Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Quad-Core

For the last of our non-gaming related benchmarks, we will spin each CPU through both 7-Zip and Futuremark’s 3D Mark and PC Mark. 7-Zip is an interesting benchmark, because results can depend entirely on the settings you choose. By default, the LZMA algorithm is used to compress your files, but it’s very slow overall and will use no more than two cores in your system. Bzip2, however, utilizes all four cores and is faster regardless.

As a comparison, LZMA took 1,385 seconds on our E6600, while Bzip2 took 801. The differences in outputted file size was that the Bzip2 method was 10MB larger. For a 3.85GB file, I will take the much faster speed over 10MB. So, Bzip2 is the algorithm used here.

Both quad-cores performed exceptionally here, though the extra frequency can also make quite a large difference.

Though Futuremarks products usefulness are often disputed, we like to include them because they somewhat accurately show how one CPUs power will compare to another by giving a single clean number. 3D Mark 06 stresses the CPU in such a way an actual game would, while PC Mark puts it through tests based on real-world scenarios.

PC Mark doesn’t push the CPU enough to access all four cores, but even then, we almost hit the 10,000 mark. This is quite impressive for any CPU at stock speed. Will Penryn help us break the 10K mark?