3.5GHz Core 2 Duo E8700 on sale

Intel will soon launch its fastest dual-core to date, the Core 2 Duo E8700 clocked at 3.5GHz. €259 in Belgium

Many of these 45nm parts will end up overclocked, and we're sure gamers will appreciate them. The price however, is another issue. At €259 the E8700 is no bargain, and you can get a pretty good quad core for less. It's still the highest clocked Intel desktop CPU out there, and this fact alone means it's worth mentioning. Like the E8600, the 3.5GHz E8700 has a 1333MHz FSB, 6MB L2-cache and has a rather good 65W TDP.

You can find the listing here.

Intel's Core i7 975 EE benchmarked

Intel will release Extreme Edition Core i7 processor within the near future, as well known overclocker Fugger has posted some early benchmarks and overcklocking results for the Core i7 Extreme Edition 975 which comes clocked at a default speed of 3.33GHz.

Although this is hardly a huge step up from the current 965XE part which is clocked at 3.2GHz, the new 975XE seems to overclock much better. Using a Gigabyte EX58-Extreme motherboard, Fugger managed to push the new CPU to 5.26GHz without any problems and with the help of a pair of Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics cards, him and his partner Mikeguava managed to break 47,000 in 3DMark 05 which is a new world record. Its likely that Fugger will achieve even higher scores with this CPU given time and it looks like all the overclockers out there will have a new toy to play with in due time. As there are other chips in circulation already, wed expect more benchmark results to pop up over the next few weeks.

Intel i7 975 ES D0 stepping
Gigabyte EX58-EXTREME
Gigabyte 4870X2 Quadfire (pure stock)
Corsair 1866C8 with Pelt cooling
K|ngp|n F1 EE Pot
750W Silencer PSU

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Intel's 3.33GHz Core i7 975 Extreme Edition

Intel's 3.33GHz Core i7 975 Extreme Edition

Intel appears to be set to give it another nudge forward with the launch of the Core i7 975 Extreme Edition processor.

Details are in short supply, but overclockers Mikeguava and Fugger appear to have their hands on Intel's range-topping part and have done what they do best - overclock the hell out of it. Using GIGABYTE's EX58 Extreme mainboard, Corsair's peltier-cooled memory and a pair of Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics cards, they managed to score a staggering 47,026 3DMarks.

What's interesting is that the CPU features D0 stepping, and such a change usually denotes a refined silicon package that could result in lower power consumption and should provide greater overclocking headroom.

There's no news on release details at this early stage, but this is a chip that's likely to be priced close to the mind-boggling £1,000 mark. We'd hate to be one of those who've recently splashed out over £800 on the soon-to-be-dethroned Core i7 965 Extreme Edition.

Phenom II X4 B93 top business CPU

2.8GHz for businessmen

AMD is still on track to launch its new Phenom II generation for business people and these CPUs should find their place to the corporate hearts. Business class Phenoms based on the Deneb 45nm quad-core will launch in early Q3 2009.

The best is called Phenom II X4 B93 and this CPU works at 2.8GHz and is in fact nothing more than a regular Deneb based Phenom renamed to sound more like a business thing. This CPU has 8MB of total cache 4x512L2 and 6MB L3 and it fits the 95W TDP envelope.

The runner up Phenom X4 B91 has the same specs but it will end up cheaper and works at 2.6GHz. These CPUs will dethrone the Phenom X4 9850B and the rest of the Agena 65nm based generation, but as always this won’t happen overnight.

Intel LGA 1155, 1156, 1576 sockets

Core i7's LGA 1366 socket is old so Intel is looking to introduce a few new sockets, and processors. Not like in the LGA 775 Intel is preparing to introduce two mainstream Nehalem sockets, both of which are pictured below - Socket H1 (LGA 1156) and H2 (LGA 1155). These will house the Core i5 CPU models which, compared to the Core i7s, lack QPI and the triple-channel memory controller but integrate a dual channel DDR3 memory and PCI-Express controllers.

Socket H1 (left) and Socket H2 (right)

Before Socket H1 and H2 come into play, another new socket (seen below) will make its debut. Socket Socket LS aka LGA 1567 is aimed at the server market and will be paired up with Nehalem-based Xeon processors.

Intel LGA 1155, 1156, 1576 sockets

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Intels 65W Core 2 Quad cpu up for pre-order

Intels lower-power Core 2 Quad processors are now propping up at various retailers. Two of the three new 65W parts - the Core 2 Quad Q8200s and Core 2 Quad Q9550s - are available to pre-order from Scan.co.uk, but at a notable premium. Here is how pricing compares for 65W equivalents of existing 95W

Processor	Core 2 Quad Q9550s	Core 2 Quad Q9550	Core 2 Quad Q8200s	Core 2 Quad Q8200
CPU speed	2.83GHz	2.83GHz	2.33GHz	2.33GHz
FSB	1,333MHz	1,333MHz	1,333MHz	1,333MHz
L2 cache	12MB	12MB	4MB	4MB
Manufacturing process	45nm	45nm	45nm	45nm
TDP	65W	95W	65W	95W
Price	£339.04	£231.12	£220.79	£146.61

Were sure there are users to whom each degree in temperature makes all the difference, but a price hike of £108 and £74, respectively, currently make both the Q9550s and Q8200s seem far too pricey.

They might be out of reach for the everyday consumer, but 65W quad-core chips are a welcome addition to Intels line-up and wed expect them to appear in numerous systems in the coming weeks - and perhaps in a refreshed iMac, too.

First preview of Phenom X3 720 BE

Tested and overclocked to 3.7GHz

The guys at Donanimhaber.com managed to get their hands on AMD's Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition CPU and test it on both AM2+ DDR2 and AM3 DDR3 motherboard. They even tried to overclock it and the score are very impressive, as they managed to get it all the way from 2.8GHz to 3.7GHz.

The most interesting part is the DDR2 versus DDR3 tests, as the DDR3 memory doesn't bring any significant performance gains, especially if you compare DDR2 and DDR3 prices. The Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition should be launched on February 9th and as a part of the Black Edition series it has unlocked multipliers. Other specifications include a base clock of 2.8GHz, 1.5MB of L2 and 6MB of L3 cache and a TDP of 95 Watt's. According to what we see from these results, AMD might give Intel a run for its money, at least with this Phenom II X3 720 BE which can be found listed at around €140 in Europe.

You can find more here