bit-tech.net

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770

Published on 12th February 2008 by Richard Swinburne

Memory Performance:

Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (4x3.20GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (2x3.20GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Core 2 Duo E6850 (2x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6750 (2x2.67GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (2x3.00GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Core 2 Quad Q6700 (4x2.67GHz, 1066MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (4x2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB)

10151
9682
9170
9109
9096
8980
8637
7585
7450

2500

5000

7500

10000

MB/s

Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (2x3.20GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (2x3.00GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (4x3.20GHz, 1600MHz FSB
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6850 (2x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6750 (2x2.67GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (4x2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6700 (4x2.67GHz, 1066MHz FSB)

9067
8516
8401
7120
6095
6094
6086
4877
4866

2500

5000

7500

10000

MB/s

Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (4x3.20GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (2x3.20GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (2x3.00GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6850 (2x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6750 (2x2.67GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6700 (4x2.67GHz, 1066MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (4x2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB)

8778
8718
8664
8041
6895
6890
6881
5575
5566

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

MB/s

Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (2x3.20GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (2x3.00GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (4x3.20GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6850 (2x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6750 (2x2.67GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6700 (4x2.67GHz, 1066MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (4x2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB)

45.3
47.8
50.6
55.0
55.1
55.7
56.4
63.9
65.0

nanoseconds (lower is better)

Intel has needed to use DDR3 at 1,600MHz to catch up with AMD's memory throughput on the Athlon 64 X2, but according to Everest, even Intel still can't match AMD's last generation memory write speed. It's not a huge issue though - the Core 2 architecture is designed to hide this and the massive cache makes the need for fast memory access much less than AMD's CPUs.

Even then, the latency of the Intel setup at 1,600MHz FSB and memory bus is very nearly matching that of AMD's architecture - it just makes you wonder what kind of performance boost will arrive when Intel drops the external MCH for an internal one in Nehalem.

Phenom 9900 (4x2.6GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Phenom 9700 (4x2.4GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (4x3.20GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (2x3.00GHz, 1.0GHz HTT)
Core 2 Duo E6850 (2x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6750 (2x2.67GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6700 (4x2.67GHz, 1066MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (4x2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB)

11211.0
11200.0
8890.7
7589.0
7003.5
6986.0
6975.5
6853.5
5643.0
5626.0

2500

5000

7500

10000

12500

MB/s

Core 2 Extreme QX9770 (4x3.20GHz, 1600MHz FSB)
Athlon 64 X2 6000+ (2x3.00GHz, 1.0GHz HTT)
Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (4x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6750 (2x2.67GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Duo E6850 (2x3.00GHz, 1333MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6700 (4x2.67GHz, 1066MHz FSB)
Core 2 Quad Q6600 (4x2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB)
Phenom 9700 (4x2.4GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)
Phenom 9900 (4x2.6GHz, 2.0GHz HTT)

nanoseconds (lower is better)

Sandra tells much the same story, although Intel comes out both better (latency) and worse (throughput) in this case. The jump from QX9650 to QX9770 is quite considerable though, more so than from QX6850 to QX9650.