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Kentsfield incoming...

Duke

Duke

Duke

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Intel quad-core QX6700 reaches system builders

Chicago (IL) - Intel has begun shipping its first quad-core processor "Kentsfield," which will be officially called Core 2 Extreme QX6700 to system builders. Industry sources have confirmed to TG Daily that the processor has entered a stage of system testing, which indicates that the processors is on track for a mid-November launch.

Due to the lack of threaded games, the processor apparently will not show dramatic performance improvements in games we heard, but rather excel in typical threaded environments such as multimedia applications. The processor will ship in very limited numbers as Intel's new flagship processor and will be flanked by the DP workstation and volume server processor "Clovertown," which will be released as Xeon 5300 series in November. First mainstream quad-core processors are expected to launch as Core 2 Quad E-series in the first quarter of next year.

Kentsfield will ship with 8 MB of L2 cache and a clock speed of 2.67 GHz to keep the processor within a 110 watt power envelope - up from 65 watts of the dual-core Core 2 Duo E6700 with the identical clock speed. Since Kentsfield will be aimed exclusively at the enthusiast segment initially, we expect performance and boutique PC builders to offer overclocked versions of the processor right away. A recent benchmark series of the processor conducted by Tom's Hardware Guide revealed that the processor runs stable at 3.33 GHz and, at that level, offers about twice the performance of a Netburst-based Pentium EE 965 processor, while running in a similar power range. However, an idle 3.33 GHz Kentsfield consumes about as much power as a Core 2 Duo under full load, Tom's Hardware said.

In the meantime, there is very little information available about AMD's 4x4 platform, which will counter Kentsfield with two dual-core Athlon 64 FX processors on one motherboard. However, there is no indication that AMD's contender will be late and launch in time for the Christmas season. There may be enough reason for enthusiasts to consider two dual-cores instead of one quad-core. The limited number of quad-cores is almost a guarantee that etail prices of the chip will climb well above the tray price of $1000. Prices of 4x4 have not been discussed by AMD so far, but industry sources suggest that package deals with two FX processors will debut in the $800 to $900 range.
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http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/2006/10/11/intel_kentsfield/

Not long now :)
 
This time next year is when I'll take my first look at quad-core.
Will give time for the software to catch up.
Quad-core will look impressive, will benchmark impressive - however as for translation into real world, the software out there just isn't going to make use of it.

No - I don't count running four instances of Prime as a good way of showing just how good my system is!!
Will mean nice price reduction on the dual-cores early next year though...
 
lucifersam said:
it means people like dell, HP, big system builders and such
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Yeah thats what i meant but didnt think we were allowed to mention them!

I assume theyl only want them for servers though? I cant imagine average joe will want a quad core
 
Maybe, but the thing is that Kentsfield is an ultra high-end worstation/server platform (I forget what the two are called, but they're both 2x2 architectures)...

So Intel knows it can charge enough to make most home users bleed from bodily orifices whilst raking in stacks from labs/developers/enterprise without damaging the sales of Core 2 Duo, etc. - the average user that walks in to the land of purple shirts won't know the difference or even of the existence of quad-core and will still be drawn to the 'dual core' malarkey that is being bandied around at the moment.

Now, once the technology filters down to the regular desktop level there will undoubtedly be price cuts, but those won't come until after January, if not Easter. I think a few too many people are hoping for Intel to show a benevolent side and give shareholders the bird in the name of providing cheaper upgrades for 0.0000001% of their market.

In the short term, dream on.
 
I'll be getting Kentsfield, im fairly sure of it. Im due an upgrade now and I do quite a bit of multi tasking, so the game performace doesn't bother me too much. Im also getting a custom phase unit soon, so im not sure if I should go all out and get the QX6700 or the more modest(and far cheaper) Q6600 in January.
 
I can mention Dell, HP etc because they are not OcUK competitiors, I will be going quad core my aging Pentium 4 is due replacement and I see little point in going dual core when I can go quad core, since I need to make my CPU last at least two years I think the four cores in it will be utilised within its useful life so that is my justification. Kentsfield is not a server platform, its is home/office the codename for the future Xeons eludes me but they are the server CPUs
 
GAMEfreak said:
is it woodcrest? i forget though, i have a 90% feeling that thats the dual core and not quad though.
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Clovertown is the quad core Xeon workstation CPU
Woodcrest is the Dual core based on the Core2 microarchitecture
 
I doubt kentsfield will reduce the pricing of conroe, only when the 'lower clocked' versions of kentsfield are released will there be any price drops of the core2duo range, the QX will retail around the price of the x6800, probably more, so as there is no direct replacement for the e6300-6700 range intel have little reason to drop the prices imo. I'd like a kentsfield but for nothing more than some e-willy waving as I simply have no need for quad core nor any software that will take advantage of it.
 
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