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

Name: Intel Core i7-2600K and i5-2500K Processors Debut - Page 18
Brand: Intel

by Marco Chiappetta — Sunday, January 02, 2011, 11:59 AM EDT

Throughout all of our benchmarking and testing, we also 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 new Sandy Bridge based processors and companion 6-series chipsets offer power consumption that's nothing short of impressive. Under load, despite being arguably Intel's fastest quad-core desktop processor to date, the Core i7-2600K-based system consumed only 172 watts when using Intel's DP67BG motherboard. And that number jumps to only 196 watts when using the Asus P8P67 Deluxe. The only thing that consumed less power was a Core i5 clocked close to 1GHz lower. And look at what the Core i5-2500K can do when installed in the DH67BL and using integrated graphics--load power is lower than idle power on any other platform.

We should point out that the increased power consumption of the 2600K when installed on the Asus motherboard is a result of the additional integrated components of the P8P67 Deluxe in addition to slightly higher default voltages.

Tags: Intel, CPU, processor, Chipset, Enterprise, Sandy Bridge, P67, Socket 1155

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