After Benchmarks where leaked of the Nehalem with an HD4850, MaximumPC wanted to test this themselves by making one of their hardware contacts to let them in their lab and test it out. They got the Intel Desktop version of Nehalem which is named "Bloomfield" and an Intel D58XSO "Smackover" motherboard.
The sample was a 2.93GHz Bloomfield which will be in the mid-range of the three desktop Bloomfield expected by the end of this year. The first thing you'll notice is that the new chip is actually lighter than the previous Core 2 Quad (Compared with a Q6700) although it is slightly bigger. For such a reason, previous LGA775 heat sinks will not be compatible with the new Socket LGA1366. Some manufacturers may produce a new mounting bracket to make it work with the LGA1366 although I personally doubt many companies will do that.
 |
|
Comparing a Q6700 with the Bloomfield
|
|
 |
|
Comparing a Q6700 with the Bloomfield
|
|
 |
|
Bigger CPU comes with a Bigger Heat sink
|
|
 |
|
Bigger CPU comes with a Bigger Heat sink
|
|
When testing RAM, the biggest difference was when going from Single to Dual-Channel but from Dual to Triple-Channel didn't seem to make a big impact on performance. Please note that more performance will be gained when Motherboard and RAM vendors tweak their SPDs. The test they made was with DDR3 1333MHz. Results can be different when using higher speeds like 1600MHz, 1800MHz or even higher.
 |
|
LGA1366 vs LGA775
|
|
 |
|
LGA1366 vs LGA775
|
|
 |
|
LGA1366 vs LGA775
|
|
 |
|
Individual-Channel RAM Slots.
|
|
Now, regarding SLI, it will only be available with vendors who integrate Nvidia's nForce 200 chips into the boards (like XFX and EVGA). Please note that not all X58 motherboard vendors will support SLI although recent story quoted on Digitimes.com says that few were interested in even making the SLI Bridge. However, motherboard vendors say that it's hard adopting it.
 |
|
PCI-E 2.0
|
|
 |
|
Getting their hands on the Bloomfield CPU
|
|
 |
|
Installing the system
|
|
 |
|
Installing the system
|
|
 |
|
Nehalem System installed with an HD4870
|
|
 |
|
System up and running
|
|
 |
|
CPU-Z Screen Shot
|
|
 |
|
Task Manager
|
|
First Lieutenant Matt
