Date:
Thursday , September 28, 2006
Category:
CPU / Processors
Manufacturers:
Intel
Author:
Paul Jastrzebski
Editor:
Kyle Bennett

Core 2 Quad QX6700 Performance Preview

Intel allowed us a few minutes with their upcoming quad-core processor code named Kentsfield. We got to run a few benchmarks and have them here to share with our readers.

Introduction

With the geeky madness of this year’s Intel Developer Forum finally winding down, we thought it’d be a good idea to share with you a real preview of Intel quad-core performance. We had the chance to sit down and actually run a handful of benchmarks on a Kentsfield based Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 CPU. This is not our usual in-house evaluation, but rather a small glimpse of the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 confined by how Intel wants us to view it. This is not to complain, as we greatly appreciate this kind of access, but it needs to be understood that all of these benchmarks are run under the tightest of Intel controls both in terms of hardware and marketing.

Under the OS Hood

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Here we see the Core 2 Extreme QX6700’s four cores in the Task Manager.

The Intel Setup

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Intel allowed us to run a small test suite of benchmarks that include DivX encoding, 3D Studio Max 8 SP2, 3DMark06, and PCMark05. To test against the quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX6700, we had an identical system that featured Intel’s current high-end performance champ, the Core 2 Extreme X6800. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring our own benchmarks and have no real-world gaming scenarios to see how Kentsfield performs in today’s most popular games.

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But we were able to open up a test rig and take a few pictures of Intel’s new BadAxe 2 D975XBX 2 desktop motherboard with the Core 2 Extreme QX6700. You may notice that the heatsink fan on the CPU looks to be higher end than the one included in retail packaging. Because the QX6700 is a 120w part, the CPU will get very hot when the QX6700 is under load and the stock heatsink will have a hard time keeping up with the heat. Basically, if Intel isn’t using their reference heatsink, when you buy this $1000 CPU, you shouldn’t either.