Intel - Core 2 Extreme QX9770 review

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650

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.

At least that's what you might think.

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.

The extraordinary point is that Intel doesn't have a chipset with official support for this new front side bus. Both the P35 and X38 chipsets can be used to add unofficial support for the new clock speed, and many Taiwanese motherboards do exactly that, but it won't be official until Intel launches the X48 in a few weeks' time.

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.

That will change with the X48 chipset but it makes you wonder what Intel is playing at. Or rather, it makes you wonder what spooked Intel into sending out samples of the QX9770 for review. The likeliest answer is that Intel wants to maintain the pressure on AMD and, while it has undeniably succeeded, it also suggests that Intel was worried about the AMD Phenom processor.

So will you buy a QX9770? Not a chance, not at that price. Will you buy a Penryn with a 1,600MHz front side bus? That's a tricky question. Historically Intel has used its Extreme Edition products to give you a flavour of what's coming in the near future with the added benefit of an unlocked multiplier to make life easier for overclockers.