Render Tests
CineBench 10
This rendering benchmark based off of the Cinema 4D engine is a terrific indicator for multi-threaded processing.

Intel Core i5-661 Clarkdale Processor Review - Westmere debuts - Processors 95

Intel Core i5-661 Clarkdale Processor Review - Westmere debuts - Processors 96

Intel Core i5-661 Clarkdale Processor Review - Westmere debuts - Processors 97

The single threaded performance proves that the Westmere design works pretty well – it matches the performance of Lynnfield and Bloomfield.  However, under the multi-threaded test the Core i5-661 is only faster than the Core 2 E8500 processor; even the Q8400 and the Q9650 pass it easily.


POV-Ray 3.7 Beta
POV-Ray has long been the poster child for multi-threaded processing and rendering.

Intel Core i5-661 Clarkdale Processor Review - Westmere debuts - Processors 98

Intel Core i5-661 Clarkdale Processor Review - Westmere debuts - Processors 99

The same result is seen here in our POV-Ray benchmark – the dual-core HyperThreaded Core i5-661 beats the Core 2 E8500 but falls just behind the Core 2 Quad parts.


Blender

Blender is a free open source 3D engine that is a popular choice amongst college students and small developers.

Intel Core i5-661 Clarkdale Processor Review - Westmere debuts - Processors 100

Intel Core i5-661 Clarkdale Processor Review - Westmere debuts - Processors 101

What we are obviously seeing in all of these benchmark scores is the performance differences between two cores with HyperThreading and four “natural” cores. 

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