When Intel released its line of second-generation Core processors a year ago (under the ?Sandy Bridge? code name), it offered consumers new opportunities in various areas of CPU performance, regardless of how much you wanted to spend. The top chip at launch was the Core i7-2600K (4 stars), a four-core, eight-thread, 3.4GHz powerhouse that clearly defined the high end of the mainstream space. But as Sandy Bridge approached the end of its brief life span, a minor update was needed to help guide the family into a more Ivy Bridge??friendly world. That CPU, the Core i7-2700K ($332 list) was to serve as a bare replacement for the Core i7-2600K, without upsetting too many digital apple carts along the way. At that job, and any others required of it, it succeeds?if not dazzlingly.

The Core i7-2700K represents a mere 100MHz speed bump above its predecessor, to 3.5GHz. But all of its other characteristics are identical: 8MB of cache, four cores and eight threads (thanks to Intel?s Hyper-Threading technology), integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000, and the full line of shiny Sandy Bridge features, ranging from Turbo Boost 2.0 (which temporarily increases processing speed when the appropriate head room is available), Quick Sync Video (for faster rendering and conversion of video files), and so on. Of course, the Core i7-2700K also shares some of the same limitations of the Core i7-2600K, most notably in that graphics system. It supports only DirectX 10.1 (DX10.1), not DX11, and won?t provide more than adequate support for any builder who declines (for whatever reason) to use a discrete video card.

For those who don?t already own a Core i7-2600K, the evidence is clear: There?s no reason to upgrade. Testing both the older chip and the new one in the same desktop revealed that there?s practically little performance difference between the two. As you might expect, the faster chip inspired a few marginal improvements. We saw, for example, scores of 7.28 versus 7.26 in CineBench R11.5, 3,725 versus 3,679 in the Futuremark PCMark 7 full-system test, and the newer chip needed five fewer seconds to complete the POV-Ray 3.7 single-CPU rendering test (14 minutes 54 seconds versus 14:59). But in other tests we saw no substantial changes at all; both chips took 2 minutes 50 seconds to apply a dozen filters and effects in Adobe Photoshop CS5, both took 32 seconds to convert a video in Handbrake 0.9.6, and both achieved the same 206MBps rate in our TrueCrypt 7.1a cryptography trial. Even power usage was functionally identical between the chips, with the full systems for both idling at 71 watts and achieving about 167 watts under full load.

We ran as much of our suite of gaming tests on the Core i7-2700K as we could to measure its graphics prowess, but the lack of DX11 support limited what we could do. As it was, it proved inadequate for most basic 3D gaming at a fairly standard gamer?s resolution of 1,920 by 1,200; in Tom Clancy?s HAWX2, usually the benchmark at which lower-tier video hardware does best, the Core i7-2700K could eke out only 15fps with all the details maxed. If you?re willing to dial back on the eye candy and play at a lower resolution, you will be able to get playable frame rates using just the Core i7-2700K. But our recommendation about this likewise hasn?t changed much from the Core i7-2600K days: Buy a discrete video card, even an inexpensive one, so you can leave the CPU to what it does best. (For better integrated graphics at this point, AMD APUs are the preferred way to go?but you?ll sacrifice raw performance as a result.)

At this point, with Ivy Bridge just around the corner, the Core i7-2700K is an upgrade that will appeal primarily to enthusiasts looking for every last drop of speed they can squeeze from a CPU. Its unlocked multiplier means it?s every bit as overclockable as its forebear, and that extra 100MHz gives you a nice, if subdued, additional nudge out the starting gate. But if you already have a Core i7-2600K, there?s no reason to replace it now. If you want to stay within the Sandy Bridge family, our favorite remains the Editors? Choice Core i5-2500K (4.5 stars), which lags behind the Core i7-2600K by 100MHz, lacks a bit of cache, and doesn?t have Hyper-Threading, but delivers nearly equivalent performance in most areas and costs considerably less ($216 list). If, however, you?re seeking out the fastest second-generation Core chip you can find, and aren?t concerned about its relationship to the Core i7-2600K or its rapidly approaching obsolescence with Ivy Bridge, the Core i7-2700K is a potent choice for powering a high-end middle-of-the-road PC.

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