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Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Quad-Core Processor Review
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Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Quad Core Processor

The new Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 is really nothing more than a union of two Core 2 Duo (Conroe) processors in a single package. While not as elegant as a "true" quad-core processor like the upcoming AMD K8L, the fact still remains that this is a quad-core processor.

So, Intel beat AMD to the line and have a real quad-core processor shipping today. If you need absolutely nothing but the fastest processor in the market right now, then this processor is just the thing for you.

However, be aware that many, many applications and games do not support multi-threading and are not optimized for quad-core processors. Our own test results have shown that while optimized applications may benefit greatly (up to 66% at the same clock speed), unoptimized applications do not benefit at all.

In fact, single-threaded applications appear to run slightly slower on the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 than the Core 2 Duo at the same clock speed. Perhaps this is due to the looser coupling of the two core pairs and the splitting of the L2 cache into two separate, unshareable caches.

Gamers should be prepared to be disappointed, since the games we tested showed little to no improvement in performance. That's hardly unexpected, of course, since most games aren't multi-threaded and well, no game is currently optimized for quad-core processors. Hopefully, that will change in time.

Fortunately, it was still pretty overclockable even with four cores and a much higher TDP of 130W. Using nothing more than the stock cooler, we managed to overclock it by 20% to 3.2GHz at the stock voltage of 1.35V. So, there's still some room to play around, for overclockers out there.

In our humble opinion, this processor is best suited to power users who are looking for the ability to run multiple heavy-duty applications at the same time. For example, running distributed computing projects on one or two cores while rendering 3D scenes on the remaining cores.

For such power users, having four fast processor cores can greatly improve productivity, something benchmark results cannot show. If you are such a power user and need a quad-core processor today, the choice is obvious.

For more details, read our Comprehensive Review!

MSRP

• NA

Lowest PriceGrabber Price

• NA

Review

Comprehensive Review

Model

Core 2 Extreme QX6700

Socket

• LGA775

Supported Instruction Sets

• RISC, IA32, XD bit, MMX, EM64T, SSE, SSE2, Supplemental SSE3

CPUID

• 06F7

Processor Cores

• Four

Transistor Count

• NA

Process Technology

65 nm

Die Size

NA

Package Type

• Flip Chip

Operational Voltage

• 0.85 V - 1.350 V

Maximum Current Draw

• NA

TDP

• 130 W

Maximum Temperature

• NA

Clock Speed

• 2.66 GHz

Level 1 Caches

• 32 KB per core
• 128 KB total

Level 2 Caches

4 MB per core pair
8 MB total

Level 3 Cache

• None

Front Side Bus Speed

• 1066 MHz

Core To Bus Ratio Limit

• 10:1

Key Features

• Intel Wide Dynamic Execution
• Intel Smart Memory Access
• Intel Advanced Smart Cache
• Intel Advanced Digital Media Boost
• Platform Environment Control Interface (PECI)
• Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST)
• Extended HALT State (C1E)
• Execute Disable (XD) Bit
• Intel 64 Technology
• Intel Virtualization Technology (VT)

 

Our Review System

Tech ARP is committed to developing new ways to improve your experience with us. As part of our continuous efforts to improve the value of our reviews to you, we are implementing a multi-tier review system.

This review system is designed to allow you to quickly receive information on the latest hardware or software. This new system also allows you to quickly get the gist of the review without reading through it. This can be very useful, especially in situations where you need to make a quick purchase decision.

In this new system, we start with a Product Overview whenever a company sends us a press release about their latest product. We shift through extraneous PR-talk to create a straightforward summary of the product's features as well as specifications. This allows you to quickly find out all the pertinent details about the product, without reading through official press releases.

When we receive the product for review, we will quickly take photos of it and create a Pictorial Review. The purpose of a pictorial review is to allow you, the reader, to quickly examine the product visually. It may help you make better purchase decisions, especially if you cannot wait for the full review.

After thorough testing, we will post a Comprehensive Review of the product. This adds on to the pictorial review with comprehensive test results and our final conclusion on the product.

But no matter whether you are reading a Pictorial Review or a Comprehensive Review, you can always read the summary of the review as well as examine the product's specifications right on the first page. In all our new reviews, we will maintain the first page as a Product Overview page. If the product is listed in PriceGrabber, you can also check out the lowest price online.

We hope this new review system will make your experience a lot more enjoyable and informative!



 

 
   
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