Intel Core i7-2600K and i5-2500K Processors Debut

Next up, we ran a number of different test systems through Futuremark’s latest system performance metric, PCMark Vantage. PCMark Vantage runs through a host of different usage scenarios to simulate different types of workloads including High Definition TV and movie playback and manipulation, gaming, image editing and manipulation, music compression, communications, and productivity.  Most of the tests are multi-threaded as well, so the tests can exploit the additional resources offered by a multi-core CPU.

The new Core i5-2500K and Core i7-2600K processor performed very well in the various PCMark Vantage tests. Here, the Core i7-2600K kept pace with or beat the Core i7-975, which was previously Intel's fastest quad-core processor. And the Core i5-2500K made mince-meat of the Core i5-750, also a quad-core with no HT. AMD's processors, regardless of how many cores they had, finished well behind Sandy Bridge, and the 6-core Intel Core i7-980X remained the fastest CPU overall.