Conclusion
Although quad-core clearly has a little way to go before the majority of applications take better advantage of it, as indeed does dual-core, there are plenty of benefits to be had already from Intel’s Core 2 Extreme QX6700. If you like to run multiple apps at once, the QX6700 will let you do loads at the same time without noticing any difference to the performance of any individual task. Certain applications can feel the benefit on their own, such as some video encoders and in particular 3D renderers.
But for pure gaming power, the Core 2 Quad QX6700’s slightly lower clock speed still gives the Core 2 Duo X6800 an advantage with current titles, even those with some SMP support. Until games take a more threaded approach, this is likely to continue, and it could take years for games developers to really get their head round writing multi-threaded games. But the fact that you can game and do lots of other things at once without missing a beat is sure to appeal to the hardcore enthusiast. Or should that be hard-Core 2 enthusiast?
Considering the extra performance obviously available from running the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 at a higher clock speed, and the ease with which we pushed our sample to 3.2GHz, we have to question why Intel didn’t launch the Core 2 Extreme as a QX6800 running at 2.93GHz like the X6800 instead. Perhaps the decision was made to increase the yields available. Either way, faster Core 2 Extremes must surely be just around the corner?
At the time of writing, no concrete street pricing was available for the Core 2 Extreme QX6700, and the Q6600/6400 version were still allegedly slated for arrival in early 2007 despite the availability of press samples now. Assuming the QX6700 comes in at around the same price as the X6800, which is around £700, we have no choice but to recommend it to those that can afford it and want to be at the forefront of CPU technology. For those on a more modest budget, a Core 2 Duo still makes more economic sense, unless you run apps which can take advantage of the two extra cores. But you’d be silly to buy a dual-core processor if you have the money to go quad, considering the benefits with multiple applications. And as more multi-threaded apps and games arrive, quad-core will increase its lead fourfold.
In a perfect world we'd like to have seen a faster FSB, which is the quad-core CPU's link to the rest of the system and, ideally, a full 8MB shared cache between processors. Other than that, though, Core 2 Extreme QX6700 is pretty damn fast. We'll see how AMD responds with its 4x4 initiative but, for now, the Intel Core 2 Quad is about as extreme as it gets.HEXUS Awards
HEXUS Right2Reply
At HEXUS.net, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any of Intel's representatives choose to do so, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.
