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Core i7-950 vs Xeon W3520


Description
The i7-950 is based on Westmere architecture while the W3520 is based on Nehalem.

Using the multithread performance as a reference, the i7-950 gets a score of 76.3 k points while the W3520 gets 73.2 k points.

Summarizing, the i7-950 is 1 times faster than the W3520 . To get a proper comparison between both models, take a look to the data shown below.

Specs
CPUID
106a5
106a5
Core
Bloomfield
Nehalem-WS
Architecture
Base frecuency
3.066 GHz
2.667 GHz
Boost frecuency
3.333 GHz
2.933 GHz
Socket
LGA 1366
LGA 1366
Cores/Threads
4/4
4 /8
TDP
130 W
130 W
Cache L1 (d+i)
4x32+4x32 kB
4x32+x4x32 kB
Cache L2
256 kB
4x256 kB
Cache L3
8192 kB
8192 kB
Date
June 2009
March 2009
Mean monothread perf.
19.46k points
17.96k points
Mean multithread perf.
76.29k points
73.16k points

SSE3 optimized benchmark
The benchmark in mode I (SSE) is optimized for the use of SIMD instructions with 128 bits register and the SSE set up to version 3. Nearly every modern CPU has support for this mode.
Monothread
i7-950
W3520
Test#1 (Integers)
8.01k
7.35k (x0.92)
Test#2 (FP)
5.38k
4.89k (x0.91)
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
3.11k
2.9k (x0.93)
Test#1 (Memory)
2.96k
2.82k (x0.95)
TOTAL
19.46k
17.96k (x0.92)

Multithread

i7-950

W3520
Test#1 (Integers)
31.53k
29.69k (x0.94)
Test#2 (FP)
24.16k
22.26k (x0.92)
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
15.84k
14.91k (x0.94)
Test#1 (Memory)
4.75k
6.29k (x1.32)
TOTAL
76.29k
73.16k (x0.96)

Performance/W
i7-950
W3520
Test#1 (Integers)
243 points/W
228 points/W
Test#2 (FP)
186 points/W
171 points/W
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
122 points/W
115 points/W
Test#1 (Memory)
37 points/W
48 points/W
TOTAL
587 points/W
563 points/W

Performance/GHz
i7-950
W3520
Test#1 (Integers)
2403 points/GHz
2506 points/GHz
Test#2 (FP)
1614 points/GHz
1669 points/GHz
Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)
934 points/GHz
989 points/GHz
Test#1 (Memory)
888 points/GHz
960 points/GHz
TOTAL
5839 points/GHz
6123 points/GHz

Monothread performance graph
Monothread performance graphics gives the performance vs time. They are useful to measure the time it takes to the CPU to reach the maximum performance.

Usually, CPU's performance will be steady during these tests but if it has a slow frequency strategy, the first samples will show a lower score.


Test#1 (Integers) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#2 (FP) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#3 (Generic, ZIP) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#1 (Memory) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com

Multithread performance graph
Multithread graphs measure the performance against a heavy load during certain time.

If CPU's TDP doesn't limit the frequency and the machine is properly cooled, performance should remain steady vs time. Otherwise, the performance score will oscillate or decrease over time.


Test#1 (Integers) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#2 (FP) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#3 (Generic, ZIP) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com


Test#1 (Memory) [points vs time]

grafica bm.hardlimit.com

Hardlimit Benchmark Central - Ver. 3.11.4