14 DAY TRIAL // The quad-core war between AMD and Intel has created more and more powerful monsters, to consumers' delight. Both chipmakers have pulled out the big guns in an attempt to squeeze the life out of each other, and Intel is deeply engaged in delivering the deadliest weapon in the shape of the ultra-fast QX9770.
That's right, the Core 2 Extreme QX9770 is the latest member in the family and promises to be the fastest quad-core processor Intel has ever designed. Running at 3.2 GHz, the QX9770 is slightly faster than the older 3.0 GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850. Since everything comes at a price, the QX9770 hero will be priced much higher than QX6850 ($999 a piece) and is estimated to cost around $1,100, which is pretty expensive, given the fact that it's only 200 MHz faster.
Unofficial sources have announced that the QX9770 is already sampling amongst a restricted elite, and comes at the right time to cut the competition's Phenom quad-core line wings. Both competitors have abandoned the price war that would have ultimately led both of them to ruin and instead, they made a long technological run.
AMD managed to implement the new Phenom architecture on the desktop sector, with five quad-core powerhorses in plan (three of which are about to be launched in 2008). The downside is that AMD's processors are still manufactured using the 65-nanometer technology, while Intel's pawns (the Penryns) are the first 45-nanometer subjects. Not only has Intel released a new micro-architecture, but it also has update plans in the next year, according to their "Tick-Tock" production lifecycle (innovation this year, upgrade and refresh the next one).
Competition is harsh and each of the runners are taking turns in kicking each other with both boots. Beyond their perpetual fight, the confrontation makes it possible for the average consumer to enjoy the benefits of more and more advanced achievements in the field for less and less money. Pretty fair tough, eh?