Xeon W3550 vs Core i7-920

Description

The W3550 is based on architecture while the i7-920 is based on Nehalem Westmere.

Using the multithread performance as a reference, the W3550 gets a score of 73.2 k points while the i7-920 gets 47.2 k points.

Summarizing, the W3550 is 1.6 times faster than the i7-920 . To get a proper comparison between both models, take a look to the data shown below.

Specs

W3550

i7-920

CPUID

106a5

Core

Bloomfield

Architecture

Base frecuency

3.066 GHz

2.667 GHz

Boost frecuency

3.333 GHz

2.993 GHz

Socket

LGA 1366

Cores/Threads

4 /4

4/8

TDP

130 W

Cache L1 (d+i)

64 kB

32+32 kB

Cache L2

256 kB

Cache L3

8192 kB

Date

August 2009

November 2008

Mean monothread perf.

20.24k points

16.33k points

Mean multithread perf.

73.21k points

47.2k points

Non-optimized benchmark

The benchmark in Mode 0 (FPU) measures cpu performance with non-optimized software. It uses the basic µinstructions from the i386 architecture with the i387 floating point unit. This mode is compatible with all CPUs so it's practical to compare very different CPUs

Monothread

W3550

i7-920

Test#1 (Integers)

2.3k

1.97k (x0.85)

Test#2 (FP)

5.21k

4.43k (x0.85)

Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)

3.31k

2.75k (x0.83)

Test#1 (Memory)

3.09k

2.53k (x0.82)

TOTAL

13.92k

11.68k (x0.84)

Multithread

W3550

i7-920

Test#1 (Integers)

8.75k

7.71k (x0.88)

Test#2 (FP)

19.8k

18.81k (x0.95)

Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)

12.38k

13.76k (x1.11)

Test#1 (Memory)

6.17k

5.07k (x0.82)

TOTAL

47.09k

45.34k (x0.96)

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

W3550

i7-920

Test#1 (Integers)

8.34k

6.12k (x0.73)

Test#2 (FP)

5.56k

4.76k (x0.86)

Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)

3.26k

2.78k (x0.85)

Test#1 (Memory)

3.08k

2.67k (x0.87)

TOTAL

20.24k

16.33k (x0.81)

Multithread

W3550

i7-920

Test#1 (Integers)

32.5k

19.26k (x0.59)

Test#2 (FP)

21.59k

14.96k (x0.69)

Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)

12.85k

8.05k (x0.63)

Test#1 (Memory)

6.27k

4.92k (x0.78)

TOTAL

73.21k

47.2k (x0.64)

Performance/W

W3550

i7-920

Test#1 (Integers)

250 points/W

148 points/W

Test#2 (FP)

166 points/W

115 points/W

Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)

99 points/W

62 points/W

Test#1 (Memory)

48 points/W

38 points/W

TOTAL

563 points/W

363 points/W

Performance/GHz

W3550

i7-920

Test#1 (Integers)

2502 points/GHz

2044 points/GHz

Test#2 (FP)

1669 points/GHz

1591 points/GHz

Test#3 (Generic, ZIP)

978 points/GHz

930 points/GHz

Test#1 (Memory)

925 points/GHz

891 points/GHz

TOTAL

6073 points/GHz

5457 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]

Test#2 (FP) [points vs time]

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

Test#1 (Memory) [points vs time]

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]

Test#2 (FP) [points vs time]

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

Test#1 (Memory) [points vs time]

Hardlimit Benchmark Central - Ver. 3.11.4