Customer Reviews

Intel Core i3-530 Processor 2.93 GHz 4 MB Cache Socket LGA1156

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this in a combo with a Biostar TH55B HD to upgrade a household server running 24/7. Goal was to achieve fastest speed with least energy use and stress on components (longest life). I set all voltages to their lowest in the Biostar's BIOS: CPU -.08V (~1.092 max. in CPU-Z, ~.082 min. EIST), VTT 1.15, PLL 1.8, PCH 1.1, IGD "Spec" i.e. lowest. To my surprise, reached a stable overclock of 3.608 GHz (22 x 164), which has passed every test I've thrown at it and has been running for a week now. (Posted a screen shot of one test above.) Temps are no issue with stock cooler--no surprise there. At idle, my Kill-a-Watt readings for the system with integrated graphics enabled, 1.5V DRAM, Corsair 80+ 400W PS and 1 HD spinning (not including monitor) is an amazing 39W. With 3 HDs spinning and 100% CPU (IntelBurnTest) the highest reading I've seen is 86W. Of course, if you're 3-D gaming with the GPU overclocked under the same circumstances the draw would be greater. But, with four threads (HT) at 3.6 GHz on tap, idling at 39W, this is incredible power per watt for 24/7 running, not to mention per dollar.

Hi, just bought an Intel Core i3-530 for my SFF box. Paired with a Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H and 4GB of Crucial Value ram.

It's a huge improvement coming from an old AMD Athlon 64 3800+ (1.8 Ghz).
I expected more like a lightning fast opening programs and files, but when it really shines is in multitasking. I can do several tasks at a time like trans-coding movies, burning dvds and playing a movie without a hiccup. It's great not having to wait for frozen windows !!!

On the power consumption side, it's very frugal, even more than my old AMD with Venice core. Consumption for the old box was between 60 and 95 watts, but this build oscillates between 55 watts and 80 watts. Box is a QPack, with one SATA DVDRW and a SATA HD using internal graphics, measured with a Kill-A-Watt meter.

I'm very happy with this update I made to my system. Installed the old parts in my mom's old PC.

I'm glad that I could wait until now. I got a 32nm processor with all the bells and whistles. I expect this one last several years too as my old parts.

I bought this for a HTPC build and paired it with an Intel BOXDH57DD mobo. I'm super impressed with the 27watt idle power consumption for the entire PC (Antec 400W PS, Intel 40GB SSD)! I will say the stock CPU cooler is junk. I ran a stress test on it and temps were continuing to climb past 75C. I turned off the stress test after that point because I became uncomfortable. I ended up buying a Thermalright HR-01 3U heatsink with a socket 1156 bolt thru kit, lapped the daylights out of the heatsink and lappped the CPU as well. I made a custom fan duct from the heatsink to a 80mm case fan (plugged into the CPU fan power connector) and cannot get the CPU temp to go past 55C.

now this is a cpu to be had. i bought it with the mother board and a 1.5tb drive and i am loving it.

Its a good processor if you don't need a top one. It is fast if you compare to a core 2 duo, but slow if you compare with an i7, for example. Assess your necessity.

I bought this CPU for my home made NAS, because of very good performance and low power consumption. And very good performance for 1 watt.
I host lots of services on this NAS for many users ~20. No lags, no problems, everything works great.

NAS config:
1. 8GB USB flash - OS installed.
2. 2 x 2GB Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
3. 4 x 5K3000 Hitachi 2TB HDD
4. CPU: Intel Core i3 Processor i3-530 2.93GHz 4MB LGA1156
5. motherboard: Intel Media Series Mini-ITX Motherboard Supporting Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RAID) BOXDH57JG
6. Case: SERVER CHA CHENBRO ES34169-BK-120R. To reduce noise, fan voltage is changed from 12V to 5V.
7. Extra fan for case Vantec Stealth SF6025L 60x60x25mm Double Ball Bearing Silent Case Fan (Black)"
8. CASE needs low profile fan for CPU - Thermaltake Slim X3 Low Profile 36mm Height CPU Cooler CLP0534
9. OS: Ubuntu Linux 10.10
It is $400 hardware set + $240 for 4 HDDs, much cheaper than baying something expensive and very low performant.

I bought this as an entry level low budget build with the intent of upgrading later to an i7 but due to this cpu being a great performer, I won't be upgrading anytime soon. This is a huge upgrade from my laptop experience.

I get 6.9 on windows 7 WEI. It idles at 24-30 degrees celcius and goes up to 44 degrees while being stressed. Not bad with the stock cooler.

It has built in graphics so you don't need a separate video card as long as you get a mobo with a h55 chipset. I can't comment on the built in graphics since I use a separate video card so I don't know how good it is. It can't be anywhere as good as my geforce 240 video card for a fact though.

The stock cooler is easy to install and comes with some sort of thermal paste solution already applied for you on the heatsink so an aftermarket thermal paste is unnecessary and completely optional.

Also comes with a nice sticker to put on your case as a case badge to show off your core i3 cpu.

Intel Core i3 Processor i3-530 2.93GHz 4MB LGA1156 CPU BX80616I3530 is a great CPU it dose work very well in my new machine .

The only reason that I took 1 star off performance and graphics is because they are the lowest numbers (and much lower than anything else) in my windows experience number. To be expected but want others to expect the same.

Just a newbie, having used Celeron D for years the i3 in a Win7 64bit 4GB memory is like " Ohhh Sh*# ! ". It's a nice upgrade, using Blender 2.5 (3D modeling app) had to wait for anything to move ( like typing a sentence before the first letter shows up ). The wait is OVER ! No problems with it I'm loving it , did some photo editing with " Paint.NET x64 " , went to 90% on all cores ( 2cores 2HThreads ).
So,to me the i3 530 is nice, I'd like to try the i7 sometime though. Using an Intel DH55HC board temps running around 39C / 102F to 44C ( going to try a new CPU cooler so may heat less )Hope this helps ( if you can , save up for an i5 or 7 but i3 is cool for now )