POV-Ray 3.7 Beta 30	Source: POV-RAY

Ray-tracing is a rendering technique that calculates an image of a scene by simulating the way rays of light travel in the real world. In the real world, rays of light are emitted from a light source and illuminate objects. The light reflects off of the objects or passes through transparent objects. This reflected light hits our eyes or perhaps a camera lens. Because the vast majority of rays never hit an observer, it would take forever to trace a scene. Ray-tracing programs like POV-Ray start with their simulated camera and trace rays backwards out into the scene. The user specifies the location of the camera, light sources, and objects as well as the surface texture properties of objects, their interiors (if transparent) and any atmospheric media such as fog, haze, or fire.

Lower render times are better, however higher Pixel Per Second rendering values are best. Pov-ray is multi-threaded.

Pov-Ray 3.7 BETA 30 - Windows Vista Render Time sec Ranking Intel Core i7 920 113.8 Intel Core i5 750 100.54 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 360.42 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 382.88 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (125W) 93.29 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 98.69 AMD Phenom II X4 910e 121.79 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 444.24 AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 195.72 AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 400.52 AMD Athlon II X4 635 109.53 AMD Athlon II X4 620 121.29 AMD Athlon II X3 435 145.1 AMD Athlon II X2 250 416.83 AMD Athlon II X2 240e 225.48 Render Average Pixels Per Sec Ranking Intel Core i7 920 2303.61 Intel Core i5 750 2607.31 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 1445.39 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 1357.27 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (125W) 2810.05 AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 2656.37 AMD Phenom II X4 910e 2152.44 AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition 1753.53 AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 1339.4 AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 1300.42 AMD Athlon II X4 635 2393.42 AMD Athlon II X4 620 2161.3 AMD Athlon II X3 435 1806.69 AMD Athlon II X2 250 1244.47 AMD Athlon II X2 240e 1162.59

Bringing a dual-core processor to a 3D ray-tracing benchmark is like bringing a knife to a hyper-threaded massively parallel processing fight.

Pov-Ray 3.7 BETA 30 - Windows 7 Render Time (sec) Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 100.06 Intel Core i5 750 100.7 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 192.4 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (125W) 93.6 AMD Phenom II X4 910e 121.45 AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 195.42 AMD Athlon II X4 635 109.5 AMD Athlon II X4 620 121.73 AMD Athlon II X3 435 144.39 AMD Athlon II X2 240e 224.06 Render Average (Pixels Per Sec) Points Ranking Intel Core i7 920 2619.79 Intel Core i5 750 2603.22 Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 1362.53 AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (125W) 2800.68 AMD Phenom II X4 910e 2158.52 AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition 1341.43 AMD Athlon II X4 635 2394.1 AMD Athlon II X4 620 2153.54 AMD Athlon II X3 435 1815.48 AMD Athlon II X2 240e 1169.96

POV-RAY also has near-identical results here.