Intel Core I5 750 and P55 review

This review is 6 months late because i postpone it due to contact pin issue with foxconn socket and forget after the issue is kept under control. But even after this extremely long period of time in the ever changing IT hardware industry, this cpu is still very much relevant for some time to come. Something interesting to note is that the IT hardware have started to slow down during 2009 due to various reasons. Firstly is the economic meltdown during that period causing massive drop in consumer purchase capability thus reduce purchase for luxury goods like high end computer. Second is lack of competition in both cpu and gpu sector due to lackluster performance from AMD cpu and lack of any new flagship product from nvidia gpu architecture for a depressing 14 months and counting...
Now back to Core I5 itself. I5 750 is based on lynnfield architecture which also featured in I7...?! Yes, I7 have 2 architecture which is the original bloomfield and the newcomer lynnfield while I5 is lynnfield only... I m sorry, thats 6 months ago and the naming scheme is now a massive nightmare that i have to dedicate at least a whole blogpost clearing the doubt from less IT savvy people which i have no intention or patience to do it. So below is the hopefully simpler version.

Wecolme to the wonderful paradise of intel marketing:
I7 980X=Gulftown, 6/12 core. TB. 3x memory channel
I7 9xx(excluding 980X)=Bloomfield, 4/8 core. TB. 3x memory channel
I7 8xx=lynnfield, 4/8 core. TB. 2x memory channel
I5 7xx=lynnfield, 4/4 core. TB. 2x memory channel
I5 6xx=Clarkdale, 2/4 core TB. 2x memory channel. Integreted GPU
I3 5xx=Clarkdale, 2/4 core. no TB. 2x memory channel. Integreted GPU
*(x/y)core x=physical core. y= computation thread
**TB = Turbo boost

Now lets start the review proper...

Overall-9/10

Performance-8/10
No way it could match the recent released 6 core 32nm monster based on gulftown, but the problem now is few applications could efficently multi thread its workload. Without hyper threading, 750 have 4 physical core and processing threads which gives is a disadvantage in applications that could scale up to 8 working threads like video encoding or final rendering. If you are one of the user working on above applications or have done research regarding your applications' mulit threading capability it is best you get I7 8xx and above.By any chance you are a gamer, 750 actually provides performance on par or even better due to hyper threading causing lower performance in huge amount of games. But as game developers start to grasp the ability to code games to process in multi thread environment, 750 will take a observable hit if that time comes. Having said that, I5 750 still can crunch codes come its way efficently from what most general users can throw at it, and still hold true 6 months after its release.
Due to cost reduction is one of the key design criterial in designing lynnfield, it only have 2 memory channel to communicate with RAM and only has 16 PCIE lane for the gpu. The memory channel reduce the bandwidth to 2/3 of bloomfiel but have no real impact on real life scenario. While the 16 PCIE lane will be split to 8x/8x in dual GPU configuration which will hurt the performance pretty bad, so if you going to get SLI or crossfire, P55 series isnt your cup of tea.

Thermal-6/10
Mentioned 6 months earlier, the heatsink fan provided by lynnfield is UNACCEPTABLE. The cpu isnt a thermal nuclear reactor like pentium 4 prescott but the miniature heatsink provided by intel is going to make it look and behave like one. Aftermarket HSF is a MUST for overclocking or tight, small enclosure.

Overclocking-9/10
Almost every sample could hit at least 4ghz, thats about where bloomfield maximum frequency ends too.In fact, I5 750 could hit higher speed, reducing the amount of voltage required and heat dissipated, due to the lack of hyper threading. So that means this CPU could match the performance of high end bloomfield in non Hyper threading scenario...
But dont go too extreme if you are early adopters like me using foxconn manufactured cpu retention clips which doesnt lock the cpu pins tight enough for insane power loads. If you are unsure if your socket is affected, just keep the voltage below 1.4v and you would be fine.

Value-10/10
Currently the cpu itself cost 300+SGD, while you pay 100+SGD more for a hyper threading enabled lynnfield. P55 which is the platform for lynnfield and clarkdale cost significantly cheaper than X58 which is required for bloomfield and gulftown.So expect to save at least 300sgd in total just for motherboard and cpu only compared to I7 930+ X58 mobo.The cost get lower if you consider that X58 require 3 stick of RAM for triple channel while P55 require only 2 sick of RAM. And i did mention it can match the flagship in applications like games after overclocking, so if you are a gamer that dont require multi GPU setup, look no further than I5 750.