Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX9650 Review

[Apoptosis]

The Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX9650 was just unveiled minutes ago and Legit Reviews has one in the hot seat just for you. Read on to see how Intel was able to make double digit performance gains and lower power consumption without increasing the clock frequency or lowering the TDP of the processor. This is one processor you don't want to miss out on!

The Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX9650 is proudly taking over where Conroe and Kentsfield left off - driving the stake a little deeper into the heart of AMD. AMD can only hope their upcoming Phenom processors can compete with Penryn and Yorkfield, because Intel is going full steam ahead and not looking back.

Article Title: Intel Core 2 Extreme Processor QX9650 Review @ Legit Reviews
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/583/1/

[eva2000]

Nice review there... when you state you ran out of time for oc'ing does that mean the cpu has moved onto elsewhere or just out of time for scheduled review publishing date ??

Would love to see more in the way of overclocking results as there's a big discrepancy between what a few reviews have pushed in terms of oc'ing around 4ghz versus what us overclockers have seen like 4.2-4.5ghz air overclocking

thanks

George

[Apoptosis]

Nice review there... when you state you ran out of time for oc'ing does that mean the cpu has moved onto elsewhere or just out of time for scheduled review publishing date ??

Would love to see more in the way of overclocking results as there's a big discrepancy between what a few reviews have pushed in terms of oc'ing around 4ghz versus what us overclockers have seen like 4.2-4.5ghz air overclocking

thanks

George

you'll see more on overclocking in the near future. I spent most of the weekend re-testing all the games with Forceware 169.01 beta drivers and I always do overclocking last as if I fry the CPU, I still have all the test data done. The Gigabyte X38DQ6 was also being a little bit anal with me with all 4 memory banks full... I'm going to try the ASUS P5E3 and P5K3 here in the next couple days. Also note that I only took the CPU up to 1.4 Vcore and nothing higher.

[Apoptosis]

DIGG Link Added: http://digg.com/pc_games/Intel_and_AMD_ ... _in_Crysis

[Apoptosis]

I've spent a few hours trying to get more than 400Mhz FSB out of the processor and with 1.4Vcore I have been able to hit 440MHz on the Gigabyte X38-DQ6 motherboard. I'm about out of options with this board, so I'm going to switch to another.

440mhz_fsb.jpg (51.2 KiB) Viewed 8425 times

Well i changed board over to the ASUS P5K3 Deluxe and had a little better luck. I used 0604 and 0704 BIOS revisions and was able to get up to 465MHz FSB on both of them.

qx9650_465fsb.jpg (132.99 KiB) Viewed 8388 times

I'm not sure what exactly is holding the overclock back. It's not heat... I've taken the voltage all the way up to 1.5Vcore... The ASUS P5K3 Deluxe is tried at true at 510MHz FSB with Conroe and Kentsfield processors, so it's not the board. The BIOS does not properly see the CPU with the 0704, so I pinged ASUS for an updated version.

Update - ASUS got back to me and said: "We currently don’t have a BIOS available that supports that processor but apparently one is in the works." So there you have it... I guess I'll move on to board number 3... The ASUS P5E3, but I don't have a drive with windows installed yet for that one.

[Apoptosis]

I changed over to the ASUS P5E3 Deluxe and was able to reach 478MHz FSB stable, which is a new high. I've maxed out the MCH and FSB voltage on this board and tried up to 1.6Vcore on the processor... I used the latest BIOS from ASUS 0504, so this board it up to date and ready for Yorkfield.

[FZ1]

Nate, were you using the Nautilus when doing the OC's in this thread? Do you think a good air cooler would be sufficient (I'm assuming yes since the Nautilus didn't kick ass against the good air coolers). I'm thinking about a new build, starting with this chip. Are ya selling it?

[Apoptosis]

I've never sold any Intel ES sample processor and I can't and won't ever do it.... People think I sell everything I get, but I don't sell anything and I won't. Here is what is on the table right now as I'm doing CPU testing this morning since 4am.

test-processors.jpg (89.49 KiB) Viewed 8073 times

As for cooling this bad boy... Intel has introduced a new LGA775 heatsink with its Core 2 Extreme 45nm "Penryn" core QX9650 processor. The new heat sink is huge...

NewIntelHeatsink_2.jpg (40.68 KiB) Viewed 8063 times

I haven't seen or heard one in person yet, so not sure what it is like. I did use water cooling on mine for the article. I think air cooling is sufficient as long as it's top of the line. If you're going to spend $1000+ on the processor you might as well spend $150 on water cooling.

[bubba]

By the looks of it there might be some clearance issues of there isn't some height to that. You got any shots looking down on the top and more to the side of it?

[Apoptosis]

By the looks of it there might be some clearance issues of there isn't some height to that. You got any shots looking down on the top and more to the side of it?

Here are more pics with a link to the original site: http://forums.legitreviews.com/about12556.html

[FZ1]

I haven't seen or heard one in person yet, so not sure what it is like. I did use water cooling on mine for the article. I think air cooling is sufficient as long as it's top of the line. If you're going to spend $1000+ on the processor you might as well spend $150 on water cooling.

I've got a water cooler now (Swiftech kit) but it's more of a hassle than air. I don't plan on OC'ing it for a bit (I shouldn't need to!) so as long as temps don't get out of control like the older intel processors I will probably stick with air for the near future. This is why I want the 45nm QX9650 over the 65nm QX6850 because it SHOULD run cooler in theory although I haven't seen any hard evidence that it does in practice.

I just have to figure out which board to get and if I want to go the DDR3 route or not. I don't plan on buying until at least mid-Dec anyway.

[Apoptosis]

if you wait till then you might as well get the QX9770 with a front side bus of 1600MHz from the factory at 3.2GHz... It will have a higher TDP than the QX9650 though, so cooling will again be important. DDR3 is the future, but it's still expensive. The Gigabyte X38-DQ6 is a solid DDR2 board that I have here... it doesn't overclock all that great, but good enough and it won't break the bank.

[FZ1]

I give up - TDP? When are they supposed to release the 9770?

[Apoptosis]

It's coming out Q1 according to their roadmap, but benchmark numbers will be out first

[FZ1]

I'll prolly go with the QX9650, it should OC to 3.2 very easily if I want some extra HP...it appears that people are hitting 4+ without much problem. This was a good review