The Intel Core 2 Quad processors bring a new facet to computing.
You now can have the processing power of a server in your desktop. The
Core 2 Quad is a package that houses four processors featuring the Core 2
technology that gives you Hyperthreading. This is a whole new ball game.
One of the main features of the Core 2 with Hyperthreading is the processing
speed. Hands down it a single processor running at 1.4 GHz is faster than the
fastest Pentium 4 processor with out Hyperthreading (don't get confused about
the Pentium 4 D, this is a first generation Hyperthreading processor and it is
fast!)
Then there is the Core 2 Duo, this is two processors in one package. With
this processor you can accomplish more with less power. Couple that with the
ability to select which processor you want your program to run on you have the
ability to put a
processor intense program on one processor alone thus
relieving
the other processor to run services and less processor intense programs such as
your email, a word processor, or browser while your spread sheet is doing
calculations on the other the processor and not slowing your system to a crawl.
Now you have four processors. This means if you have a program such as
setaffinity.exe you can dictate what program is using what processor. You have a graphics program that uses a lot of processing power? Set it to run on one processor by itself. Want to run a spread sheet at the same time, fine set it to run on another processor. Still have two processors left. Run all your services on one processor. Now you can have your email, browser, word processor, and what ever else you have open on a normal work day open and no discernable drag on the computer.
For years the server world has had multiple processors. Usually two but on
occasion four. I have worked on a couple of servers that had sixteen and
thirty-two processors. One of the main reasons for having more than four
processors is data base applications. Some data base applications are processor
intensive to a point where anything less than eight processors will stop the
computer, there is not enough processing power left to run the services and
other process that keep the server running.
This review is for theQ6600 Core 2 Quad processor.
I upgraded my computer from the Core 2 Duo to the Core 2 Quad, the
motherboard I am using is an ASUS P5K WiFi Deluxe. The system was also upgraded
to four gig of ram that is 800 MHz FSB. I also added a Thermaltake Big Typhoon
heat sink.
Two factors go in to the choice of the Q6600 -
Price, this is the low end of the scale for quad processors and is the
cheapest
Memory - I did not want to upgrade to a higher FSB speed memory at this time
so stuck with two additional 800 MHz 1 gig DDR 2 memory modules.
Over all the upgrade went smoothly, the only thing that slowed me down with
the upgrade was the Thermaltake heat sink. The installation of the heat sink
requires the motherboard to be removed for a plate on the under side of the
motherboard. This is due to the weight and a way to secure the heat sink to the
motherboard. Once I had the heat sink installed I spent the rest of the time
putting the system back together. Overall it took about an hour and a half to
accomplish the upgrade. Because I wanted the most heat dissipation possible I
decide on the Typhoon heat sink, and with that the additional time to install
it. Normally an upgrade of this magnitude should only take about twenty
minutes. Remove the old heat sink, processor, install the new processor,
install the heat sink, add the ram. Start it up and go through the BIOS setup.
So far I am very pleased with the upgrade. I have not found any problems
with the processors at all. XP accepted the four processors with out
reinstalling the OS, which had me a little worried that I would have to find
and reinstall all my applications.
Using a program I found on the web called setaffinity.exe I can setup
my programs to run on all, three, two, or one processor at a time.
Core 2 Quad Processor specifications
45 nm
Processor
Cache
Clock Speed
FSB
Q9550
12MB
L2
2.83 GHz
1333 MHz
Q9450
12MB
L2
2.66 GHz
1333 MHz
Q9300
6MB
L2
2.50 GHz
1333 MHz
65 nm
Q6700
8MB
L2
2.66 GHz
1066 MHz
Q6600
8MB
L2
2.40 GHz
1066 MHz
Overclocking the processors:
For the most part the processors and memory were overclockable. One of the
problems I face living in the Desert Southwest of the USA in the summer time is
the heat. Due to economic constraints my house is only cooled to 78* F. This
means the air temp entering the computer is already at 78* and to cool it any
further is not possible with out an elaborate water cooling setup. I ran the
clock speed up to 3.1 GHz and the temp went to 149* F (64* C) which is the max
the processors are rated at so I backed off. Then at 2.8 GHz it was at 130* F
(60* C) but that is still to high. So now I am setting at 2.4GHz the temp stays
at 80-86*F (27-28*C) and the motherboard runs a little warmer by five to ten
degrees (this is the additional memory I added is causing this).
Once it turns winter time and the house temp drops to 68* F on a daily basis
I will bump up the clock speed again to keep warm :)
If you want a nice overclockable processor that will not cost you a small
fortune then the Q6600 is good value for your money.
With the proper cooling you could get 2.8 GHz or better out of the processor
and it would be stable.
Note:
I wrote this article in October 2008, in that time the PNY video card that I
bought to upgrade this computer died. I have since replaced the video card with
a BFG card that can also be overclocked. One of the features of this new video
card is a variable speed fan, by increasing the speed (and noise level) I can
also increase the FSB of the processor and now have this processor running at
3.05GHz full time.
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