INTEL QX6850 Quad Core Extreme Processor Review

[Capper]

Earth to AMD......earth to AMD........come in AMD.........where are you?
A lot of us are asking that question these days, and to be honest, AMD had better arrive on the scene soon, as INTEL's most recent releases offer only a modest improvement over their predecessors. Looking at it from purely a business standpoint, Intel is doing it right: Why compete against yourself? Until AMD gets their act together and releases a processor that forces Intel's hand, there's really no point in bringing any major upgrades to market. While that may be good for Intel's bottom line, its bad for us enthusiasts who wait with baited breath for the next best thing.

HardwareLogic - INTEL QX6850 Quad Core Extreme Processor Review

[RAID]

Another great review, Rich. My question is has there ever been or will there ever be an Extreme chip worth buying?

[Capper]

IMO......no.

I've purchased three, and all three were pretty disappointing to me, even with the unlocked multi. As an enthusiast, you'll not care about the unlocked multi, as you'll want to get the very most out of your entire system. As someone who doesn't care, why would you buy something so expensive, when you can spend half the money, or less and not really notice the difference?

AMD's FX processors were basically the same, you could buy one of the Opterons, which were basically FX chips, and overclock them just as far.

In overall performance, I couldn't really knock the processor, but I think I was fair when I bashed it in Value and Cooling. I just can't recommend a processor that runs $1100-1400, depending upon the retailer when its a marginal upgrade over the QX6700 and QX6800, and in all but a few benchmarks gets beat buy a dual core E6850 that runs cooler and overclocks better......and then you have the Q6600, with the new G0 steppings hitting the same clock speeds......its a no brainer, save your money, buy a good motherboard, RAM, and cooling, and use a E6850 or Q6600.

[Quakindude]

Another forthright and timely review Rich. I especially liked your comments about AMD needing to show up to the fight to keep Intel churning out newer, more improved product. I doubt this review will get you on the Intel review sample list any time soon, but it's very nice to read a realistic review of a hella expensive chip

I'm diggin it.