![]() The reason in a word is heat: The faster a chip runs, the hotter it becomes. If you'll recall, both Intel and AMD have been laying the groundwork to get people away from thinking of raw megahertz as the primary indicator of processor capability. At $999, the first quad-core CPU will remain an enthusiast part for a while, but as a glimpse of the future, it's clear that clock speed is out and core counts are in. Intel presents the Core 2 Extreme QX6700, a single CPU with four distinct processing cores. If you thought dual cores were over the top, get ready. Here's where multicore CPUs start to complicate our understanding of desktop processors. But if you've been paying attention to recent CPU developments, you might remember that the X6800 actually has a faster clock speed, coming in at 2.93GHz. That's, logically, twice as much cache as the dual-core Extreme X6800 chip. ![]() The key specs of the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 are its 2.66GHz-per-core clock speed, and its two separate 4MB L2 cache allotments-giving each pair of cores a 4MB pool to draw upon. If you must know all the ins and outs, we will refer you to our Alpha blog post that breaks down the bullet points. The big news is doubling the number of cores to four the rest of the chip architecture remains the same for the most part. We spared you the gory chip architecture details in our review of Intel's Core 2 Extreme X6800, and we're going to do the same here. You might not need a PC with such a pricey chip now, but our testing found that for applications and scenarios that will put it to the test, Intel's new quad-core chip will give you an absolute boost in performance. At $999, the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 will likely end up in only the most expensive of desktops, but the fact is that the multicore revolution is fully upon us. We found that with certain applications, Apple's high-end designer box is faster. We suspect that professionals and forward-looking gamers will be most interested in quad-core chips, and of the pros, the digital-media editors might not want to get rid of their Mac Pro's just yet. And if you're still stuck doing only one thing at a time on your desktop, the QX6700's promise for single-application performance is large, as well. Don't let the "Core 2" fool you (great job, Intel Product Naming department), this new chip has four physical processing cores in it that make it a multitasking beast. Welcome to quad core, by way of Intel's Core 2 Extreme QX6700. Barely wrapped your brain around dual-core processors? It only gets worse from here, folks.
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