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Intel Core i7 970 CPU Review

V2011 is the first release of 3DStudio Max to fully support the Windows 7 operating system. This is a professional level tool that many people use for work purposes and our test will show any possible differences between board design today.

Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2011 software offers compelling new techniques to help bring designs to life by aggregating data, iterating ideas, and presenting the results.

Streamlined, more intelligent data exchange workflows and innovative new modeling and visualization tools help significantly increase designers’ creativity and productivity, enabling them to better explore, validate, and communicate the stories behind their designs.

Major new features:

  • Slate: A node based material editor.
  • Quicksilver: Hardware renderer with multithreaded rendering engine that utilizes both CPU and GPU.
  • Extended Graphite Modeling Toolset
  • 3ds Max Composite: A HDRI-capable compositor based on Autodesk Toxik.
  • Viewport Canvas toolset for 3D and 2D texture painting directly in the viewport
  • Object Painting: use 3D geometry as ‘brushes’ on other geometry
  • Character Animation Toolkit (CAT): now integrated as part of the base package
  • Autodesk Material Library: Over 1200 new photometrically accurate shaders
  • Additional file format support: includes native support for Sketchup, Inventor
  • FBX file linking
  • Save to Previous Release (2010)

We render a KitGuru custom created scene at 1920×1200 and record the time taken, lower is better. Times are rated in minutes:seconds.

At 4.5ghz the 980x delivers a staggering 39 second result with the 970 trailing by 4 seconds at 4.18ghz. Again the 1055T puts in a good showing at just over 1 minute at 4.4ghz. For comparison purposes the AMD 965 Black Edition scores around 1 minute and 25 seconds with this benchmark test.

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22 comments

  1. superb review Zardon, I think while the 970 is a stunning product that the 980x at £90 more makes a valid competition product. I think a drop to around 600 in price also is a wise move, but I cant see it happening.

  2. Intels high end solutions are so powerful its not even funny. the 1055T did well i think, considering its 160 quid, not 680 🙂

  3. Surprised how low profile this launch was a few weeks ago, its a great product, but we would expect no less from Intel, especially in the high end sector.

  4. Well let us hope that AMD can challenge these cpus at some stage down the line. its a tall order I know.

  5. The Core i7 range is extremely powerful, no doubt about it. This just proves how far ahead Intel still are. 1055T to be fair mind you, did better than I thought,. at 4.4ghz its rather powerful indeed.

  6. A lot of money for a processor, but in the right hands, a formidable weapon. Wouldnt buy one of these for gaming however. seems overkill 🙂

  7. The cache really helps with these processors especially rendering.

  8. I was contemplating one of these a while ago, but they really do need to drop the price on the 970 a little, its too close to the 980x imo.

  9. Very good review Zardon – its a little out of my price point to say the least, but always good to see how powerful the ultra high end solutions are.

  10. Well its hard not to be impressed, but at £680 it seems to be too closely priced against the 980x to be a solid purchase. I would assume a high percentage of the enthusiast audience who purchase these will be overclocking so the 980x makes more sense.

    970 dropped by £50 it might be better for everyone, even might get intel more sales.

  11. Nice review – bit over my head in parts, but it seems a fast CPu.

  12. Wow, that is smoe serious power, never read any reviews on the 980x so this is all new to me. my CPU is looking more ancient by the minute

  13. These chips are so powerful and apple charge a MASSIVE premium for them. they are dominating the market so much lately its hard to see them dropping prices right now.

  14. I bought one of these, and upped the fsb a little and its running at 3.7ghz for me. its more than enough. great processors, they make our clan video editing so much easier.

  15. Intel rock my world !

  16. The performance is insane, I do video editing myself on a little AMD chip which cost me 150 last year, it can be painful. I need to start saving.

  17. a lot of readies, but you get a lot of performance. I still think the lower end chips overclocked make so much more sense for 99% of people. even those tempted to buy one of these. the 980x seems a better deal overall considering its unlocked. either that or they need to drop the price of the 970

  18. That was a great all round review, love the fact you dont test with purely sythetic apps and have made several of your own benchmarks, such as photoshop and studio max, thats brilliant work Zardon.

  19. only in my dreams, only in my dreams. but maybe someday 🙂

  20. They cost even more where I live, but they are ideal for professional industries and for an audience who render or video edit on a regular basis. this is when they truly shine. Good review.

  21. Best 970 review online by a long shot. Seems like a very good purchase, you just need deep pockets.

  22. I like this product, it makes sense for professional users who wont overclock and the turbo boost will mean its comparible to 980x anyway.