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Winner of: Best Intel Processor for Performance

Why it's best: The ultimate Intel CPU, the Core i7 965 is factory-clocked at a blazing 3.20GHz. The Extreme’s main appeal over the lesser-tiered i7 940s and 920s is that it features unlocked multipliers for great overclocking performance. Intel’s new Nehalem architecture also radically re-thinks Intel’s past – and successful – Core 2 and Penryn chips by integrating an on-die memory controller, elimination of the aged front side bus which interestingly makes an i7 more akin to an AMD chip in many ways. The i7 also sports the return of Hyper Threading, which allows the quad-core chip to display eight logical cores for ultimate multitasking power. For those with extreme computers – and extreme budgets, the Core i7 965 Extreme should be on the top of your list.