Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650

[sladesurfer]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...treme_qx9650/1

We were naturally quite cautious given a new process which lowers the internal voltage and makes it more susceptible to over-voltage when overclocking. We weren't prepared to sacrifice such a particularly expensive CPU so we upped the voltage to a rather tame 1.435V on our Asus Blitz Extreme, with a Zalman CNPS9700 CPU heatsink.

It just kept going.

4GHz, 4.1, 4.25... 4.35. Literally 10 minutes work with a combination of front side bus and multiplier and we had the machine booting into Windows and Prime95ing at 4,350MHz. Our CPU is an engineering sample so we'll come back to overclocking when better price-performance retail versions come available, but with more voltage, better cooling and obviously more time to investigate the limits these things should fly.

Those who can get hold of them and are brave enough are going to have the closest thing to home super computers ever available - £500 should buy you a Vapochill or hardcore TEC/watercooling setup which isn't too far out of some people's reach. It'll naturally change the landscape of CPU performance e-peen on the net as 3DMark or SuperPi scores will get inevitably re-broken in the near future.

For the rest of us though, the more affordable desktop versions should arrive early next year which is a bit of a problem: Crysis and UT3 are out in the next few weeks, so what do you do? Wait until Christmas where some of the younger readers will have a bit more cash from the family and upgrade then (those of us who are older, it will be considerably less money though) or bite the bullet for a few months and get an Q6600 G0 or E6750 and clock the nuts off it. A cheap P35 board and one of these could make for a good interim solution until then because remember AMD has yet to show its hand as well

We think it's fair to say that Intel's Penryn architecture can be regarded as a success, as it offers some decent performance enhancements over existing processors, while using much less power in the process. Most of the success can be attributed to the "brute force" methods like the 50 percent larger cache instead of the more delicate features like SSE4, which requires specific optimisation in software to see the benefits. However the most interesting changes should be in the mobile parts which feature some great new technologies.

Specifically, the Core 2 Extreme QX9650 is of course a processor that everyone would love to own, but very few will have the money or need for it. Most of us will want to wait for the mainstream dual- and quad-core 45nm CPUs to arrive, but the Extreme Edition has never been about volume. It's about a technological demonstration that creates a halo effect to help sell the more mainstream-orientated products. I guess you could think of the QX9650 as the Bugatti Veyron of the CPU world - it annihilates everything in its path.

For a simple "refresh" it's made more strides than we would have expected and this should certainly be enough to keep us happy until Nehalem arrives next year. Let's not forget the competition though; we hope and beg AMD's upcoming Phenom processor is competitive, so that competition will continue to be healthy. This is important for the market, as it drives choice, innovation and keeps prices down for us consumers.

[RedBull78]

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/200...treme_qx9650/1

Too bad, AMD's upcoming Phenom processor will not be competitive.

[flopper]

The overclockability is what is most impressive.

[knightwolf654]

Too bad, AMD's upcoming Phenom processor will not be competitive.

too bad we dont know if thats true or not.

[flopper]

Too bad, AMD's upcoming Phenom processor will not be competitive.

It will be for gamers.
The 8w thermal for chipset, the crossfireX with 4 cards, it will be a nice rig for anyone to have.
Low heat output for htpc and oem markets, gamers for smaller rigs where heat often becomes an issue.

Conroe and even upcoming systems are hot, really hot that requires additional cooling fans.

If amd makes a cool chipset well,
silent systems get easier to build, a lot of people like silent computers.
crossfire rigs or triple will be more common without a need for overclocking.
htpc and oem markets obviously but also if the phenom overclocks reasonably well its a good cpu to get since the thermals alone is a good thing.

Cool and quiet=amd.
Super nova explosion=Intel.

A lot of people are not that interested into getting liquid stuff poured onto the cpu, they are happey getting a good power out of the machine and that amd will get them.
I also would guess that amd will come out at a nice pricepoint.

One of the reasons are that cpu are fast enough.
The need for a lot faster has ceased for many and the reasons to buy will and are changing.
If a silent system is built, that is cool and works at high end, I bet a lot of people would like to have such a system that isnt noticed if its turned on or gamed hard upon.

This forum obviously dont reflect that all who reads it are xtremes, a few are but a lot of people wants a silent system.
I rigged my conroe so it can power down all fans on idle or it just is to noisy.

The media market htpc is a rather huge one and they like cool and quiet systems.
OEM likewise.

My sister and her kids wouldnt even know the difference if I showed them two systems, they would however notice the difference in heat and noise.
AMD needs better PR guys and some advisors who can pinpoint how to market them into the upcoming launch.

[Nedjo]

Too bad, AMD's upcoming Phenom processor will not be competitive.

Why do mods tolerate this undermining of every thread from Intel viral boys?

[happychappy]

Why do mods tolerate this undermining of every thread from Intel viral boys?

Because hes telling the truth?

[Dainas]

Because hes telling the truth?

Well, in spirit at best as all hints do say blatantly..


However you can't write something off till its out and about and then failing.

[Jacky]

Cool and quiet=amd.
Super nova explosion=Intel.

rofl, why are people BS themselves? disregarding chipsets (not every chipset for intel is loud&hot) Intel is waaaaay cooler. ddr3 is cooler, 45nm is cooler.

However you can't write something off till its out and about and then failing.

why not? barc=phenom. there are no miracles.

[Nedjo]

Because hes telling the truth?

this is the thread about Yorkfield, and not a place to start another flame war!

[Hornet331]

this is the thread about Yorkfield, and not a place to start another flame war!

actually people like you start the flamewar with such response, just ignore him and its good. His post will just sink into the depths of this thread without any notice, but you keep this ongoing.

[knightwolf654]

Too bad, AMD's upcoming Phenom processor will not be competitive.

actually i believe the above started it.

interesting to see how much heat this sucker will put out. some servers were reporting over 400 watts at full load with older chips.

[red]

WOW (though AMD platform is using Nv chipset)

[Shintai]

It will be for gamers.
The 8w thermal for chipset, the crossfireX with 4 cards, it will be a nice rig for anyone to have.
Low heat output for htpc and oem markets, gamers for smaller rigs where heat often becomes an issue.

Conroe and even upcoming systems are hot, really hot that requires additional cooling fans.

If amd makes a cool chipset well,
silent systems get easier to build, a lot of people like silent computers.
crossfire rigs or triple will be more common without a need for overclocking.
htpc and oem markets obviously but also if the phenom overclocks reasonably well its a good cpu to get since the thermals alone is a good thing.

Cool and quiet=amd.
Super nova explosion=Intel.

A lot of people are not that interested into getting liquid stuff poured onto the cpu, they are happey getting a good power out of the machine and that amd will get them.
I also would guess that amd will come out at a nice pricepoint.

One of the reasons are that cpu are fast enough.
The need for a lot faster has ceased for many and the reasons to buy will and are changing.
If a silent system is built, that is cool and works at high end, I bet a lot of people would like to have such a system that isnt noticed if its turned on or gamed hard upon.

This forum obviously dont reflect that all who reads it are xtremes, a few are but a lot of people wants a silent system.
I rigged my conroe so it can power down all fans on idle or it just is to noisy.

The media market htpc is a rather huge one and they like cool and quiet systems.
OEM likewise.

My sister and her kids wouldnt even know the difference if I showed them two systems, they would however notice the difference in heat and noise.
AMD needs better PR guys and some advisors who can pinpoint how to market them into the upcoming launch.

Are you just trolling or being sarcastic?

AMD use more power, is slower and makes more noise due to more heat.

Next you gonna tell us R600 also just zips to the power, right?