Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 'Kentsfield' Test

Introduction

Thing are going very well for Intel, not even a year ago hardware enthusiasts always bought an AMD processor for a new machine, however since the arrival of the Core 2 Duo this group is favouring Intel again. AMD has not managed to come up with an answer to the Core 2 Duo processors, but this does not mean that Intel is sitting back and enjoying the ride. The proof has arrived, not even 6 months after the introduction of the Core 2 Duo Intel is releasing the first quad core processor for desktop computers, the "Kentsfield" or Core 2 Extreme quad core.

Core microarchitecture

The succes story of the Core 2 Duo starts in 2000, when Intel releases the Pentium 4 processors. The power consumption of the Pentium 4 is too high for usage in laptops, so Intel immediately assign a team to start working on a mobile processor based on the Pentium III technology. A different team was working on the Tejas processor, which was originally meant to be the successor to the Pentium 4 range. The result of the developments was introduced in 2003 in the form of the Banias platform.It is clear from the start that the Pentium M is a very fast processor, and to avoid comparisons to the Pentium 4, Intel tries to keep the Pentium M away from desktop PC's.

Meanwhile the Pentium 4 achitecture is constanty being updated, and higher clock frequencies, higher Front Side Bus speeds and Hyperthreading are introduced. All these little steps improved the overall perfromance of the Pentium 4, but the power consumption was rising with every step. Competitor AMD introduced the Athlon 64, a processor faster and a lot more energy efficient than the Pentium 4. Intel keeps working on the mobile platform, and the Dothan generation performs a lot better again than the Banias. The Yonah followed Dothan, and it becomes evident that this is the way to go for Intel. The Yonah is called Core Duo and is packed with new technologies like shared L2 cache and does not consume half the power that the Pentium 4 does, but performs a lot better. Intel slowly starts to allow the use of Core Duo processors in desktop PC's, and Intel starts to pour more new technologies into the Core architecture. The end result is the Core 2 Duo, introduced in July 2006, and somes in for both desktop (Conroe) and notebook (Merom) varieties. he new architecture does not only put its predecessor to shame, but is also a lot faster than the competitions Athlon 64.

Not only has intel regained the advantage in micro architecture, they have also expanded their production facilities. Already before the Core 2 Duo was introduced Intel had already ramped up their 65nm production facilities, which meant that the new processors could operate very energy efficient. The last data was that Intel has already sold more than 1 million 65nm chips, while AMD has only just started their 65nm production.

Everyone knows by now that the Core 2 Duo is a huge success, and Intel just keeps rolling on by introducing the next step in the new architecture. In this article the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 is reviewed, a quad core processor based on Intel's core architecture. Theoretically the new processor could be up to twice as fast as the Core 2 Duo, which at the moment is already the fastest processor for desktops.