the vast majority of the people in the country.
  • strikeback03 - Monday, September 21, 2009 - link

    It is a valid price, but please add the disclaimer "If you have a microcenter nearby" instead of just pretending those are widely available prices. I plan on buying a processor when I help my parents move down near Philly next month, otherwise I (like most) don't have a Microcenter anywhere nearby.
  • formulav8 - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link

    Yeah with only 2% of the people able to get one at near that price. Quoting an obvious loss leader as valid pricing for those looking it nutty. Newegg or ZZF is a much better gauge of price.
  • NA1NSXR - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link

    Who cares, let him pay up. Nothing on P55 has made me regret getting that $200 D0 920. Nothing. Not even close. The OC, heat, and platform pricing advantages all failed to materialize.

    The 920 is not a 2.66Mhz bloomfield. It is a 3.8GHz chip supporting the fullest featured consumer platform at the moment.
  • kilkennycat - Saturday, September 19, 2009 - link

    Where? Where? Where? From a reputable supplier and with in-stock delivery, of course.

    Newegg and ZipZoomFly: 860 $299
    850 $199
  • mgivler - Monday, September 21, 2009 - link

    Microcenter, for in-store purchase. I purchased an i7 860 last week for $229. The i5 750 is cheaper, $159 seems right.

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