Late last year we reviewed the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650. This was the first 45nm Penryn processor to slip out of Intel's laboratory and, while it was impressive, it had very similar performance to the previous Core 2 Extreme QX6850. That's no great surprise as both processors run at 3.0GHz on a 1,333MHz front side bus with 12MB of L2 cache.
The benefit of Penryn is a reduction in die size which leads to lower costs for Intel and, hopefully, greater power efficiency. It would be nice to think that Intel might pass on some of the savings in a price cut to the customer, but that's none too likely until it feels some pressure from AMD, which is unlikely to be any time soon judging by Phenom.
Intel has its plans in place and is progressing nicely, with the Core 2 front side bus going up from 1,066MHz to 1,333MHz while the fabrication process drops from 65nm to 45nm. That ought to be enough to keep everyone happy for the next few months, but hard on the heels of the QX9650 we have the QX9770.
This latest Core 2 Extreme processor runs on a new 1,600MHz front side which is actually a quad-pumped 400MHz bus, so the 8x clock multiplier results in a speed of 3.2GHz which is 200MHz faster than either the QX6850 or QX9650. Intel has raised the TDP from 130W for the QX9650 to 136W for the QX9770 but that's the extent of the changes.
Although Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and the others can add unofficial support to Intel products, it would be a bit rum if Intel were to do the same thing. Right now the only company that cannot build a motherboard that supports the QX9770 is Intel, as its DX38BT motherboard tops out at a 1,333MHz front side bus with support for 1,333MHz DDR3 memory.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 reviews
In June 2003 Intel released the 3.2GHz Northwood Pentium 4 and after that it entered a black period with the Prescott core which failed miserably to produce decent clock speeds despite a move to a 90nm fabrication process.
To add to Intel's woes, Prescott consumed huge amounts of power and therefore shed enormous amounts of heat. In short, Prescott wasn't a good processor so Intel took the bold step of scrapping the NetBurst architecture, including Prescott's 65nm Tejas successor, and instead returned to the drawing board.
This gave AMD two years of grace, in which time its Athlon 64 and Opteron processors have ruled the roost. But now Intel is back and it means business. The new desktop processor that launches this month is Core 2 Duo. This is the second version of Intel's notebook Core processor, while the 'Duo' means it is dual core, so in time we shall doubtless see Core 3 Trio and then Core 4 Quadro, or perhaps that should be Core 4 Quattro.
Core 2 Duo takes Intel's desktop processors in a new direction by putting the emphasis on efficiency rather than clock speed, so the new processors run on a Quad-pumped 266MHz Front Side Bus which is the equivalent of 1,066MHz.
However, the actual clock speeds are relatively low. The E6300 runs at 1.86GHz and costs £153, the E6400 is 2.13GHz and costs £182, the E6600 gives you 2.40GHz for £253 and the top-of-the-line E6700 has a clock speed of 2.67GHz and is on sale at £411.
To add to Intel's woes, Prescott consumed huge amounts of power and therefore shed enormous amounts of heat. In short, Prescott wasn't a good processor so Intel took the bold step of scrapping the NetBurst architecture, including Prescott's 65nm Tejas successor, and instead returned to the drawing board.
This gave AMD two years of grace, in which time its Athlon 64 and Opteron processors have ruled the roost. But now Intel is back and it means business. The new desktop processor that launches this month is Core 2 Duo. This is the second version of Intel's notebook Core processor, while the 'Duo' means it is dual core, so in time we shall doubtless see Core 3 Trio and then Core 4 Quadro, or perhaps that should be Core 4 Quattro.
Core 2 Duo takes Intel's desktop processors in a new direction by putting the emphasis on efficiency rather than clock speed, so the new processors run on a Quad-pumped 266MHz Front Side Bus which is the equivalent of 1,066MHz.
However, the actual clock speeds are relatively low. The E6300 runs at 1.86GHz and costs £153, the E6400 is 2.13GHz and costs £182, the E6600 gives you 2.40GHz for £253 and the top-of-the-line E6700 has a clock speed of 2.67GHz and is on sale at £411.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Intel Core 2 DUO mobile processor
At the dual-core heart of Intel® Centrino®2 processor technology, the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor family features a faster FSB (up to 1066 MHz), higher clock speeds, and enhanced microarchitecture technologies, helping to maximize Intel®Centrino®2 processor technology's dual-core performance and power savings.• 6 MB of total L2 cache• Up to 1066 MHz front side bus.
Intel Core 2 DUO PROCESSOR
With 45nm Intel® Core™2 Duo processors, you'll experience revolutionary performance, unbelievable system responsiveness, and energy-efficiency second to none. And, you won't have to slow down for virus scan, multiple compute intensive programs, or home video editing—these desktop processors include Intel® HD Boost and are up to 70 percent faster when processing high-definition memories with your HD video camera.
Now the best gets even better with Intel's latest Core 2 Duo processors built using Intel's 45nm technology, using hafnium-infused circuitry to bring you the latest arsenal of performance-rich technologies. These amazing new processors include up to 6 MB of shared L2 cache, up to 1333 MHz front side bus for desktop, and up to 800 MHz front side bus for laptop.
Now the best gets even better with Intel's latest Core 2 Duo processors built using Intel's 45nm technology, using hafnium-infused circuitry to bring you the latest arsenal of performance-rich technologies. These amazing new processors include up to 6 MB of shared L2 cache, up to 1333 MHz front side bus for desktop, and up to 800 MHz front side bus for laptop.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo mobile processors
At the dual-core heart of Intel® Centrino®2 processor technology, the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor family features a faster FSB (up to 1066 MHz), higher clock speeds, and enhanced microarchitecture technologies, helping to maximize Intel®Centrino®2 processor technology's dual-core performance and power savings.• 6 MB of total L2 cache• Up to 1066 MHz front side bus.
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processors
With 45nm Intel® Core™2 Duo processors, you'll experience revolutionary performance, unbelievable system responsiveness, and energy-efficiency second to none. And, you won't have to slow down for virus scan, multiple compute intensive programs, or home video editing—these desktop processors include Intel® HD Boost and are up to 70 percent faster when processing high-definition memories with your HD video camera.
Now the best gets even better with Intel's latest Core 2 Duo processors built using Intel's 45nm technology, using hafnium-infused circuitry to bring you the latest arsenal of performance-rich technologies. These amazing new processors include up to 6 MB of shared L2 cache, up to 1333 MHz front side bus for desktop, and up to 800 MHz front side bus for laptop.
Now the best gets even better with Intel's latest Core 2 Duo processors built using Intel's 45nm technology, using hafnium-infused circuitry to bring you the latest arsenal of performance-rich technologies. These amazing new processors include up to 6 MB of shared L2 cache, up to 1333 MHz front side bus for desktop, and up to 800 MHz front side bus for laptop.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
AMD unleashes triple-core, 5 new quad-cores Processors
Everything hasn’t exactly been great for AMD lately, but the plucky chip maker has some news for us today. Despite the tough times, the company earned a number of positive reactions from the recent 780G announcement, and it is following that up with three announcement today.
First, triple-core is finally here. We have been hearing about this for months, and after all complaints about triple-core being nothing more than failed quad-core processors, consumers will be able to find out for themselves. The triple core Phenoms will launch as mainstream processors, aimed at users who are interested in additional performance relative to dual-core offerings, without having to substantially increase the amount they are spending. AMD says that triple-core Phenoms will be ideal for budget-minded users who have high-definition content in mind, and that the processor will be a great match for 780G.
So far, we know about the Phenom 8600 (2.3GHz) and 8400 (2.1GHz). They will have L1 cache sizes of 64K of instruction and 64K of data cache per core (512KB total L1) and L2 will hold 512KB of L2 data cache per core (2MB total L2 per processor). These are 65 nm processors that are backwards compatible with AM2 motherboards. The TDP for both models is 95W. We are still waiting on pricing information, but it looks like they will be a bit over US$150.The next piece of news dropped concerned new quad-core processors, including the Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition and Phenom X4 9750. These are additions to AMD’s quad-core lineup that will run at 2.5GHz and 2.4GHz, with TDP ratings of 125W. The new in the 95W TDP are the 9650 and the 9550, which will come in at 2.3GHz and 2.2GHz. So, nothing groundbreaking, but the larger point is that AMD is aiming to make quad-core accessible, while maintaining it as the company’s high-end offering. A quad-core Phemon matched with the 790 chipset is the companies top-shelf offering for gaming, supposing you also pony up the dough for a competitive video card. These are bug-free B3 revision processors.
First, triple-core is finally here. We have been hearing about this for months, and after all complaints about triple-core being nothing more than failed quad-core processors, consumers will be able to find out for themselves. The triple core Phenoms will launch as mainstream processors, aimed at users who are interested in additional performance relative to dual-core offerings, without having to substantially increase the amount they are spending. AMD says that triple-core Phenoms will be ideal for budget-minded users who have high-definition content in mind, and that the processor will be a great match for 780G.
So far, we know about the Phenom 8600 (2.3GHz) and 8400 (2.1GHz). They will have L1 cache sizes of 64K of instruction and 64K of data cache per core (512KB total L1) and L2 will hold 512KB of L2 data cache per core (2MB total L2 per processor). These are 65 nm processors that are backwards compatible with AM2 motherboards. The TDP for both models is 95W. We are still waiting on pricing information, but it looks like they will be a bit over US$150.The next piece of news dropped concerned new quad-core processors, including the Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition and Phenom X4 9750. These are additions to AMD’s quad-core lineup that will run at 2.5GHz and 2.4GHz, with TDP ratings of 125W. The new in the 95W TDP are the 9650 and the 9550, which will come in at 2.3GHz and 2.2GHz. So, nothing groundbreaking, but the larger point is that AMD is aiming to make quad-core accessible, while maintaining it as the company’s high-end offering. A quad-core Phemon matched with the 790 chipset is the companies top-shelf offering for gaming, supposing you also pony up the dough for a competitive video card. These are bug-free B3 revision processors.
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