Intel’s Affordable Quad-Core Chip for Desktops Due in Days?

Intel’s Affordable Quad-Core Chip for Desktops Due in Days?

Daniel Fleshbourne on 28 December 2006 - 01:44 · 27 comments & 10465 views

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Intel Corp., the largest maker of x86 microprocessors on the globe, is expected to release its new quad-core processor for desktops in days, at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The release of chip will allow Intel Corp. to further increase its competitive advantage over arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 chip is expected to run at 2.40GHz, come with 8MB L2 cache and use 1066MHz processor system bus. The new microprocessor is projected to cost $851, which is much higher than that of premium dual-core Intel Core 2 Duo 6700 chip, which costs $530, but is still lower compared to $999 the chipmaker charges for its “extreme” versions of its Core 2 microprocessors with two or four cores.

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(3 replies) #1 Kadafi on 28 Dec 2006 - 02:02

Is there actually any applications (that people might actually use) that would take advantage of four cores? AFAIK not many take advantage of the two we currently have.

#1.1 King Mustard on 28 Dec 2006 - 02:04

Alan Wake will.

#1.2 MrCobra on 28 Dec 2006 - 02:14

The OS will do it. When I moved to dual core XP became more responsive as did most other programs.

#1.3 King Mustard on 28 Dec 2006 - 02:18

Quote - MrCobra said @ #1.2

The OS will do it. When I moved to dual core XP became more responsive as did most other programs.

I guess I'll find that out for myself when I upgrade from an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ to an AMD Athlon X2 4600+ in a few weeks time

(1 reply) #2 Justin03248 on 28 Dec 2006 - 02:18

Ya, that's cause a lot of Windows code is written with 2 threads... but never 4, or the 1 core CPU's would be as slow as a turtle.

#2.1 unkle stu on 30 Dec 2006 - 10:13

do you have any clue as to how a thread scheduler works?

try
ctrl + alt + del
view -> select columns
thread count

#3 seethru on 28 Dec 2006 - 02:19

good for video processing I suppose. I know the beta versions of the XViD codec let you specify the number of threads to use. Thats the only place I can see this being useful.

#4 lfLASHl on 28 Dec 2006 - 02:45

was thinking of getting a x2 3800+, but with the price of 4600+ think ill save a little bit longer and get one of those.

#5 RAID 0 on 28 Dec 2006 - 02:50

YAY! Too expensive though... Maybe late into next year they'll be around 500 bucks. THEN... I buy!

(1 reply) #6 statix1 on 28 Dec 2006 - 03:16

ok heres the thing. can i install a quad-core, even a dual core on my motherboard that currently has a Pentium 4 3.0Ghz HT? or do i have to have a motherboard that supports it?

i remember one of them, either AMD or Intel make them so they are on one chip rather than two seperate ones...either way can i get dual/quad core on my current mobo?

thanks...

-.statix

#6.1 +chconline on 28 Dec 2006 - 04:53

Unless you have P965, i975X, 946 something, NForce 680 or 590, then no.

(1 reply) #7 xxdesmus on 28 Dec 2006 - 04:15

Quad core is still a bit overkill for 90% of users today, but it would be a good purchase to "future-proof" yourself for a few years.

#7.1 +Octol on 28 Dec 2006 - 06:16

Not too long ago, Intel pledged to release a processor with 80 cores within five years.

Now that's my idea of future-proofing!

#8 cwalker2734 on 28 Dec 2006 - 05:08

8 MB of cache ?!??!?! 11101011110001011111111

fwop fwop fwop fwop

(1 reply) #9 no-sweat on 28 Dec 2006 - 05:42

I still don't understand any of this processor crap. Anyone have any website that can explain it to me barney-style?

#9.1 +Octol on 28 Dec 2006 - 14:50

Well you see, these processors eat little snacks called bits and bytes, then they crap in your computer and leave all these little droppings. So every once in a while you should clean the processor crap out of your computer.

#10 TheDarkKnight on 28 Dec 2006 - 05:47

Will it bring down the prices of Core2 duos? Even a tad bit will be good news for me as I'll be purchasing a new laptop next month.

#11 david13lt on 28 Dec 2006 - 06:03

I think most of the people are going to stay with Core 2 Duo for one more year, and only from 2008 people will be starting to buy Core 2 Quad chips, or even maybe from the mid of 2008 when INTEL release it's 45nm CPUs.

#12 Jebadiah on 28 Dec 2006 - 07:20

I just hope Core 2 Duo prices go down.

Specifically T7200.

(2 replies) #13 Gobelet on 28 Dec 2006 - 09:33

But you won't be able to install XP on it... The licenses are designed to work with 1-2 CPU (it was written on the first COA Stickers). I don't know if Vista will offer support for it yet. Time will tell...

But I guess that for the moment you'd have to use a server OS.

#13.1 MrCobra on 28 Dec 2006 - 11:01

That license is for physical chips not cores.

#13.2 +WinMacLin on 28 Dec 2006 - 20:23

Quote - Gobelet said @ #1

Use your brain, thats physical processors not processor cores.

I have the QX6700 (Quad Core processor) and I'm happily running Windows XP Pro.

#14 lol911 on 28 Dec 2006 - 10:58

Yes you can install XP on it. I got a friend which runs both 32-bit and 64-bit winXP on the Quad Core, and it runs like a charm!

#15 RedHook on 28 Dec 2006 - 17:23

I will wait until next christmas when Dell makes a "price mistake" on a quad machine

as someone pointed out this makes the dual cores cheaper...great news

#16 Osprey on 29 Dec 2006 - 00:38

Don't forget that there's the potential advantage of running up to 4 CPU-intensive applications at once... or just 2 with a 3rd core handling OS functions, services and smaller programs in memory. The latter is probably where most people will use the extra cores the most, especially on systems that have a lot of background applications always running in memory.

#17 Slimy on 31 Dec 2006 - 09:23

Whoa, 8mb L2 cache, well done Intel!

#18 carmatic on 02 Jan 2007 - 05:52

anyone tried overclocking these yet?

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Intel’s Affordable Quad-Core Chip for Desktops Due in Days?

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