Yeehaw, watch and see how smooth the game play is with the new Penryn-based quad core system. It's like you're watching a movie rather than playing a game, no stall, hiccups, or stutter whatsoever. This platform rocks. The specs is as follows:
It seems that I am really lagging behind posting some items on my Blog. Anyway, I just want to share the 50% overclock of the quad core Kenstfield under the Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 branding. At this speed, all I can say is that it's awesome and the CPU fan is silent even at full load.
I just got this info from a friend, apparently, uberplus err uberpulse managed to snag a benchmark of a whooping 16core-based Barcelona. I am not really sure I understand the video interview, but they compared a Penryn with Kentsfiled, I have yet to see why Barcelona was even mentioned. Check it out...At the Microprocessor Forum, Intel demoed its V8 workstation running the POV-Ray benchmark. The machine is equipped with Intel's Workstation Board S5000XVN, 2 quad-core Xeons 5365, clocked at 3GHz and 16GB RAM. And the results are simply impressive: Intel scored over 4,900 pixels per seconds versus a little bit over 4,000 for AMD's 4 sockets quad-core (Barcelona) system. Again, this is an AMD 16 cores system versus Intel's 8 cores V8 machine.
If you take 16 cores at 1.8Ghz, divided by 2 and add 60% to get to 3.0Ghz, it gives POV-Ray score of 3600 for 8 cores. Meaning that at 3.0GHz, Barcelona still lose by quite some compare to an 8 cores Clowertown system.
"Why do you need 16 cores, when you can do better with 8. Our 8 core system is 30% faster than the 16 core machine AMD showed to the press yesterday. I just don't understand how they can claim to be 40% faster", said Francois Piednoel, an Intel engineer present at the show.
Well, now AMD has some explanation to do and sooner rather than later. Because if they can't figure out what happened with those POV-Ray results they showed us, that's the end of it. At the show, Intel also demoed a system with a 45nm Penryn quad-core processor (shipping by year end, about the same time than Barcelona!) that is 40% faster than the top of the line quad-core generation, the Core 2 Extreme processor QX6800. Wow!
I saw this posted over at XS and I figure it's worth letting you guys know as well. This Intel® Core™-based Intel® Xeon® X3200 series processors are really great quad core processors, and in my experience and testing, they are a lot better than Intel® Core™ 2 Quad in terms of voltage and temperature. If you haven't seen it yet, you may want to check out my Article: The Little Intel® Xeon® X3210 that could!. Expand to read more...The Xeon DP X3210 s775 is emerging and available at some places for awesome prices. Remember: Q6600 price cuts aren't too far off
EU:
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/150359/Intel-Xeon-X3210-(S775-4x-2.13GHz-8MB-1066MHz-FSB-Boxed)-prijzen.html
http://geizhals.at/eu/a238093.html
US
http://www.google.com/products?q=X3210&btnG=Search+Products&scoring=p&sa=N&start=10
Boredome finally dawned on me and I decided to play with a quad core, not the extreme series, but your typical Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600. I still haven't pushed it to any kind of overclocking, but I guess I'll start it once I got an inspiration.This is just so awesome, an embedded quad core, wow, just wow. Intel released the official info today and touted their latest Quad Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5300 series of processor. Imagine having a small powerful box with such amazing computing power, right under your fingertips. These processors ran with 1333MHz FSB, sporting the full 8MB of L2 cache. There will be two flavors of the chip, one is the Intel® Xeon® processor 5335 (2.0GHz) and the other is the Intel® Xeon® processor 5345 (2.33GHz). Check it out...Intel Marks 30 Years In Embedded Computing With Quad-Core Processor Launch
Orange County Choppers* Bring Embedded Technology to Intel-Themed Motorcycle
EMBEDDED SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, San Jose, Calif., April 3, 2007 – Commemorating 30 years of delivering products and technology to the embedded computing market, Intel Corporation today introduced the Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor 5300 series with extended life cycle support, the first to bring Intel architecture-based quad-core performance to the embedded segment.
The quad-core embedded processors are among the 11 quad-core products Intel has brought to market in less than 6 months. Intel also introduced the new Intel® IP Network Server NSC2U. Both new products utilize Intel's latest advanced hardware technologies, including Intel® Virtualization Technology and Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology.
Additionally, Intel marked the launch here today with the unveiling of an Intel-themed embedded technology-based motorcycle by Orange County Choppers.
"The breakthrough performance and power efficiency that characterize the industry's first quad-core processors for embedded are as unmistakable as the raw power of the four cylinders of the Intel Chopper's quad engine," said Doug Davis, vice president and general manager of Intel's Embedded and Communications Group. "This 250-horsepower chopper – designed using quad-core Intel computers – is more than just a mechanical powerhouse; it's also a marvel of embedded technology with an ultra-mobile PC powering fingerprint recognition for security and a digital dashboard with ignition control, digital gauges, cameras that replace rear-view mirrors, integrated audio and video systems, GPS navigation and wireless connectivity."
The custom-built motorcycle, launched simultaneously in the Internet-based virtual world of Second Life, celebrates 30 years of Intel's innovation and technology leadership in advancing embedded computing. In 1976, before the advent of the personal computer, Intel entered the embedded market and provided extended life cycle support for technologies, silicon and platforms that drive this industry. Intel embedded technology can be found today in automobiles, airplanes, ATMs, information kiosks, telecommunications infrastructure and network storage systems, as well as factory and medical equipment.
Intel engaged with Black Diamond Advanced Technology*, a leader in the development of ultra-mobile computing systems, to integrate the motorcycle's computerized controls and features that protect the computing system from moisture, dirt, shock and vibration and offer a computerized dashboard capable of being detached and used as a mobile PC.
"As Intel celebrates 30 years of innovation, we’ve created the most powerful and technologically advanced bike we've ever made to showcase the many ways the world benefits from Intel embedded technology," said Orange County Choppers' Paul Teutul Sr. "In fact, we were amazed to discover how much Intel technology we have in our own shop. Beyond the Intel- powered PCs and servers, we have Intel processors embedded in many of the machines and devices that help us with every build."
New Intel Products for Embedded Computing
With dual-processing capabilities providing up to eight high-performance cores per platform, the Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor 5300 series is available in 2.0 GHz (E5335) and 2.33 GHz (E5345) speeds. These processors are ideal for intense computing and I/O intensive workloads within high-end communications and enterprise systems, including rack-mount (1U/2U) and blade servers, NAS and SAN systems, and medical imaging equipment.
The Intel IP Network Server NSC2U, powered by two 5300 series processors, enables high I/O throughput and performance capabilities suited for a variety of network-centric applications, from security intrusion prevention to telecommunications services-over-IP (SoIP), including IMS, IPTV and Video on Demand (VoD). The NSC2U server features a ruggedized chassis, compact form factor and extended lifecycle support for the components.
The Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors E5335 and E5345 are available today starting at $690. The Intel IP Network Server NSC2U is targeted for July 2007 availability.
Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.
This is good news. SiS has been a long standing player in the chipset arena and they aren't new to Intel hardware. They have been releasing really affordable chipsets, they have graphics, lan, and I believe even, audio solutions. They are known in the "affordable" line of products. Check it out...SiS Announces Chipset License Agreement on Intel® Core™2 Quad FSB 1333MHz
Taipei, March 28, 2007---Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS), a leading supplier of core logic chipsets, today announced that it has signed a long-term licensing contract with Intel for the manufacture and sale of chipsets for the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor with 1333MHz front side bus.
SiS ' latest chipset license agreement with Intel demonstrates our working relationship and mutual cooperation.
"SiS will be offering the next generation products to support high-speed FSB 1333MHz for the Intel® Core™2 Quad processors," said Daniel Chen, the CEO and President of SiS, "These new chipsets will strengthen SiS product portfolios with another high-end option for consumers seeking extreme performance and innovative design."
It is now official, Intel finally unleashed new mainstream quad core processor targetted for high end computing at a mainstream price, relatively speaking. Don't get any impression that this lower-clocked quadcore is cheap, while the word expensive might come to mind, it is important to remember that this isn't targetted for everyone, only for those who have a need for quad core computing, whether business or benchmarking or plain pimping. Expand to read the full press release...Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Processor Jump Starts Digital Applications, Software and Devices; Two More Server Quad-Core Products Introduced
INTERNATIONAL 2007 CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, Las Vegas, Jan. 8, 2007 –Intel Corporation formally introduced three more quad-core processors, including the first to carry the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor brand name that begins the expansion of quad-core PC sales to mainstream buyers. Intel now offers a total of nine quad-core processor versions in the desktop and enterprise market segments.
The Intel Core 2 Quad processor packs four brains in every PC and delivers the immense speed and responsiveness that is increasingly required to process today's most demanding media-intensive applications. This processor is available in PCs and in the reseller channel immediately. Intel also announced two quad-core processors for single-socket servers. Today's announcement builds on the company's revolutionary Intel Core 2 Duo and quad-core microprocessor families, with 29 dual and quad-core processors for sale in the desktop PC, laptop and server market segments.
"Today Intel delivers another breakthrough—quad-core technology for anyone's PC," said Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini. "The performance once requiring a supercomputer is now on the desktop, allowing you to do new and amazing things."
Intel's multi-core processors are designed to enhance the computer user's experience from start to finish. These microprocessors, which are based on the Intel® Core™ microarchitecture, target performance desktop and gaming PCs and will benefit from highly threaded software applications that target these market segments. Intel is actively working with software developers on threading applications and next-generation games that will be able to take advantage of quad-core microprocessors. The four cores make quad-core based computers the ideal choice for processor intensive, highly threaded applications such as Adobe After Effects*, Premiere Pro 2.0*, Windows Media Encoder*, Snapstream* and Win DVD*. Combined with the availability of Microsoft Windows Vista*, this launch marks a rare occurrence in which new processors and a new operating system hit the market about the same time.
In addition to new levels of performance, these products bring consumers multitasking capabilities that enhance the way they create, experience and enjoy digital entertainment. Computers with the Intel Core 2 Quad processor are excellent for high-definition video entertainment and are multimedia powerhouses for demanding software applications run simultaneously. With four compute cores, the processor is uniquely designed for running multiple digital streams throughout the home – making it the ultimate entertainment engine for Intel® Viiv™ technology-based PCs.
New Quad-Core Server Processors
Intel also introduced today the Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor 3200 series for single-socket servers. Built on the Intel Core microarchitecture, these products will bring new levels of energy-efficient performance to entry server applications such as e-mail, Web, file and print. Two new processors are available today with clock speeds of 2.4 and 2.13 GHz with a 1066 front side bus and 8 MB of L2 cache.
Intel has made this next step in the computer's ongoing evolution as fast and easy as possible through continued investment in silicon process and manufacturing technology. Intel's advanced processes can help reduce the amount of energy required to run computers and "shrink" a processor's make-up to place multiple cores inside one product at more affordable prices.
Pricing and Availability
The new Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q6600 (2.4GHz) has been announced and is currently being demonstrated at CES. It is available now at $851 in 1KU quantities. Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® processor pricing includes the X3220 (2.4GHz) at $851 and the Quad-Core Intel® Xeon® Processor X3210 (2.13GHz) at $690.
This is a demo they have shown over at IDF to showcase the power of QuadCore. It's quite taxing on the CPU, well, that is, if you don't have quad core. Check it out....01/05/2007
Multi-core processors have become mainstream in the PC industry, and many classes of software applications like multimedia encoding and 3D rendering already benefit from the added processing power.
The game industry is also evolving toward threaded games and game engines. The latest-generation game consoles (Microsoft* XBOX* 360, Sony* PlayStation* 3) also feature multi-core processors. Current games like Quake*4, Call of Duty* 2 and Splinter Cell* Double Agent already have threaded game engines. And upcoming games such as Unreal Tournament* 2007 (Based on the Unreal* 3 engine) are expected to feature threaded engines.
To demonstrate how threaded games and game engines will benefit from multi-core processors, Intel worked with Futuremark* to create the game engine technology demo - Ice Storm Fighters.
Today, we're making the game available for free here at ICF. To learn more about this demo and where you can download it, click Next.
The Skinny
Ice Storm Fighters is based on a multi-threaded game engine developed by Futuremark*, makers of the 3DMark* and PCMark* series of benchmarks. The Ice Storm Fighters game engine technology demo features
Artificial Intelligence (AI) : Uses the Co-operative Optimizing Planner (COP) algorithms to determine movement paths for the game units. Each unit takes into account the objective, the location, positions of other units, physical obstacles etc. before determining the path.
Physics using PhysX* API physics engine and custom physics code, which enables
Characters with individually modeled body parts for more life-like features
Advanced physics modeling of missile contrails, smoke and other particle effects
Calculates thrust, gravity, acceleration of the hovercraft
Improved decal modeling of explosions and footprints in the snow
The objective in Ice Storm Fighters is pretty simple: blow up the bad guys. In this demo, that takes the form of destroying enemy "mechs." It also involves the presence of both friendly and unfriendly hovercraft as supporting characters.
Let 'er Rip
Ice Storm Fighters is based on a multi-threaded game engine, and its performance scales with the number of processor cores as well as other PC platform components. Using a technique called "n-number threading," the Ice Storm Fighters game engine will generate as many threads as there are CPU cores present on the system.
Ice Storm Fighters is intended to be a forward-looking game engine technology demo for Intel platforms. Here are the system requirements:
CPU: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6700 or Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6600 processorQuad-Core CPU for “Demo-high” mode features & capabilities, dual-core Intel CPU for “Demo-low” mode features & capabilities
Graphics Card: Support DirectX* 9.0 Shader Model 3 required. nVidia* geForce* 6 series (minimum), 7 series (recommended), ATI* Radeon* 1650 or higher
Memory: 1GB or higher
You can launch either the demo to just watch the mayhem unfold, or you can play the game and jump right into the fray. If you're running the demo, after you launch Ice Storm Fighters, you can:
Choose "Demo-High" if the system has a quad core CPU
Choose "Demo-Low" if the system has a dual core CPU
If you're ready to get your game on, once you kick off the Ice Storm Fighters game, you can choose:
Choose "Game-High" if the system has a quad core CPU
Choose "Game-Low" if the system has a dual core CPU
Notice at the outset of the demo that the snow surface looks fresh. It won't stay this way for long.
You can interactively control the number of threads in flight. The 1, 2, 3, and 4 keys will enable/disable CPU cores if you're running a quad-core system. You'll notice that the frame rate slows down noticeably when you run Demo-High on only two cores.
The workload can also be controlled by increasing or decreasing the number of hovercraft. Additional hovercraft means leads to increased AI (determining their direction of movement) and physics (torque, acceleration) processing. Increasing the number of hovercraft increases the computational load and decreases FPS and vice-versa. The "F3" key increases the number of hovercraft units, and the "F4" key decreases the number of hovercraft units
Here's a summary of the available key commands:
Key Map
Observe the fired missiles. the motion of the missiles includes detailed physics calculations and includes factors such as gravity, speed, direction, angle etc.. The condensation trails (i.e. emitted smoke) are also modeled with in-depth physics calculations.
Ice Storm Fighters also maintains an extended list of decals, which include the marks left by missiles and lasers as well as the footprints created by the movement of the mechs. In a typical game, as new marks occur the decal buffers are overwritten. Ice Storm Fighters maintains an extended decal list.
Demo-Low has fewer hovercraft, which decreases the AI and Physics workloads. In addition, it has simpler smoke and particle effects for the missiles, and maintains fewer decals. These changes lower the computational workload to enable Ice Storm Fighters to run smoothly on a dual core system.
Come and Get It
Ready to give Ice Storm Fighters a try? Click the image below to download it to your system. After you've played with it a bit, head over to our Forums and let us know what you think. It's a good idea to print this article as a reference to have handy when you're playing the game. If you're having any trouble running Ice Storm Fighters, post in our forums, and we'll figure out the problem.
To download, click on the image below, then save the Ice Storm Fighters ZIP file to your hard-drive.
* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others
XBitLabs posted a news/rumor about the upcoming QuadCore from Chipzilla. As per the said article, the quadcore will be "affordable". Hmm, sounds like great news for the FanBoyz! Expand this if you would like to read the full scoop.Intel Quad-Core Core 2 Quad Q6600 Set to Be Released in January
Category: CPU
by Anton Shilov
[ 12/27/2006 | 11:55 AM ]
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.
The 40th Consumer Electronics Show will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, from 8th to 11th January, 2007. The exact release dates of the launch are unclear, but, according to a report from IDG news-agency, the chip will be formally unveiled at the show.
The new microprocessor, which rivals not only dual-core AMD Athlon 64 X2 central processing units (CPUs), but even the high-end platform called Quad FX that includes AMD Athlon 64 FX chips, will be yet another example of Intel’s competitive advantage over its main rival AMD.
Still, the popularization of quad-core chips does not mean that Intel will cease to improve its dual-core microprocessors. Intel is projected to release Intel Core 2 Duo processors with E6850, E6750 and E6650 model numbers with 3.0GHz, 2.66GHz and 2.33GHz clock-speeds respectively and 1333MHz processor system bus in Q3 2007, when appropriate code-named Bearlake-series chipsets become available. The new chips will support TXT technology.
Due to pretty high prices of the quad-core microprocessors, their share among Intel’s desktop shipments will be only 3% in 2007, according to some information.
Images with a girl model owned and came from THG
So, I already have an Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6700 and Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X6800. These CPUs are a total kick ass and has been very good with me so far. They overclock really well, and both can do 3.73GHz even on stock cooler. And for higher than such overclock, an aftermarket cooler and a hefty bump in vCore is needed. Go check out my previews on them by clicking on the links.
And then, I have this superb motherboard from Abit. Man, I am so overwhelmed by this motherboard, except for Intel's very own Bad Axe 2, I haven't tested any other board that can handle the Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6700 and Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X6800 this good. My only gripe is that Abit is so slow to release any new BIOS to provide better-than-average overclock on the Kentsfield, but with Conroe, it's all smooth sailing.
But, and this is a big "but", I don't have my favorite RAM. I so want this RAM, I wish I have all the moolah. I just ran out of moolah and I am stucked with a 2x512MB Micron DDR2-533MHz with Fat Body D9 chips. Sure, my current RAM can overclock really well, around DDR2-800MHz for about 2.2v-2.3v, but it's not as cool looking as this OCZ PC2-7200 Spec Ops Edition Urban Elite from OCZ. That's all I want for Christmas, and I don't think I can even get one, so sorry FanBoyz, no review for this memory, not even soon.
GamePC posted a comprehensive review of the new board from Asus. It does overclock really well, but they are not impressed with the pricing. I personally don't really like 3rd part chipset, but coming from Asus, I may have a change of heart on this one.The Final Word
The Asus Striker Extreme is, and will remain for the foreseeable future, the premiere Socket-775 motherboard on the market. The nForce 680i chipset which is the core of this platform supports all of the high-end features which enthusiasts demand now, along with being the most future proof platform on the market, supporting technologies like 1333 MHz FSB and DDR2-1200 speeds. In addition, the board supports 16 x 16 SLI, a dedicated third PCI Express x8 slot, 6 x SATA-II/300 RAID ports, just about every high-end feature an enthusiast can ask for. This board would certainly be our favorite Core 2 platform to date if it wasn’t for some lingering BIOS issues which are hampering stability at this point.
As one would expect for a platform of this nature, the Striker Extreme is incredibly expensive – more so than any other Core 2 platform to date. Asus does, however, provide a slightly less exorbitant option in their P5N32-E SLI platform, which uses the same chipset and PCB design, but lacks features such as the diagnostic LCD screen, backit LED’s, dedicated power/reset/CMOS buttons and dual eSATA, in addition to having less chipset cooling and a more limiting BIOS. However, for the removal of these items, you can expect to pay anywhere from $50 to $100 less for this board compared to the Striker Extreme. While those who want absolutely everything, the Striker is there, but for those who have a bit more common sense, the P5N32-E SLI is an excellent 2nd choice.
We will say, no other Core 2 platform we’ve tested to date matches the high-end overclocking features of this board. We certainly appreciate Asus providing high-end overclockers the necessary tools to achieve the highest speeds without any arbitrary limitations thrown in for their protection. Also worth noting, Asus recently launched a board called the “Commando” with a similar concept and overclocking features like the Striker, but is based on the Intel P965 chipset. For those who don’t want SLI and want to use a little less power, while keeping tremendous overclockability, this might be a board worth considering.
Our benchmarks showed that if you’re only using a single graphics card (even a high-end model like the 8800 GTX), you will see virtually no performance difference between these high-end platforms. The only area we saw real performance differences were where applications required disk access, and in these cases, the Intel 975X chipset tended to perform a smidge better. We’re confident that Nvidia will ramp up their SATA performance in time, but for now, Intel’s got the edge here. We would still recommend an Intel based chipset if you’re looking for stability rather than performance.
The Striker Extreme is a dynamo of a motherboard, there’s no doubt about that. Personally, I feel that the feature-set doesn’t justify the cost, and if I was purchasing a high-end platform for a new quad-core system, I would likely opt for the less-expensive P5N32-E SLI. Once Asus gets their BIOS issues worked out and we see the price drop a tad, we feel that the Striker will rightfully take its place as the most lusted-after Core 2 platform on the market.
I know, I am on a posting spree, this is what's happening when you put a FanBoy on a vacation leave. It just gives me more time to brag and post and brag and post, what more can you ask from a FanBoy? Anyway, LegitReview got themselves busy with a nice motherboard from FoxConn. This motherboard is the only board that I know of that has a digital VRM to regulate power for the CPU. It looks ok, not attractive, but decent enough. The red PCB reminds me of standard board from MSI though, but anyway, check this out since LegitReviewer seems impressed.Final Thoughts and Conclusion
So what do you say about a board that:a) Has a great layout with a great bundle; b) Performs as well as any other board out there; c) Overclocks like mad? You say that this board should be on the top of your list as you are looking at motherboards to house your brand new Core 2 Duo processor. Also, we should mention that this board comes in at a MUCH lower price than many other boards out there. Right now, you can pick this board up for a cool $159.99, which is much less than the $200+ that some of these new Core 2 Duo boards are retailing for.
One thing that should not be overlooked as we close up this review is the fact that Foxconn heard us when we let them know of a bios issue, and then within a matter of 72 hours, we had a new bios in hand, that had been tested by them over the weekend to make sure that it worked properly. This is almost unheard of anymore in the industry.
Feature-wise, this board has really everything you would want. And the bundle that comes with it is very generous considering the "low" price tag. The Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H motherboard can be found for $159.99 from online retailers, which makes it less than competing boards like the abit AW9D-MAX that we reviewed at the start of the week. The Foxconn 975X7AB-8EKRS2H represents great value from a price versus performance standpoint and an ideal motherboard for those looking to try out mild overclocking.
The ability to run a Crossfire setup also insures that you will be gaming to the best level that you can, and that you will be able to upgrade to a dual card setup if needed at a later date to extend the life of this board.
Legit Bottom Line: Foxconn really has outdone themselves with the offering of the 975X7AB. The performance and overclockability of the board are outstanding and the customer support is first class. This board certainly was not a "Dog" but a Fox to be desired. What more could you ask for in a board? With all that said, at $159.99, this board is certainly worthy of of value award for the 975X series of boards.
If it's not for a friend and Abit, I wouldn't have posted this article. So anyway, INQ posted a "First Impression" look at Abit's greatest offering. It may not be the latest, but currently, it is the greatest. Be careful reading it though and try to develop a skill that will help you isolate the FUD from FACT when you are wading thru that freaky review. If you are ready, then take the plunge.In Short
Abit made a great overclocker's motherboard. It has all the features that one would like and it is the 975X board that will run two ATI cards. We wonder if it will run two R600s but this will be the big question for 2007.
The board has a nice layout, illuminates the room with its LEDs, heat-piped chipsets and it make memory faster than any other 975 board we seen so far. It is great and it goes neck-to-neck with Asus' P5W DH Deluxe. It costs around €190 in Euroland depending on the country.
It is one of the best 975X boards we've come across. It is stable and worth the money but you can also consider Asus very good alternative. For dessert, we tried cableless Crossfire and have an answer to some of your questions on X1950PRO cards, we will try to tell you that story in 2007. µ
The era of enthusiasts has really come of age. Overclockers, unite and rule the world, err, well, something to that effect. abit has just completed an event that takes the cake with Kentsfield overclocking, reaching the highest clock frequency known to man.
I snag some pictures over at INQ, and posted it here so you can also check out the nice images aside from those posted at the official abit site. The parts that helped reached this amazing overclock is, of course, Intel® Core™2 QX6700 Extreme Processor, Abit AW9D-MAX motherboard, and a Kingston DDR2-1200. Philly-boy and FUGGER were given the challenge, and they accept and beat it with flying colors.DECEMBER 15, 2006 – Xtremelegends Philly-boy and FUGGER attained unprecedented success at the abit OC Xtreme workshop. It began as a slow day, working up to some speed. With various obstacles such as the LN2 being late we began with using a 3-stage compressor cooler. Initially we ran with a normal QE6700 Kentsfield “Core 2 Quad” processor pushing up the multiplier further and further. Clocking it up to 12x, then 14x. The results then improved drastically especially after the liquid nitrogen arrived, until late in the day some worthwhile figures came about.
The final result obtained was the highest Overclock of the Kentsfield on an AW9D-MAX to date. This remarkable achievement gives abit the OC World Record for a Kentsfield QE6700. The 5010.03 MHz seen on the CPU is literally a 100% Overclock. In this, the AW9D-MAX does not disappoint. Any board that can give you that kind of stability is certainly worth owning. Of course this record is not expected to last long, as enthusiasts will continue to strive and push the boundaries further. We managed a stable Super-pi of 10.5sec for 1M at 4918.7MHz. the multiplier manually set at 18x for a chip which is usually automated at 10x.Several unusual benchmarks were also computed. The team was guided by a renowned expert in the shady sides of internet security. One thing of note was that with a special utility programmed onto our super overclocked monster, we were able to run a benchmark using the AES 128 bit encryption algorithm.(this is the standard used by many banks and secure websites around the world according to our specialist). It seems as if things are not as safe as we are led to believe. The brute force of our overclocked beast enabled roughly 10.5 million times cbc’s on 64 size blocks in 3.81 seconds. What that means to the layman is that in every four seconds, this computer could provide 10.5 million unique codes to attempt to crack a 128 bit encryption code sequence. In essence, if the decryption software is very good, then this OC beast computer could crack your (128 bit encryption) code in a matter of hours at the most... Before you spring into an uproar, please bear in mind that not everyone has liquid Nitrogen as a coolant, nor the assistance of the World’s best overclockers at hand. Then to make matters more complicated, you would need to have the VERY complex software to achieve this goal. But if you did, cracking codes would be a breeze.
Special thanks must go out to Intel who co-sponsored the event: Intel has stood by abit strongly, helping us promote their flagship chipset and CPU, while giving abit the necessary collateral to make the event happen.
Special kudos’ go out to Kingston who supplied some of their latest high speed 1200MHz Ram. In Addition, Xtremesystems.org rallied some of their finest in abit’s hour of need and many thanks for stepping up to workshop with us.
The support is highly appreciated as our search for the perfect Overclock goes on…
abit is continually committed to make hardware designed to keep guys who demand the best completely happy. Our μGuru BIOS is second to none in the industry, giving holistic and immersive features for tweaking and fine tuning motherboards to obtain the perfect Overclock. abit is taking the lead and is surging forward embracing the principles of overclocking, taking it further than ever before. At this event abit used a special edition modded board from HIPRO the ultimate overclocker of them all. OC expertise came from FUGGER & Philly-boy, both from Xtremesystems.org. All in all an excellent combination to take the MAX board to the MAX with Intel and beyond**.
**Please note we do not recommend overclocking as it may harm your motherboard and other hardware, in this case we are dealing with experimental circumstances and so please do not attempt this at home nor anywhere else. In fact it should be noted that if you Overclock your hardware, it voids your warrantee. Only those qualified should ever attempt to push hardware to the extremes that were achieved at this event.
For more information on abit, go here:
www.abit-usa.com
For more information on Xtremesystems, go here:
www.xtremesystems.com
It's a shame that such a very promising chipset will be plagued by some many issues. I have actually given up my eVGA 680i board because of the many issues, but the killer one for me is that performance. Clock for clock, and for it's price, I just can't justify owning this board anymore, it can't even compete with a motherboard from Asus based on i965.Out of the gate, the nForce 680i chipset from NVIDIA seemed to be the best Core 2 Duo overclocker going, that is of course when your system is not plagued with BSODs and data errors. You need to read this if you are considering a 680i motherboard.
If you are looking for an affordable motherboard, that supports the latest Conroe processor, and supports Crossfire, well, look no further because a nice board is available from Abit. Not the latest chipset, but this i945-based board makes it also cheaper than other boards that supports Conroe. If you are looking for one, motherboards.org reviews one and you may want to consider this board as your next board.Intel generally releases two new motherboard chipsets a year, a high-end one and a mainstream one. In 2004, when Intel released the 925X high-end chipset, they also released the 915 mainstream. 2005 saw the release of the 975 chipset for the high-end and the 945 chipset for the mainstream. This year the 965 chipset was released but the 945P chipset remains for the mainstream inexpensive market. The board on the test bench today is the abit IL9 Pro board they recently announced.
I post an update to the article, it's about a pretty neat trick to remember when playing with your Bad Axe 1. I plan to update it once more once I have the time, for now, head on over and skip to Section VII for the update.
Wow, I can't believe I missed posting this article and it's been on my host for so long. What am I thinking? In any case, I did review it and edited it quite a few more and re-uploaded the article. I just remembered about this article when one of the forum members is having an issue with this board.VI. Danger of using CPU-Z and SpeedFan, and similar software with Bad Axe
Many enthusiasts has become accustomed to using the said utilities, specially CPU-Z, to check the specifications of the processor. The CPU-Z, for example, is capable of identifying the FSB, multiplier, CPU steppings, cache, number of cores and many other details that makes this utility a very valuable one and a must-have. The SpeedFan is another utility that shows "PC Health" in terms of environmental measurements such as temperature, fan speeds, and voltage settings among others. Similar software that can do such exists and have made it to the enthusiasts slew of utilities for checking and knowing more about their machines. And these software are pretty much mature and have proven their compatibility and stability.
Is it a good news or is it a better news? Either way, it sounds better :). Digitimes reported that on top of the upcoming E4xxx series, a new E6x50 will also crop up. This will give consumers more choices (though the site claims it's going to replace the current line up). Again, whether it's the replacement processor or another flavor to spice up your life, just prepare your wallet and make it fat enough to savor the latest offerings.Intel to strengthen Core 2 Duo lineup in 2Q/3Q 2007
Yen-ting Chen, Taipei; Steve Shen, DigiTimes.com [Thursday 23 November 2006]
In addition to the Core 2 Duo E4300 CPU, which Intel is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2007, the chip giant will add two Core 2 Duo E4000-series CPUs, the E4200 and E4400, in the second quarter of next year, according to sources at Taiwan-based PC makers, who viewed Intel's latest roadmap.
Intel originally planned to launch the 1.6GHz E4200 in the fourth quarter of this year to compete with AMD's Socket-AM2 Athlon 64 x2 3600+, but later on, the launch was suspended to make way for the 1.8GHz E4300 CPU, the sources indicated, without elaborating on what prompted Intel to delay the appearance of the E4200.
In the third quarter of 2007, Intel also plans to launch the Core 2 Duo E6390 CPU for the mid-range desktop segment, as well as the Core 2 Duo E6850, E6750 and E6650 CPUs for the high-end segment, according to Intel's latest roadmap, the sources said.
Featuring a 1333 MHz FSB, the E6850, E6750 and E6650 will get the roles being currently played by the Core 2 Duo E6700 and E6600 processors, which both have a 1066 MHz FSB, according to the sources.
