Intel Clarkdale Core i5 Desktop Processor Debuts

Name: Intel Clarkdale Core i5 Desktop Processor Debuts - Page 14
Brand: Intel

by Marco Chiappetta — Sunday, January 03, 2010, 12:01 AM EDT

We'd like to cover a few final data points before bringing this article to a close. Throughout all of our benchmarking and testing, we monitored how much power our test systems consumed using a power meter. Our goal was to give you all an idea as to how much power each configuration used while idling and while under a heavy workload. Please keep in mind that we were testing total system power consumption at the outlet here, not just the power being drawn by the processors alone.

Total System Power Consumption

Tested at the Outlet

The Core i5 661 is one heck of a power-friendly processor, when paired with the right components. With the Core i5 661 utilizing its integrated graphics core, it is the lowest power option by a wide margin. Its idle power is close to the Phenom / 785G combo, but the Core i5 661's load power is significantly lower than anything else. When paired with a powerful discreet graphics card like the GTX 280, total system power consumption goes way up, but once again the Core i5 661 consumes the least amount of power, although by a much smaller margin.

Tags: Intel, HD, graphics, GPU, CPU, 32nm, processor, Core i5

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com