Product Listing

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 - Quad-Core Power for Desktops

By Zachary Chan - 2 Nov 2006

Overclocking and Test Setup

Overclocking

Like the previous Core 2 Extreme, the QX6700 does not have a multiplier lock, which allows for a greater degree of tweaking. However, the pre-production Bad Axe 2 (D975XBX2) motherboard turned out to be a dud at overclocking - maxing out at a measly 275MHz FSB. Because of the limitations of the motherboard and time constraints, we were unable to really explore the overclocking limits of the QX6700. At time of writing, most manufacturers either have or are beginning to release quad core BIOS support in their LGA775 boards. Hopefully, we'll be able to see some good overclocking numbers soon with a good P965 board.

However, we have to say that it isn't as straight forward as the Core 2 Duo processors. The increased thermals and heat output of the Kentsfield will again become the primary concern when overclocking, eventually getting the better of the processor.

CPU-Z screenshot of the maximum overclock achieved on the QX6700 with the Intel BadAxe2 motherboard. Click for larget image.

We were able to boot up at 3.46GHz (266MHz x 13), but benchmarking showed that the processor wasn't stable at the speeds. After playing around with the limited options we had, our maximum overclock came out to be 3.3GHz (275MHz x 12). We will also include full benchmarking results of the overclocked QX6700 in the next section to show how well processor performance scales to frequency increase.


Test Setup

There isn't really anything new in terms of technology in the Kentsfield so let's cut to the chase shall we? This is the real reason you're in here, you want to see how this baby performs and that's what we'll show you. You may have seen our performance preview in our Fall IDF updates, but if you're skeptical of Intel controlled environments (and who isn't), we have a full set of benchmarks run right here in our own labs. The following pages offer a pretty in-depth and extensive range of benchmarks, so you had better break out the popcorn.

The main performance comparisons will be the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 against the currently available Core 2 Extreme and Core 2 Duo parts, especially how the E6700 matches up with the QX6700. As their model numbers imply, both these processors are running at the same speed configurations (266MHz x 10) even though the QX6700 is labeled as the 'Extreme' part of the Kentsfield family. For the sake of having a fair perspective, we've also thrown in AMD's highest performing part in the market right now, which is the AMD Athlon 64 FX-62.

In this review, we also have a bonus for you. Just recently, we were fortunate enough to be given a change to review the Xeon 5160 processor based on the Woodcrest core. Since the Xeon 5160 comes in a 2-way SMP configuration, we have valid real world quad-processor based results to benchmark against the quad-core Kentsfield. To match up against the 3.0GHz/1333MHz PSB Xeon 5160, we tried to match its frequency and FSB for the Kentsfield. Due to the motherboard limitations again, we had to improvise to match the Xeon clocks with a 3.0GHz overclock (273MHz x 11).

Our attempt at matching the Xeon 5160 was hampered by poor overclocking on the motherboard side. Hence, we matched the 3GHz clock with a 273MHz FSB.

CPU-Z screenshot of the Xeon 5160.

The following test bed configurations will be used throughout our benchmarking section unless otherwise stated:-


Intel quad-core Core 2 Configuration

  • Intel Dekstop Board D975XBX2 (Intel 975X Express chipset)
  • Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700
  • 2 x 512MB Corsair DDR2-800 non-ECC memory modules (CAS 4. 4-4-12)
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • MSI GeForce 7900 GT 256MB - with NVIDIA Detonator XP 84.21
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2


Intel dual-core Core 2 Configuration

  • Intel Desktop Board D975XBX (Intel 975X Express chipset)
  • Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800, Core 2 Duo E6700 and E6600
  • 2 x 512MB Corsair DDR2-800 non-ECC memory modules (CAS 4. 4-4-12)
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • MSI GeForce 7900 GT 256MB - with NVIDIA Detonator XP 84.21
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2

Intel Xeon 5160 (dual) Configuration

  • Intel Enterprise Server S5000XVN (Intel 5000X chipset)
  • 2 x Intel Xeon 5160 processors
  • 2 x 1GB FB-DIMMM DDR2-533 memory modules
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • MSI GeForce 7900 GT 256MB - with NVIDIA Detonator XP 84.21
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2


AMD Athlon 64 FX Configuration

  • ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe (nForce 590 SLI chipset)
  • AMD Athlon 64 FX-62
  • 2 x 512MB Corsair DDR2-800 non-ECC memory modules (CAS 4, 4-4-12)
  • Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB SATA hard disk drive (one single NTFS partition)
  • MSI GeForce 7900 GT 256MB - with NVIDIA Detonator XP 84.21
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2


Benchmarks

The following benchmarks will be used:-

  • BAPCo SYSmark 2004
  • SPEC CPU2000 v1.3
  • Lightwave 3D 7.5
  • Futuremark PCMark 2005
  • SPECviewperf 8.01
  • Cinebench 2003
  • XMpeg 5.0.3 (DivX 6.2.5 encoding)
  • Futuremark 3DMark05
  • Futuremark 3DMark06
  • Unreal Tournament 2004
  • AquaMark3
  • Quake 4 ver.1.20
  • F.E.A.R.
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