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Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Rock Solid at 3.66 GHz

10:28 - Tuesday 21 August 2007 by Bert Töpelt
Source: Tom's hardware UK – Keywords: overclocking, intel
Categories: Hardware

Table of content:
6 – Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Rock Sol...
  1. 1 – Four Cores at 3 GHz: Intel’s Core 2 Extreme QX6850
  2. 2 – The New Core 2 Models with FSB 1333
  3. 3 – An Overview of the Core 2 Steppings
  4. 4 – An Overclocking Powerhouse: The new G0-Stepping
  5. 5 – Lower Core Voltage
  6. 6 – Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Rock Solid at 3.66 GHz
  7. 7 – Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Rock Solid at 3.66 GHz (Cont’d)
  8. 8 – Core 2 Duo: Going Strong at 3.60 GHz
  9. 9 – Core 2 Duo: Going Strong at 3.60 GHz (Cont’d)
  10. 10 – Power Consumption
  11. 11 – FSB1066 vs. FSB1333
  12. 12 – Which Board will run an FSB 1333 CPU?
  13. 13 – Pricing: Cheaper than the FSB1066 CPUs
  14. 14 – New Hard- and Software for our Benchmark Suite
  15. 15 – Benchmarks and Settings
  16. 16 – Benchmarks and Settings (Continued)
  17. 17 – Benchmarks - Video CloneDVD, DivX
  18. 18 – Benchmarks - Video Xvid, Premiere
  19. 19 – Benchmarks - Video Studio 11, Mainconcept
  20. 20 – Benchmarks - Audio iTunes, Lame
  21. 21 – Benchmarks – Applications HD-Video, AVG Antivirus
  22. 22 – Benchmarks – Applications Photoshop, PDF
  23. 23 – Benchmarks - Applications Cinema 4D, 3D-Studio Max
  24. 24 – Benchmarks – Applications Fritz, WinRAR
  25. 25 – Benchmarks - 3D Games Quake 4, Prey
  26. 26 – Benchmarks - 3D Games Serious Sam 2, Unreal Tournament 2004
  27. 27 – Benchmarks - 3D Games Warhammer, Supreme Commander
  28. 28 – Benchmarks – Synthetic Sandra CPU
  29. 29 – Benchmarks - Synthetic Sandra Multimedia
  30. 30 – Benchmarks - Synthetic Sandra Memory
  31. 31 – Benchmarks - Synthetic 3D-Mark
  32. 32 – Benchmarks - Synthetic PC-Mark
  33. 33 – Conclusion: New Overclocking Potential with the G0-Stepping

Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Rock Solid at 3.66 GHz

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After we ran the Core 2 Extreme QX6850 through our benchmark suite at its stock speed of 3 GHz, we proceeded to conduct our traditional overclocking tests, as with any other processor. As we mentioned before, we found that our quad-core sample ran completely stable up to a speed of 3.33GHz – a very respectable 11% overclock – at its stock voltage of 1.3375 volts!

We began increasing the multiplier, which is unlocked in Extreme Edition processors, to 11x. Together with the FSB of 333 MHz, that resulted in a frequency of 3.66 GHz.

Our sample of the previous model, the QX6800, wouldn’t even POST at this speed. To our amazement, our Core 2 Extreme QX6850, on the other hand, even made it to the Vista desktop without a hitch. However, it did crash once we launched our benchmark suite. All that was needed was a minimal increase in core voltage of 2.8 % to 1.375 Volts, and the quad-core processor had no trouble at all running and even completing any benchmarks we cared to throw its way.

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Thanks to the Extreme Edition processor’s unlocked multiplier, there’s no need to worry about the memory speed. Choosing a higher multiplier won’t effect the memory speed, which will thus always run at its nominal, specified speed.

That the new quad-core processor can be overclocked to 3.66 GHz without having to bump up the core voltage is a clear indication that Intel has optimized the G0-stepping for high frequencies. Considering that Intel quoted the maximum frequency for the upcoming 45nm Penryn processors as being 4 GHz – which incidentally is only one multiplier away from our overclocked CPU – it seems extremely likely that Intel’s plans have changed with the introduction of the G0-stepping.

We took our overclocking experiment a step further and set the multiplier to 12x (333MHz X12 = 4 GHz). While the processor got as far as the BIOS menu and even POSTed, it repeatedly crashed with a blue screen when we attempted to boot into Windows.


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Talkback
spuddyt 22/08/2007 03:46
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spuddyt

I hope Intel doesn't start 2 get a monopoly...

Cabelo 28/08/2007 04:19
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Cabelo

You're probably right to worry, but I read that AMD has taken a big upswing this month... hopefully it'll sort itself out.

I even fear the game monopoly :(

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