Core i7-970 "cheapest" Intel six-core on shelves around the world

[OhNoes!]

Don't put too much hope on benchmarks, some of them are rigged (benchmarketing) by the compilers (intel), processors which doesn't carry the GenuineIntel cpuids' will be compiled to run in non-optimized code, thus the lower benchmark scores & performance in some apps. It's part of the anti-trust case against Intel.

Be an informed user and buyer.

http://www.vanshardware.com/articles...el_SysMark.htm
http://www.osnews.com/story/22683/In...from_Compiler_
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/revi...o-review.ars/6
http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news...substance.aspx



How many benchmarks are run using the same cpuid for different brands of cpu?

Uh oh!, you're opening a can of worms. It's simple, really:

Run vendor agnostic benchmarks or even real world apps on linux and windows that have no such compiler code and the results are relatively same. If you're in doubt, check SPEC results for AMD vs Intel server processors, the results are replicated on the desktop.