In the demanding Battlefield 3 the clock rates of the cores alternate between 2, 2.4 und 3.2 GHz. In Burnout Paradise, all four cores are clocked at 3.2 GHz. Depending on the game, we could observe different characteristics. After all, the clock rate reaches 3.4 GHz in the single core test of Cinebench 11.5. While the Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 can apparently not use the full potential of the CPU (power adapter, cooling), it could still reach the maximum clock rate of 3.5 GHz in our test (low load, 1 core). Nevertheless the processor performs better than the 2720QM in the early 2011 powerful MacBook Pro 15 model as it was also unable to run at full CPU speed. This explains why the CPU is slower than expected. During our tests sometimes thermal throttling occurred (e.g., Cinebench 10 Multi). On average, the 2760QM can barely reach the level of other 2760QM laptops (0-12% faster) and is on par with 2670QM / 2720QM CPUs. We analysed the CPU performance under Windows (Bootcamp) in detail. A TDP of 45W means that the current quad-core processors are not really thrifty, but offer enough theoretical performance for all all fields of application. If the high Turbo speed can be used to capacity, the performance approaches the 2920XM, the former top model. Compared to the slower clocked Core i7-2670QM in the entry-level model of the 15-inch series, the 2760QM also supports VT-d. In theory, Turbo Boost can raise the base clock of 2.4 GHz up to 3.5 GHz (if only 1 core is loaded).

The processor features four physical cores and thanks to HyperThreading it can process up to 8 threads at a time. The built-in Intel Core i7-2760QM belongs to the Sandy Bridge Refresh 09/2011 and replaces the Core i7-2720QM in Intel's product range.

Apple macbook pro 2011 review