The Core i7 980X Review: Intel's First 6-Core Desktop CPU

Extreme Edition: 2010 vs. 2008 vs. 2005

Last year I dusted off two CPUs from 2005 and included them in Bench - the Pentium 4 660 and Pentium Extreme Edition 955. You can still compare any modern CPU to those chips in Bench, but to show how far we've come I've included the Pentium Extreme Edition 955 in today's review.

Pentium Extreme Edition 955 (left) and Pentium 4 660 (right)

When it was brand new, the 3.46GHz Pentium EE 955 cost $999. Five years later, it gets to go up against its namesake carrying the same price tag.

I've also included the Core 2 Extreme QX9770, the fastest Core 2 Quad processor that was ever sold:

In 2008 the 3.2GHz chip sold for over $1000 and remains the only desktop Intel CPU to require a 1600MHz FSB. It was indeed the last of a dying breed.