Intel Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Extreme Test

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Models

Before its official introduction on the 27th of July the new architecture by Intel, the Conroe, has developed a real hype with hardware enthusiasts all over the internet. More and more benchmarks got leaked onto the web, and it became imminent that the new Intel processor would regain the performance crown.

The reason why this new architecture is so successful is mainly that it is a completely new architecture, Intel seems to have said their farewells to the Netburst architecture, for a complete overview of the new architecture please read this {link} article. The new architecture not only makes the Conroe fast, it also makes it a lot more energy efficient, the new Core 2 Duo’s have a TDP of only 65 Watts, the Core 2 Extreme 95 Watts.

Models

The Core 2 Duo is a new processor, but on the other hand it is not. Just like the Pentium D and Pentium 4 processors its uses the LGA 775 socket, however not all 775 motherboards are compatible with the new processor. Only motherboards with a 975x chipset or a 965 chipset are suitable for the Conroe. The new processor comes in two varieties, the “normal” Core 2 Duo, and the Core 2 Extreme, a successor to the XE series, and mainly aimed at power users, gamers and overclockers. The Extreme version has a higher clock speed, and an unlocked multiplier, which means that overclockers can experiment freely with speeds.

The new architecture has a higher IPC (Instructions per clock cycle) than the Pentium architecture, which results in a high performance, even at lower clock speeds. The initial release of the Core 2 Duo consists of 5 models, varying in clock speed between 1.6 GHz to 2.67GHz. The E6300 toE6700 all use a FSB (Front Side Bus) of 1066 MHz, and the E6600 and E6700 come with 4MB of level 2 cache. The lower models have a total of 2MB L2 cache. The E4200 is a budget model that has an FSB of 800MHz and comes with 2MB L2 cache. All Core 2 Duo models have a TDP of 65 Watts. The flagship model, the X6800, runs at a clock speed of 2.93GHz, has 4MB L2 cache and an FSB of 1066MHz. The TDP of this model is slightly higher at 95 Watts. A table with all available Conroe processors at introduction is found below:

As the Conroe is becoming more and more available in shops it is clear that pricing of these processors is very aggressive. The rumors that the availability of the Conroe is low persist, and Intel has slashed their prices of the Pentium D models to make way for the faster Conroe models.