Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850, X7800 + 1333MHz and big pricecuts

Intel has several new things for us today. The company unveiled a new lineup of Core 2 processors, with most of them featuring a 1333MHz FSB. Not only do these new chips feature a higher bus speed, but they are also cheaper and have the same thermal design power (TDP) as the chips they replace.

Here's a look at the new Core 2 lineup:

Model	Frequency	Bus speed	Cores	L2	Price
Core 2 Duo E6550	2.33GHz	1333MHz	2	4MB	$163
Core 2 Duo E6750	2.66GHz	1333MHz	2	4MB	$183
Core 2 Duo E6850	3GHz	1333MHz	2	4MB	$266
Core 2 Quad Q6700	2.66GHz	1066MHz	4	8MB	$530
Core 2 Extreme QX6850	3GHz	1333MHz	4	8MB	$999

Intel also has two new high-end processors. There's the Intel Core Extreme X7800, the first notebook processor under the Extreme Edition brand. The X7800 is clocked at 2.6GHz, with a 800MHz FSB and a TDP of 44W. One of the other special features of the Core Extreme X7800 is that it has an unlocked multiplier to give you an optimal overclocking experience.

The other new high-end chip from Intel is the Core 2 Extreme QX6850, a 1333MHz FSB quad-core chip clocked at 3GHz. In these Summer months news is a bit slower than usual, normally the web should already be flooded by reviews but so far I've only spotted about six. One of them is this one from AnandTech.

They write the new 1333MHz FSB gives very little performance gains, even on the fastest quad-core chips from Intel. The Core 2 Extreme QX6850 performs really well but they say it's better to get the Q6600 processor because at a price of $266 it's almost four times cheaper than the $999 QX6850:

Our Q6600 recommendation really highlights the major focus of this story, and that is the escalating price war between AMD and Intel. Once Intel's price cuts take effect next week, it's going to be difficult to recommend any AMD CPUs above $150. We're still working on our low end CPU comparison, and we suspect that AMD is more competitive at the lower end of the price spectrum, but what we've seen here today doesn't look good at all for the mainstream segment. In order to remain competitive, AMD would either have to knock about $50 off its X2 6000+ price or count on Phenom making up the performance gap at the same price point.