We compiled a performance analysis of the individual programs that make up our benchmark suite, with the processor overclocked to 3.33 GHz and 3.66 GHz.
We didn't include synthetic benchmark applications such as SiSoft Sandra, PCMark and 3DMark, since they are not real-world applications and would therefore not contribute to these results in a meaningful way.
The Core 2 Extreme QX9650, running at 3.3 GHz at stock voltage, shows a 6.6% performance boost across our benchmark suite.
When we raise the processor's clock speed to 3.66 GHz, which only requires a minor increase in core voltage, its scores improve by 13.3%.
All of our tests were run on the Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 motherboard.
Summary
- Revamping The Core 2 Architecture - New Flagship: Extreme QX9650
- New Dielectric Minimizes Leakage Currents
- 45 nm - Higher Yield, Smaller Die Area
- 12 MB L2 Cache And SSE 4
- The Processor - Intel Core 2 QX9650
- Overclocking I - 3.33 GHz
- Overclocking II - 3.66 GHz
- Overclocking III - 3.8 GHz
- Overclocking IV - 4 GHz At Very High Voltage
- Overclocking V - 4 GHz At FSB 1600
- Overclocking - Up To 19% More Performance
- Overclocking To 4.0 GHz - FSB1600 Offers No Advantage
- Sensational: Idle Power Consumption Of Only 3.79 Watts
- Very Good - 73 Watts For Four Cores
- Lower Core Voltage - 1.250 Volts
- Operating Temperature - 12°C Lower
- Penryn-Based Core 2 CPUs - Models, Prices, New Boxed Cooler
- New Boxed Cooler
- Performance Comparison - Old Vs. New - 6.9% Better Performance
- Test Setup
- Software Configuration
- Benchmarks And Settings
- 3D Games: UT2004, Prey
- 3D Games: Quake 4, Warhammer
- 3D Games: Supreme Commander, Serious Sam 2
- 3D Rendering: Cinema 4D, 3D-Studio Max
- Applications: AVG, WinRAR
- Applications: Photoshop, PDF
- Applications: Deep Fritz
- Audio Encoding: ITunes, Lame
- Synthetic: Sandra CPU
- Synthetic: Sandra Memory
- Synthetic: Sandra Multimedia
- Synthetic: PC-Mark
- Synthetic: 3D-Mark
- Video Encoding: Xvid, Pinnacle Studio
- Video Encoding: Premiere, MainConcept
- Video Encoding: HDTV, DivX
- Video Encoding: CloneDVD
- Conclusion: Less Noise, More Efficiency, More Speed and More Overclocking Potential
