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  • IntelВ® Coreв„ў i7-2600: The Best Intel CPU Money Can Buy
Technology Articles > Hardware > Processors > IntelВ® Coreв„ў i7-2600: The Best Intel CPU Money Can Buy

Intel Core i7-2600 is based on Intel’s new Sandy Bridge architecture that uses 32nm manufacturing
technology. The processor has 4 physical cores clocked at 3.4 GHz for extreme performance and with
Hyper-Threading enabled; the number of logical cores is doubled to 8, which means up to 8 threads
can be processed at an instance boosting performance with the multithreaded applications. The
processor also has a feature called Turbo Boost which gradually increases the clock speed to match
the increasing workload. The maximum Turbo Boost frequency is 3.8 GHz per core.

The Core i7-2600 processor has 64 KB L1 cache memory per core, 256 KB L2 cache memory per core
and an 8 MB L3 Advanced Smart Cache memory. The Advanced Smart Cache dynamically allocates
memory to each core depending upon the workload. This has the 4 cores making efficient, optimized
use of the L3 cache for enhanced performance.

The Core i7-2600 processor also has an integrated DDR3 memory controller that supports 1066/
1333 MHz DDR3 memory up to 32 GB using dual channel memory technology. Since, the processor
can access two memory channels; the total effective memory bandwidth becomes 21 GBps. The
lower latency of an integrated memory controller coupled with high effective memory bandwidth
delivers excellent performance for data-hungry applications.

The Core i7-2600 processor has a built in GPU with a base frequency of 850 MHz which can go up to
1.35 GHz in turbo mode. While this enables users to play immersive mainstream and casual games
without the need of a graphics card, the area where it really shines is the video encoding and HD/
Blu-ray/3D Blu-ray playback in 1080p (Full HD) resolution thanks to the built-in Intel Quick Sync
Video, Intel HD Graphics and Intel Clear Video HD Technology.

During tests, the Core i7-2600 yielded frame rates of 40-60 fps for FPS games such as Call of Duty:
Modern Warfare 2 and Wolfenstein (2009) at 1024x768 resolution, while RTS such as World of
Warcraft and Dawn of War II yielded frame rates of 35-45 fps at 1024x768 resolution. The video
encoding tests show that Core i7-2600 is 15-20% than its competitors; for e.g. it took about 90
seconds to convert a 5 MB MPEG-2 video file to x264 format using 2-pass with Core i7-2600 while it
took about 104 seconds to do the same task with a competing processor. The HD and Blu-ray video
playback at 1080p (Full HD) was crisp and clear without any flickering or stuttering.

Processor Number - i7-2600

Cores/Threads - 4/8

Clock Speed - 3.4 GHz

Max Turbo Frequency - 3.8 GHz

IntelВ® Smart Cache - 8 MB

Bus/Core Ratio - 34

Instruction set - 64-bit

Instruction Set Extensions - SSE4.1/4.2, AVX

Embedded Options Available - Yes

Lithography - 32 nm

Max Memory Size - 32 GB

Memory Types - DDR3-1066/1333

Number of Memory Channels - 2

Max Memory Bandwidth - 21 GB/s

Integrated Graphics - Yes

IntelВ® HD Graphics - Yes

IntelВ® HD Graphics with Dynamic Frequency - Yes

Graphics Base Frequency - 850 MHz

Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency - 1.35 GHz

IntelВ® Quick Sync Video- Yes

IntelВ® InTRUв„ў 3D Technology - Yes

IntelВ® Flexible Display Interface (IntelВ® FDI) - Yes

IntelВ® Clear Video HD Technology - Yes

Dual Display Capable - Yes

PCI Express Revision - 2.0

Number of PCI Express Ports - 1

Max CPU Configuration - 1

Package Size - 37.5mm x 37.5mm

Sockets Supported - LGA1155

Halogen Free Options Available - Yes

IntelВ® Turbo Boost Technology - 2.0

IntelВ® Hyper-Threading Technology - Yes

IntelВ® Virtualization Technology (VT-x) - Yes

IntelВ® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) - Yes

IntelВ® Trusted Execution Technology - Yes

AES New Instructions - Yes

Enhanced Intel SpeedStepВ® Technology- Yes

Thermal Monitoring Technologies - Yes

IntelВ® Fast Memory Access - Yes

IntelВ® Flex Memory Access - Yes

Execute Disable Bit - Yes

The Intel Core i7-2600 processor not only offers great multi-core performance, but also gives
entry level graphics card a run for money. The Intel Core i7-2600 processor is ideally suitable for
multimedia/graphics professionals and also has many advanced features which make it suitable for
resource intensive business applications, virtualization, HTPC and casual gaming.

The Intel Core i7-2600 is priced at $295. The box contains the Intel Core i7-2600 processor, fan/heat-
sink cooling solution, warranty booklet, and Intel Inside logo label.