Feature Articles

Sneak Peek : Intel's New Quad-Core

By Dr. Jimmy Tang - 29 Sep 2006

Intel's Quad-Core Is Ready

Intel's Quad-Core Is Ready

With more than a month away before the launch of Intel's latest quad-core processor, the engineers at Intel are already busy comparing the performance of the QX6700 with their previous flagship processor, the X6800. Since the processor is essentially assembled using two individual Conroe dies, manufacturing the new quad-core processor in volume is really not an issue.

According to Intel, it's more economical to combine two dies into one packaging to create a quad-core processor than to redesign the entire processor and put it through the whole process of manufacturing and qualifying the new part. Besides, a dual-core die is smaller than a single quad-core die, and thus, there's a potential of getting higher die yields from the silicon wafer. These are potential cost savings that could be translated back to us, the consumers. Besides, it also leads to faster time to market of advanced quad-core processors for current platforms.

As mentioned in many of our previous Core 2 Duo articles, current 975X and 965 motherboards designed for Core 2 Duo should theoretically work with the upcoming quad-core processor. Although the new Core 2 Extreme QX6700 is rated at 130W, boards following Intel's motherboard design guidelines should have sufficient power routed to the processor.

The test system setup uses a standard cooler and a GeForce 7950 GX2 SLI graphics card.

Join HWZ's Telegram channel here and catch all the latest tech news!
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.