Mainstream Quad Core Cpu Performance Comparison Power Consumption

We were impressed by the LGA1156 platform efficiency when we tested the Intel Core i5 750 for our review earlier this week. This graph brings some additional information as we have a second CPU using the exact same platform. At idle the power consumption difference between the Core i7 860 and Core i5 750 CPUs is negligible, while at full load the Core i7 uses more power but stays way ahead of the Core i7 920 and its X58-based motherboard. All in all, the Core i5 750 system used just 178 watts of power under full load which translated to 10% less power than the Core i7 860, and an incredible 34% less than the Core i7 920.
By comparison the Phenom II X4 965 is quite power hungry, consuming 41% more power than the Core i5 750, while in many cases failing to deliver the same level of performance.