Core i5-661 CPU Review
Comparison Between the Tested CPUs
Contents
We decided to compare Core i5-661 (3.33 GHz) to Core i5-750 (2.66 GHz) because they both come with the exact same price tag (USD 196). We wanted to include a competitor from AMD, and the CPU that AMD offers on this price range is Phenom II 965 Black Edition (USD 195). All these prices are quoted in 1,000 quantities for distributors in the USA.
We installed the CPU from AMD on a motherboard with integrated graphics (AMD785G). And with all these CPUs we installed a mainstream video card (GeForce 9600 GT) to see how (and if) it would improve performance.
Although we installed Core i5-750 on the same motherboard as Core i5-661, integrated video isn’t available, as this CPU doesn’t have this feature and with socket LGA1156 the integrated video is produced by the CPU and not by the motherboard like on other platforms.
| CPU | Cores | HT | Internal Clock | Turbo Clock | Base Clock | Core | Technology | TDP | Socket | Price |
| Core i5-661 | 2 | Yes | 3.33 GHz | 3.60 GHz | 133 MHz | Clarkdale | 32 nm | 87 W | 1156 | USD 196 |
| Core i5-750 | 4 | No | 2.66 GHz | 3.20 GHz | 133 MHz | Lynnfield | 45 nm | 95 W | 1156 | USD 196 |
| Phenom II X4 965 | 4 | No | 3.40 GHz | No | 200 MHz | Deneb | 45 nm | 140 W | AM3 | USD 195 |
| CPU | L1 Cache | L2 Cache | L3 Cache | Memory Support | Me mory Channels |
| Core i5-661 | 32 KB + 32 KB per core | 256 KB per core | 4 MB total | DDR3 up to 1333 MHz | Two |
| Core i5-750 | 32 KB + 32 KB per core | 256 KB per core | 8 MB total | DDR3 up to 1333 MHz | Two |
| Phenom II X4 965 | 64 KB + 64 KB per core | 512 KB per core | 6 MB total | DDR3 up to 1333 MHz | Two |
TDP stands for Thermal Design Power which advises the user of the maximum amount of heat the CPU can dissipate. The CPU cooler must be capable of dissipating at least this amount of heat.
The prices listed are the official prices for distributors based on 1,000 quantities. The end-user price is higher than the prices listed.
A quick comparison between the integrated video from Core i5-661 and AMD785G (used with Phenom II X4 965 in our tests) is provided below.
| Core i5-661 | AMD 785G | |
| GPU Clock | 900 MHz | 500 MHz |
| Graphics Processors | 12 | 40 |
| DirectX | 10 | 10.1 |