Intel Pentium E5500 vs Intel Core i7-950

Comparative analysis of Intel Pentium E5500 and Intel Core i7-950 processors for all known characteristics in the following categories: Essentials, Performance, Memory, Compatibility, Security & Reliability, Advanced Technologies, Virtualization. Benchmark processor performance analysis: PassMark - Single thread mark, PassMark - CPU mark, Geekbench 4 - Single Core, Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core, 3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score, CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s), CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s).

Intel Pentium E5500

Intel Core i7-950

Differences

Reasons to consider the Intel Pentium E5500

CPU is newer: launch date 10 month(s) later
Around 9% higher maximum core temperature: 74.1°C vs 67.9°C
2x more L2 cache, more data can be stored in the L2 cache for quick access later
2x lower typical power consumption: 65 Watt vs 130 Watt

Launch date	April 2010 vs June 2009
Maximum core temperature	74.1°C vs 67.9°C
L2 cache	2048 KB (shared) vs 256 KB (per core)
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt vs 130 Watt

Reasons to consider the Intel Core i7-950

2 more cores, run more applications at once: 4 vs 2
Around 19% higher clock speed: 3.33 GHz vs 2.8 GHz
2x more L1 cache, more data can be stored in the L1 cache for quick access later
Around 22% better performance in PassMark - Single thread mark: 1380 vs 1134
3.1x better performance in PassMark - CPU mark: 3222 vs 1040
Around 63% better performance in Geekbench 4 - Single Core: 535 vs 328
3.7x better performance in Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core: 2092 vs 567

Specifications (specs)
Number of cores	4 vs 2
Maximum frequency	3.33 GHz vs 2.8 GHz
L1 cache	64 KB (per core) vs 64 KB (per core)
Benchmarks
PassMark - Single thread mark	1380 vs 1134
PassMark - CPU mark	3222 vs 1040
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	535 vs 328
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	2092 vs 567

Compare benchmarks

CPU 1: Intel Pentium E5500
CPU 2: Intel Core i7-950

PassMark - Single thread mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1134

1380

PassMark - CPU mark

CPU 1

CPU 2

1040

3222

Geekbench 4 - Single Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

328

535

Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core

CPU 1

CPU 2

567

2092

Name	Intel Pentium E5500	Intel Core i7-950
PassMark - Single thread mark	1134	1380
PassMark - CPU mark	1040	3222
Geekbench 4 - Single Core	328	535
Geekbench 4 - Multi-Core	567	2092
3DMark Fire Strike - Physics Score		2502
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Face Detection (mPixels/s)		1.028
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Ocean Surface Simulation (Frames/s)		61.244
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - T-Rex (Frames/s)		0.376
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Video Composition (Frames/s)		1.712
CompuBench 1.5 Desktop - Bitcoin Mining (mHash/s)		5.077

Compare specifications (specs)

	Intel Pentium E5500	Intel Core i7-950
Essentials
Architecture codename	Wolfdale	Bloomfield
Launch date	April 2010	June 2009
Launch price (MSRP)	$109	$290
Place in performance rating	2637	2639
Price now	$19.99	$329.99
Processor Number	E5500	i7-950
Series	Legacy Intel® Pentium® Processor	Legacy Intel® Core™ Processors
Status	Discontinued	Discontinued
Value for money (0-100)	24.15	4.96
Vertical segment	Desktop	Desktop
Performance
64 bit support
Base frequency	2.80 GHz	3.06 GHz
Bus Speed	800 MHz FSB	4.8 GT/s QPI
Die size	82 mm2	263 mm2
L1 cache	64 KB (per core)	64 KB (per core)
L2 cache	2048 KB (shared)	256 KB (per core)
Manufacturing process technology	45 nm	45 nm
Maximum core temperature	74.1°C	67.9°C
Maximum frequency	2.8 GHz	3.33 GHz
Number of cores	2	4
Transistor count	228 million	731 million
VID voltage range	0.8500V-1.3625V	0.800V-1.375V
Front-side bus (FSB)		1333 MHz
L3 cache		8192 KB (shared)
Number of QPI Links		1
Number of threads		8
Memory
Supported memory types	DDR1, DDR2, DDR3	DDR3 800/1066
Max memory channels		3
Maximum memory bandwidth		25.6 GB/s
Maximum memory size		24 GB
Compatibility
Low Halogen Options Available
Max number of CPUs in a configuration	1	1
Package Size	37.5mm x 37.5mm	42.5mm x 45.0mm
Sockets supported	LGA775	FCLGA1366
Thermal Design Power (TDP)	65 Watt	130 Watt
Security & Reliability
Execute Disable Bit (EDB)
Intel® Trusted Execution technology (TXT)
Advanced Technologies
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology
Idle States
Intel 64
Intel® AES New Instructions
Intel® Demand Based Switching
Intel® Hyper-Threading technology
Intel® Turbo Boost technology
Thermal Monitoring
Instruction set extensions		Intel® SSE4.2
Physical Address Extensions (PAE)		36-bit
Virtualization
Intel® Virtualization Technology (VT-x)
Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d)
Intel® VT-x with Extended Page Tables (EPT)