The newly introduced Intel Core i7 series of CPUs pack several interesting technologies and the inclusion of the memory controller at the chipset further boosts memory performance. The Intel Core i7-920 is the lowest-priced product but still, its ~€290 retail price makes it quiet expensive for entry level users. In addition, the newly introduced socket LGA 1366 requires a new chipset to work with and all the currently available X58 motherboards are very expensive. Finally, in order to maximize the platform's performance you do need to invest on new triple-channel DDR3 memory. In short, in order to get a system running, you have to spend around €700+ and get at least a 30% higher performance than an Intel C2Q9300 processor.

The question might be who would be benefited from such an investment... There are many power users who always seek to get the latest and fastest systems and thus, they are willing to spend money for it. The X58 is a gaming platform that also supports both ATI's Crossfire and Nvidia's SLI technologies, simplifying future graphics setups.

However we feel that not many users are looking for such high-priced solutions, unless you cannot do without playing your games at resolutions of 1920+ ..

Getting down to the facts, the Intel Core i7-920 is much faster than any currently sold C2D/C2Q processor. The embedded memory controller does the job very well and as it was expected, the overclocking margins are very wide. We managed to overclock the CPU more than 1.0GHz higher than its nominal clock,

However, have in mind that such overclocking attempts require to install an aftermarket CPU cooling cooling since the produced heat is high, despite the 45nm manufacturing process.

Getting to the high-end Intel Core i7-965 requires a fortune but this processor is multiplier unlocked, so it might offer you much more space for overclocking.

We feel that gamers would be more benefited by an Intel E8500/8600 processor after overclocking, since not many games are currently taking full advantage of the new i7 CPUs. So at least for now, we think that the investment is weak. Prices are expected to decline in more than 6 months from now, according to industry sources. But with Intel already talking about a "new" LGA platform that will come some time in the middle of 2009, we feel that the i7 series will hardly power the mainstream PCs.