Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 review

Intel's new QX9770 is one of Intel's flagship desktop processors.

It's the first we've seen with a 1,600MHz frontside bus, although you need to make sure your motherboard supports this to get the best performance. You can apply a BIOS update to some motherboards with a maximum of a 1,333GHz FSB to upgrade them to 1,600MHz; our Asus Blitz Formula motherboard (which has an Intel P35 chipset) was easy to upgrade, for example. Other supported chipsets include Intel X38 and X48.

The QX9770 has a lower multiplier than the older Core 2 Extreme QX9650 but, thanks to the higher FSB, each of its four cores runs 200MHz faster at 3.2GHz. It has the same huge 12MB L2 cache, with 6MB shared between two cores, as this is in effect two dual-core processors bolted together.

As with all Extreme processors, this one has an unlocked multiplier, which adds an extra overclocking option should you want to push the QX9770 faster. Even at stock speeds, though, this is the fastest processor ever to tackle our benchmarks.

The overall score of 331 may not sound much quicker than the QX9650's 324, but the video editing score of 616 is considerably faster than the older model's 569. However, at around £600, the QX9650 is roughly £300 cheaper and only a few per cent slower. Look a little further down the range, though, and you'll find that the Core 2 Quad Q9450 is only a few per cent slower still, but costs around £200, making it far better value than either of the Extreme processors.

The QX9770 is the fastest desktop processor around but, at £903, is terrible value. We'd opt for the Q9450, leaving enough money to buy the rest of the components needed to build an entire PC.

Author: Jim Martin