Closer Look at Core 2 Extreme QX9650

The first desktop processor from the Penryn family, Yorkfield, looks quite common. Its looks doesn’t give away the fact that there are two 45nm dual-core dies aka Wolfdale beneath the heat-spreader.

Core 2 Extreme QX9650 - on the left, Core 2 Extreme QX6850 - on the right

You shouldn’t consider a noticeable dot in the lower left corner of the CPU to be a distinguishing feature of the new processor. Intel introduced the same (or similar, located in the upper left corner) marker some time ago for all of their quad-core CPUs. It indicates the features of the HIS material and is used by the manufacturer for their internal purpose.

However, the bottom of the new processors has very specific distinguishing looks. We haven’t yet seen the electronic components arranged in such a way.

Core 2 Extreme QX9650 - on the left, Core 2 Extreme QX6850 - on the right

The diagnostic CPU-Z utility already known 45nm Yorkfield processors and recognizes them correctly.

The screenshot above reveals all the main peculiarities of the new processor. Core 2 Extreme QX9650 is yet another quad-core CPU with the similar working frequency as the recently reviewed Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (Kentsfield) manufactured with the previous-generation 65nm technological process. Its nominal clock frequency is also 3.0GHz, it works with 1333MHz bus and 9x frequency multiplier.

However, unlike the predecessor, the new CPU features larger L2 cache with the total size of 12MB. Since the new Core 2 Extreme QX9650, just like the previous-generation quad-core processors, is physically built of two dual-core dies, its L2 cache consists of two 6MB halves. This is a similarity between Yorkfield and Kentsfield: both of them aren’t monolithic quad-core processors.

New SSE4.1 instructions support is another vivid advantage of the new Core 2 Extreme QX9650 processor, just like all the other CPUs from the Penryn family. Other than that Core 2 Extreme QX9650 seems to have no surprises up its sleeve for us at first glance.

To sum up everything I have just said, I would like to offer you a table with formal specifications of the new CPU. To make the presentation more illustrative, I would like to add the specs of the previous generation Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor side by side: