Legit Reviews

Intel has allowed for controlled benchmarking of their next generation Extreme series processor and Legit Reviews was on hand to take it out for a test drive. The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Processor operates at 2.66GHz and shows some serious processing muscle even though it's all run on pre-production hardware. Read on and see if Intel's quad-core processor is a Quadzilla or a bunch of hype.

Overall we have been impressed by quad-core and what it will be able to offer enthusiasts down the road. Seeing upcoming DirectX 10 games like Alan Wake and benchmarks along the lines of Ice Storm Fighters push the processing limits of dual-core processors in upcoming months quad-cores will be the choice of enthusiasts and gamers around the world. Kentsfield really has lived up to the hype and has now become the Quadzilla of processors hands down.

Benchmarking The Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Processor

70% faster than Conroe?!?

I think I'm gonna faint.....now, hopefully, this bad boy doesn't cost $1500.

its going to be the new extreme edition its going to cost at least 1K. But there are going to be lower cost versions.

Just got finished reading it... and damn, im quite happy im going the Intel route... even if AMD 'says' they will break Intels quad-core with theirs, its going to be damn tough imo.

It's always interesting seeing how the tech develops, especially when you go to a school filled with comp engineering and ee majors.

Living in Silicon Valley, try that for having technology shoved in your face!

Anyway, I've heard that the following can be expected from the QX6700...

1) MSRP $999 (if this goes anything like the X6800, then we can expect prices to be realistic for almost the entire mainstream life of this processor, which is excellent, if also a bit of wishful thinking...)

2) Overclocking equivalent to an E6700 per core (think about it, do your homework, and it'll be obvious why this makes sense...)

3) Little to no gaming improvement until Early-to-Mid 2007, when games like Alan Wake and UT2K7 come out. Also, expect more and more effective usage of the processor's multi-tasking capabilities, leading to...

4) The potential daybreak of the next "new era" of mainstream PC computing (but then again, every big development is like this, right? plus, this is just the daybreak: the proverbial "dawn" should be concurrent to #3's big payoff, since they're the same thing)

I don't work at Intel. Heck, I don't even have a job. I just have no life, and waste my time learning about everything I can get my Firefox browser's hands on...

With that, I close saying this: learn your own opinion by looking for your own sources... Otherwise, all you should think in your right mind is that I'm just Mr. Snake Oil...

[EDIT] I just had a realization: with the current CPU usage state-of-mind changing from speed to multiplicity, there's gonna be a good deal of work available for folks with ideas for modular, object-oriented programming languages that are designed for multiple cores... If my not-even-a-hunch,-it's-so-out-there idea is correct, C++ may yet see the end of its heyday, and be replaced by a language that will be even more powerful, efficient, and (if there is a God...) easier to use (and cheaper too, if you're still listening...)! That's my rant, but hey, if the waters are not disturbed with the occasional rock being thrown in, they get stagnant and yucky... why else is Intel so popular right now - they're throwing boulders in at regular intervals! My 2 cents, with another 2 added in for good measure.

Will QX6700 run on INtel XBX1?

I believe so but don't quote me on that. I didn't think there was a new VRM revision need for this

Above shows the Bad Axe 1 beside the Bad Axe 2, at the area between CPU socket and the NorthBridge. You see a lot more traces running from the Bad Axe 2 to the Northbridge than on the Bad Axe 1, especially from the LGA Land rows of A1 to 10. Initially, I had thought that this was an enhancement (signal perhaps) move to optimize the board for running Kentsfield. After asking around, it seems that it is in fact a change in PCB layer sequence. The 4 data group running from the Processor to the Chipset is arranged across the 6 layer PCB of the motherboards differently on the BX2 as compared to the BX1. This is the main enhancement made for Kentsfield. We have learnt that most of the motherboards based on the i975x chipset is based on the data group trace layer sequence similar to the BX1, while the new ones coming out should be based on the BX2 sequence. We have heard faintly about one - based on the i975x chipset - soon to debut from Gigabyte, featuring this optimization for Quad Core Processors. I don't pretend to understand why this arrangement would enhance operation of the Kentsfield Processor, but I have seen the difference myself when it comes to FSB overclocking.

http://sg.vr-zone.com/?i=4130


And looking at other stuff out there, XBX2 seems to give different cpuid's than say, P5WDH, so it makes me wonder if it's jsut a FSB tweak, along with the added audio, sata and ram tweaks.