Compared: Core2Quad vs. i7 hi-res gaming performance

[SamHughe]

EDIT: UPDATED WITH i7 OCed to 3GHZ RESULTS!

There has been a debate on whether Core i7 family processors offer any advantage in gaming or upgrading to core i7 system (for gaming)is just a waste of time. (Read it HERE, HERE and HERE)

Since I recently switched to core i7 setup from a Core2 Quad setup, I have decided to do some tests and share the results with you guys.

This is not an overclocking test or even a comparison between cpus. The main goal of this review to show how much gain one can get on hi-res-all-eye-candy gaming by going from socket 775 cpu to socket 1366 cpu with the rest of the system is identical.

I already did some tests on hi-res gaming between 2 different video cards (evga285 vs Sapphire 4890 which is factory overclocked to 901/1000). You can find it HERE.

Stock clocks on my hd4890s


So when I switched to i7 setup, I repeated those tests and here are the results.

First the contestants:


Here’s the cpu info from intel:



I did a total of 5 tests. 3 games (Fallout, HL2, and Crysis Demo). All the eye candy were enabled in the games plus maximum AA, AAF. I also compared the performance on 3Dmark06 and 3DMark Vantage (Performance setting).
Fraps was used to benchmark the games. I predetermined a good spot in game and saved it. Then I decided what to do, where to go and rehearsed several times to minimize the variability. Finally, I benchmarked them with fraps for 5 minutes.

Game 1: HL2 (res 1920x1200, everything maxed)


Game 2: Fallout3 (HD pack, real eyes mod, Hd pipboy mode, res 1920x1200, everything maxed out, res cap removed)


Game 3: Crysis Demo (Real Lifesis mod, res 1920x1200, 8xAA)


3DMark06:


Vantage (Performance setting)


There you go. I think results speak for themselves. Please note that CPUs are all stock. So 3.0ghz Q5650 were compared to 2.66ghz i 920. Also I used the same OS in both settings (one of the advantages of having a separate raid card) so I don’t know if the results would differ much if I reinstalled the OS between the switch. I am going to install Win7 in couple of days anyway, so I’ll report if there is any significant difference in performance.