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Review: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 - quad-core at almost 3GHz

by Tarinder Sandhu on 9 April 2007, 05:01

Tags: Core 2 Extreme QX6800, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaidp

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Specification and pictures



The purpose of this review is to delineate how the speed increase for Intel's quad-core CPU is manifested with respect to benchmarks that stress single- and multi-threaded performance.

If you want to know what makes the quad-core SKU tick, head on over to here. The four-core part is, for all intents and purposes, two dual-core models stitched together, so head on over to here, to learn how and why the Intel Core microarchitecture took away the performance crown that was long held by AMD's Athlon 64 FX range.

However, it never hurts to trot out the high-end spec. table, just to confirm what we're looking at.

Processor name Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Q6700* Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Intel Pentium E.E 965 AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+
Form factor LGA775 LGA775 LGA775 LGA775 AM2
Manufacturing process 65nm 65nm 65nm 65nm 90nm
Physical cores 4 4 2 2 2
Inst. per clock* 4 4 4 3 3
Pipeline stages 14 14 14 31 12
Clock speed 2.93GHz 2.67GHz 2.93GHz 3.73GHz 3.0GHz
FSB 266MHz (1066MHz QDR) 266MHz (1066MHz QDR) 266MHz (1066MHz QDR) 266MHz (1066MHz QDR) 200MHz
HyperThreading No No No Yes No
Memory support DDR2, 800MHz, DC DDR2, 800MHz, DC DDR2, 800MHz, DC DDR2, 800MHz, DC DDR2, 800MHz, DC
L1 cache total 128KiB data + 128KiB code 128KiB data + 128KiB code 64KiB data + 64KiB code 32KiB data + 24Kuops trace 128KiB data + 128KiB code
L2 cache total 8MiB 8MiB 4MiB 4MiB 2MiB
ISA x86, x86-64, SSE-SSE3 x86, x86-64, SSE-SSE3 x86, x86-64, SSE-SSE3 x86, x86-64, SSE-SSE3 x86, x86-64, SSE-SSE3
TDP 130W 130W 75W 130W 125W
Transistors 582m 582m 291m 376m 227m
Operating voltage 1.2-1.3625V 1.2-1.3625V 1.2-1.3625V 1.3-1.4V 1.3-1.4V
Current price £620 £620** £620 £600*** £300


* - the current Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 is likely to be rebadged as the Q6700. There's usually only a single Extreme Edition for either dual- and quad-core CPUs.
** - the QX6700's current price, of around £620, will also drop. No numbers as to the new pricing, however.
*** - included for comparison purposes only.

Put simply, the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 can be thought of as a couple of dual-core X6800s stitched together that share a single FSB link to the system.

We had hoped Intel would be adventurous and officially launch this model with a 333MHz FSB, but we're sure that enthusiasts who opt for this multiplier-unlocked SKU will indulge in a healthy dose of overclocking, anyway. Intel has switched the multiplier up from 10x to 11x, and that's it.

We'll have to wait until Penryn and, ultimately, Nehalem, before any radical modifications are made to the core and system interface.

Our prior testing has highlighted just how well a quad-core CPU can perform if a truly multi-threaded application or heavy multi-tasking is run, and we'll be judging the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 on both grounds.

Pictures

Yup, underneath there lies a beast with 582m transistors and 4 cores operating at 2.93GHz.



Now it's time to play spot-the-difference game. The extra multiplier is it, really.