Hello, I just have a quick question about Intel's Extreme CPUs. If you take a look at this link, its a side by side comparison of the Q6700 and the QX6700. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010340343+1051707842+1050925341&StoreType=7&CompareItemList=N82E16819115011%2cN82E16819115027&bop=And My question is. What's the difference between them? In the comparison I don't see anything different between the two except that one has the "extreme" label and costs $400 more. -Gavin

Hi Gavin,

When overclocking, the final CPU clock speed is calculated by multiplying the FSB speed by the CPU clock multiplier.

So for the Q6700, the FSB is around 266 Mhz (Quad pumped to 1066 Mhz) and the default multiplier is 10, giving a clock speed of 2.66 Ghz.

On a standard Q6700 this multiplier is limited (can't remember what limit is, might even be fixed at 10), so to overclock it significantly you need to increase the FSB speed. For example, up it to 333 Mhz and your CPU will run at 3.33 Ghz without changing the clock multiplier at all. To do this you'll need a good motherboard that supports this, and can run at this speed.

The QX6700 has no limits on the CPU multiplier, so you can increase the CPU speed without changing the FSB speed. It also allows the CPU speed to go much higher by increasing both the FSB speed and the multiplier, providing you have suitable cooling to cope with this.

So in theory at least, the QX gives you better overclocking potential, but whether this is worth an extra $400 is debatable. I would say probably not.

Thanks WillC.

That explains a lot. I just hope that they bring out a non-extreme 3.0ghz quad core sometime soon. I don't want to pay 1200$ for a CPU :P

Quote: Original post by Gavinl
Thanks WillC.

That explains a lot. I just hope that they bring out a non-extreme 3.0ghz quad core sometime soon. I don't want to pay 1200$ for a CPU :P

They aren't. You can get a Q6600 to 3GHz easily though.

Not to hijack this thread, but speaking of the Q6600. I am trying to debate between getting the Q6600 or the E6850. Both are the same price. Part of me wants the Q6600 for multitasking, but the E6850 looks better for gaming. I was also hoping to wait for a "true" quad core processor.

I was also planning on getting the Asus Striker Extreme, does anyone know of a great comparable CHEAPER motherboard?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Quote: Original post by Sshado
Not to hijack this thread, but speaking of the Q6600. I am trying to debate between getting the Q6600 or the E6850. Both are the same price. Part of me wants the Q6600 for multitasking, but the E6850 looks better for gaming. I was also hoping to wait for a "true" quad core processor.

I was also planning on getting the Asus Striker Extreme, does anyone know of a great comparable CHEAPER motherboard?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

You're right the E6850 is still a good choice for gaming, espcially if not overclocking, but really is the processor likely to be your bottleneck anyway? Also with gaming it'll likely be minimally improved "experience" rather than saving you time like a quadcore could depending on what you're doing with it. Also forget about the true quad core stuff, nothing more than propaganda at this stage.

If you don't need the features (SLI) of the Striker Extreme go for something like the Abit IP-35 Pro or Gigabyte's GA-P35 DS4, or maybe even something from lower down in those P35 based ranges.