What's the difference in 'Extreme' Processors?

[Chappy]

What's the difference between a regular multi-core processors to Extreme processors, What's making them so expensive? Good example is in LGA 775 Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor QX9650 3.00Ghz 12MB Cache ($999) and Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q9650 3.00Ghz 12MB Cache ($316 - $339)

They say the only difference is product binning?

[TheLaughingMan]

Higher tested overclocking potential. It is why the Extreme is a 130W CPU and the standard chip is a 95W.

[radrok]

Also unlocked multiplier, every Extreme chip has it unlocked

[AthlonX2]

You need LN2 for QX to perform,lol

[JrRacinFan]

Originally Posted by radrok

Also unlocked multiplier, every Extreme chip has it unlocked

This, they are upwards unlocked.

I totally agree with you Athlon, you can just keep bumping the cpu multi up and up....

[AthlonX2]

They were hot chips,but if you kept them cold enough they would do some amazing things.

[Hayder_Master]

+1 with athelon, it's
1-unlocked multiplier, for better overclocking, but in new CPU's I7 models have K series which is also unlocked so there other thing..
2-extreme CPU's always called 'hand pickup', they are have great quality, so they are can handel higher temps and higher voltages than non extreme cpu's, so also some pepole call it they are just like Xeon CPU's but with unlocked multiplier.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by AthlonX2

You need LN2 for QX to perform,lol

Originally Posted by AthlonX2

They were hot chips,but if you kept them cold enough they would do some amazing things.

It says TCASE in Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor QX9770 is 55.5°C?

Originally Posted by radrok

Also unlocked multiplier, every Extreme chip has it unlocked

OIC... So when overclocking all I need to do is to infinitely increase the multiplier till I reached my desired clock speeds.

I'll be replacing my Q9550 with Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor QX9770. Is it worth the change from Q9550 to Extreme?
Cooling will be H80 since I can't fit H100 in my case.

[BarbaricSoul]

Originally Posted by Chappy

It says TCASE in Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor QX9770 is 55.5°C?



OIC... So when overclocking all I need to do is to infinitely increase the multiplier till I reached my desired clock speeds.

I'll be replacing my Q9550 with Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor QX9770. Is it worth the change from Q9550 to Extreme?
Cooling will be H80 since I can't fit H100 in my case.

I'd say it's not worth it if you can't do it for less than $50 after selling the Q9550. In other words, don't spend any more than $200 USD for the QX9770.

[Wrigleyvillain]

Well one thing for sure is always "Extreme"--the price.

[radrok]

Originally Posted by Wrigleyvillain

Well one thing for sure is always "Extreme"--the price.

In fact, the only Extreme CPU that was worth purchasing is the i7 980x, it brought a difference instead of only higher frequencies and better binning (the latter is not always true)

[radrok]

Originally Posted by Chappy

It says TCASE in Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor QX9770 is 55.5°C?



OIC... So when overclocking all I need to do is to infinitely increase the multiplier till I reached my desired clock speeds.

I'll be replacing my Q9550 with Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor QX9770. Is it worth the change from Q9550 to Extreme?
Cooling will be H80 since I can't fit H100 in my case.

You can squeeze more MHz vs a non unlocked CPU because the jump in MHz will be less and thus you can adjust it with more precision, anyway in theory you could raise the multiplier to the desired frequency but you have to keep in mind that when you pass a certain frequency you need to feed insane voltage amounts that isn't possible to deal with regular cooling.

IE, my 980x can reach 4,5 GHz with 1,42V but if I want to go to 5 GHz I'd need something like 1,55v and that's a big jump in voltage and a massive amount of heat to deal with.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by BarbaricSoul

I'd say it's not worth it if you can't do it for less than $50 after selling the Q9550. In other words, don't spend any more than $200 USD for the QX9770.

Honestly I got a bit tempted to buy it from a friend of mine for $250...
He got it to overclock up to 4.2Ghz in liquid cooling.

[radrok]

Have you asked him which kind of voltage he had to drive through the chip to achieve that clock?
If you want to reproduce his clocks I am pretty sure you need to go custom water or the deal isn't going to cut it.
You could always save the money and invest later 150$ buck more on a Ivy Bridge mobo, that's better.

[Chappy]

Nope, didn't ask him about the voltages. Custom liquid cooling? Yeah...


Do you think H80 is enough to do the job? I really don't like liquid cooling because of maintenance and only thought of having one because of Corsair's Hydro Series.

[arnoo1]

Extreme cpu's are cherry picked, these cpu's will oc higher than non extreme cpu's also do normal clocks on lower vcore

[silkstone]

Originally Posted by Chappy

Nope, didn't ask him about the voltages. Custom liquid cooling? Yeah...
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/h...C/DSC03345.jpg

Do you think H80 is enough to do the job? I really don't like liquid cooling because of maintenance and only thought of having one because of Corsair's Hydro Series.

H80 only performs as well as high end Air cooling. To get any sort of decent performance you really need a custom loop.

[BarbaricSoul]

Originally Posted by Chappy

Honestly I got a bit tempted to buy it from a friend of mine for $250...
He got it to overclock up to 4.2Ghz in liquid cooling.

I was able to OC the Q9650 I had to 4.2ghz on air and stay under 65'c with this heatsink- http://www.gigabyte.us/products/prod...px?pid=2767#kf

fafa21 now has my Q9650 and JrRacingFan has the heatsink.

[overclocking101]

Originally Posted by arnoo1

Extreme cpu's are cherry picked, these cpu's will oc higher than non extreme cpu's also do normal clocks on lower vcore

that is not true at all. most of them will but I have had a QX with a 1.35v VID and it was garbage. in fact all 3 QX's I had DID NOT oc as good as my Q9650 did on air/water. these chips are really the only way to go for sub zero otherwise they are impractical

[Red_Machine]

I wouldn't bother. Just upgrade to Sandy/IvyBridge, man. LGA775 is a dead platform, don't spend that kind of cash on it.

[radrok]

They are cherry picked up to a certain voltage, they do sure operate with less stock voltage than other samples, however this does not grant you the ability to make them operate at higher frequency given the same voltage against another non X CPU over stock voltage.

Example:

Average Extreme CPU at 1,2V does 3.3 GHz but it may well require more than 1,31V to operate at 4GHz

Average Normal CPU does 3,3 GHz at 1,25-1,30V but it goes up to 4 GHz with less than 1,31V

Let's say the odds that your extreme CPU operates at higher frequencies are more possible than with a non X CPU, however this does not exclude the fact that you can find a non X sample that overclocks much much better than the X counterpart.

[ShiBDiB]

I'd say its a waste of money, like was said 775 is a dead socket. And if your not willing to go water you are throwing money away getting an extreme chip.

[Chappy]

Originally Posted by Red_Machine

I wouldn't bother. Just upgrade to Sandy/IvyBridge, man. LGA775 is a dead platform, don't spend that kind of cash on it.

Insufficient funds for me to upgrade all the way to MOBO, DDR3 Memory and LGA2011 CPU.

Originally Posted by ShiBDiB

I'd say its a waste of money, like was said 775 is a dead socket. And if your not willing to go water you are throwing money away getting an extreme chip.

I think 'throwing money away' is a bit "Extreme" for buying an Extreme processor with a value of $1,500 in the past.

I just don't have enough cash to upgrade for now so I'm upgrading what I currently have right now. Maybe I'll upgrade when Ivy Bridge-E HEDT is released.

[ShiBDiB]

Originally Posted by Chappy

I think 'throwing money away' is a bit "Extreme" for buying an Extreme processor with a value of $1,500 in the past.

Ya the reason it cost so much was because you can OC the crap out of it.. people who could afford these chips could afford the proper cooling..

The only reason to buy an Extreme chip is if your a hobbyist who likes pushing chips to the edge, and has the necessary cooling to do such a thing.

[Wrigleyvillain]

Yeah I understand they are targeted at different market segments and some are technically server chips but I wish there wasn't such a disparity in pricing for the "higher end" CPUs which, as enthusiasts and overclockers, we know aren't even close to actually worth the money compared to other, later options on the market. I would prefer to stick with 1156 for awhile especially as I love my P55 FTW but I am kind of out of CPU options with the prices of Xeons and the i7-880 (the latter which I only learned even existed fairly recently and for $800 it's a hard to fully understand why...especially when we all know if may not clock/perform any better than an 870 or even 860 for nearly a quarter of the price).