Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 Processor is a 3GHz quad-core powerhouse

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Reviewed by: Denny AtkinReview Date: July 2007
Intel's newest enthusiast processor, the Core 2 Extreme QX6850, is a 3GHz quad-core powerhouse that offers faster stock performance, better overclocking ability, and slightly cooler temperatures than Intel's previous top-of-the-line processor.


Intel's Core 2 Extreme CPUs are aimed at enthusiasts who want the best possible performance and are willing to pay a premium for it. The QX6850's $999 price is right in league with earlier Core 2 Extreme processors, which have sold for prices ranging from $999 to over $1,300.
For that price, the QX6850 adds support for a 1,333MHz front-side bus (FSB) to the features that made Intel's previous QX-series chips performance leaders: four CPU cores, an unlocked multiplier to simplify overclocking, and a whopping 8MB of L2 cache memory. Packing four cores on a single chip makes for a lot of heat when all of them are in action, but we found the QX6850 to run about 6 degrees Celsius cooler than its QX6800 and QX6700 predecessors. Still, you'll want to pair the chip with a large heat sink and fan, particularly when overclocking. We used Thermalright's Ultra 120 Extreme, a towering heat sink with a 120mm fan, to keep temperatures around 36 degrees Celsius at idle and 52 degrees Celsius with all four cores churning.


Because the QX6850 uses a 1,333MHz FSB, you'll need a motherboard with a newer chipset that supports that bus speed, such as Intel's P35 or nVidia's nForce 680i. The QX6850's 3GHz rated speed is barely faster than the QX6800's 2.93GHz, but the faster system bus and the ability to pair the CPU with fast 1,333MHz DDR3 memory combine to offer a noticeable performance increase.

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