X-bit labs

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850: Four Cores at Three Gigahertz (page 13)

Category: CPU

by Ilya Gavrichenkov

[ 07/15/2007 | 09:00 PM ]

Overclocking

Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor overclocking seems to be one of the most interesting topics of our today’s review. Overclockers pin their special hopes on the new G0 processor stepping. The thing is that besides lower heat dissipation, the new core may work at higher temperatures that stimulates the increase in overclocking potential.

To check out these suppositions we performed a few overclocking experiments on our Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processors. For our tests we used the already described platform based on Asus P5K Deluxe mainboard. The CPU was cooled down with a Zalman CNPS9700 LED cooler. To test the CPU and system stability during overclocking we used Prime95 utility, which new versions support multi-threading.

First of all we decided to see how far the Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor can overclock at its nominal voltage of 1.325V for our CPU. Note that Core 2 Extreme QX6850 belongs to Extreme series, i.e. its clock frequency multiplier is unlocked. That is why we overclocked it using an increased clock frequency multiplier of 10x.

The CPU worked stably at up to 3.55GHz frequency with the Vcore at its nominal value.

This is pretty impressive overclocking result for a G0 processor stepping, especially considering that we didn’t alter its Vcore. Quad-core CPUs we tested before used to overclock to these speeds with air cooling very rarely, even with the raised core voltage.

Another great illustration of G0 processor stepping overclockability is the result we obtained after raising its Vcore to 1.45V. In this case the CPU hit the fantastic number: 3.7GHz.

So, looks like overclocking fans have every right to be impatiently waiting for the new G0 processor stepping. CPUs with this new core have every chance to become new overclocking record-breakers. With proper cooling, of course, new quad-core processors can definitely overclock better than their dual-core counterparts that have already won the computer enthusiasts’ hearts.