Testing Configurations and System Setup

For our testing you will find the new Core i7-990X pitted against basically everything else Intel makes and much of the best AMD can offer in high performance processors. The testing configuration remains the same as our previous Nehalem-based tests though obviously we used the new DX58SO2 motherboard instead.

One thing that is going to be interesting to compare: how the Core i7-990X stands up to the Sandy Bridge based Core i7-2600K processor. Though they are two different architectures, they share a lot of heritage and we will likely see interesting comparisons in terms of single threaded tests and those more highly threaded options. Since the Core i7-2600K can scale just as well (if not better) with the newer Turbo Boost implementation, it might create interesting competition for the Nehalem-based $999 CPU at times.

Testing Configuration

  • Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition
  • Intel DX58SO2 X58 Extreme Series Motherboard
  • 3 x 2GB Corsair DDR3-1333
  • GeForce GTX 285 – 270.xx driver
  • Intel X25-M G2 160GB SSD
  • Windows 7 x64

Our CPU testing software remains mostly the same as we await the launch of AMD’s Bulldozer parts to completely revamp things here at PC Perspective. Our mix of real-world tests, synthetic applications and testing suites gives us a very good view of overall processor and system performance.

Let’s get on to the testing!

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