Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770: Paper Tiger?

Up Close And Personal With The QX9770

Like its predecessor, the QX9650, the QX9770 will also be equipped with 2 x 6 MB of L2 cache. In general, the processors will share the same core design, although we can't say at this point whether the new part will also use the current C0 stepping or receive a newer one.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Row 0 - Cell 0 QX9770QX9650QX6850
CodenameYorkfieldYorkfieldConroe XE
Taktrate3,20 GHz3,00 GHz3,00 GHz
FSB400 MHz333 MHz333 MHz
Cache2x 6 MB2x 6 MB2x 4 MB
Prozess45 nm45 nm65 nm
Transistoren820 Mio.820 Mio.586 Mio.
DIE-Fläche214 mm²214 mm²286 mm²
TDP136 Watt130 Watt130 Watt

In summary, the big changes from the previous Penryn-based Extreme model are a faster processor speed of 3.20 GHz (+200 MHz), a faster FSB of 400 MHz, and a higher TDP of 136 Watts (+6 Watts).

  • Capitannimo
    I am not sure why you are not mentioning the cooling system you use.
    Also why you don't mention that this processor needs water cooling system even if not over clocked.
    Reply
  • Intelextreme
    Looks like a Zalman fan to me in the pictures so maybe water cooling is not needed, at least for those not into cases (something I typically consider "benchmark machines" and was surprised by the lack of dry ice. By the way thermoelectric, chilled water, cooling using peltiers can't be beat! Finally I have a QX6850 and I get a 3mdMark06 of 18,548 with a Gigabyte EX38-DQ6 and a Shappire Radeon HD4870 X2 2gb (using not yet anywhere near perfected drivers) and without overclocking the GPUs until a water block is released for it. I was going to upgrade to a QX9770 now that I can pick one up for a good price since the 9775 came out but since reading that the difference in speed is not incredible I have decided to wait for the new Core i7 or whatever they call the new extreme processor and motherboards with new sockets coming out soon.
    Reply
  • Intelextreme
    To show the QX9770 overclocked alone is bias as I run my QX6850 overclocked. When compared to the QX9770 running at stock speed, the QX6850 differs typically by a few points, it is not until the QX9770 is overclocked to 4ghz that the difference becomes as high as close to 20% in come cases. However, that ignores the fact that a lot of the other processors are good overclockers, and I can overclock my QX6850, using thermoelectric chilled water cooling, to a stable 3.8. Therefore, the difference between the two in terms of speed is not enough at this point to justify purchasing an X48 chipset motherboard and a QX9770 when a new socket and extreme CPU is coming out soon. If I was putting together a computer now I would likely go cheap and look for a used QX6800 and as good a used motherboard as possible just because I would be selling them soon anyway.
    Reply