Intel Dual & Quad-Core Processor Review Roundup

• Hardware Logic: Intel Q9450 Core 2 Quad Processor Review.
  
  

  “Being a step ahead of the competition is always a good thing. Completely lapping them is another. Intel's providing computer chips that are a generation ahead of their rival and make no mistake about it, the Q9450 is a winner. When compared clock for clock to its Kentsfield cousin, this Yorkfield quad consistently performed better, scored higher, and finished faster. All this at a price point that most enthusiasts can handle. With a capable mobo, the improvement is noticeable and its overclocking potential will not disappoint.”

  
  Click here to read the full review.
  
  
  
• Legit Reviews: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Processor Review.
  
  

  “Speaking of overclocking, being able to hit 470MHz FSB with just ~1.31Vcore was very impressive. Our top overclock was over 1GHz higher than the stock frequency and that pushed the final clock frequency to 3.5GHz! For those wanting more performance the Q9300 didn't disappoint. The only negative on the Q9300 is the relatively low multiplier of 7.5 and this is only a negative for those wanting to reach over 4GHz. With a 7.5 multiplier a FSB of 533MHz will need to be reached to hit the magical 4GHz mark. This is beyond the limits of most motherboards, so if you plan on overclocking don't expect to get much more than 3.5GHz with the Q9300.”

  
  Click here to read the full review.
  
  
  
• The Tech Report: Intel's Core 2 Quad Q9300 processor...and the Core 2 Duo E7200, too.
  
  

  “At present, the Q9300's prices are a little inflated beyond its $266 list, but this processor still looks like a heck of a deal. Compared to the Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition, the Q9300 has all-around higher performance, markedly superior power efficiency, and apparently—despite its locked upper multiplier—more overclocking headroom. Also, thanks to a slight bump in clock speed, a faster bus, and the architectural enhancements in the Penryn core, the Q9300 is easily an improvement over the Core 2 Quad Q6600 on all fronts.”

  
  Click here to read the full review.
  
  
  
• The Tech Report: Overclocking Intel's Xeon X3320 processor.
  
  

  “Our off-the-shelf X3320 was perfectly stable up to 3.26GHz with its stock voltage and a large—but relatively inexpensive—Scythe Ninja cooler. Some of the chip's cores were clearly capable of running at higher speeds, but as a whole, 3.26GHz was all she wrote. This 30% jump in clock speed isn't the most impressive overclock we've seen, but it's a decent margin for a quad-core chip. The fact that our X3320 didn't require any extra voltage to hit 3.26GHz suggests there's plenty of headroom to be exploited in the Penryn core, as well.”

  
  Click here to read the full article.