14 DAY TRIAL // Intel introduced six brand new Core 2 Duo variants: the Core 2 Extreme X7800 is the new flagship of the mobile computing, new 2.66GHz and 3GHz quad-core desktop processors and a dual-core CPU with a frontside bus of 1333MHz as an extension to the mainstream product line. As a new round in the price war with AMD, Intel plans to cut some prices too. Core 2 Duo Extreme X7800 is the first mobile processor ever launched by Intel under the "Extreme Edition" brand. It comes with a 2.6GHz frequency, dual-core architecture, 4MB of level 2 cache and a 800MHz frontside bus, being the fastest and most powerful mobile processor ever built, Intel claims. Even if it is a mobile processor, it may attract gamers' attention, as its overspeed protection has been removed. This simply means that laptop manufacturers and users could overclock the X7800 for even more performance in CPU-critical application. Another mobile processor from the "Extreme Edition" series, named X7900, running at 2.8GHz is expected to come later.
Performance comes at a price and in X7800's case, this price means more wattage needed to function. Other Core 2 Duo T series use about 35W, while the power requirements of the X7800 climb to about 44W in full load. A "battery friendly" processor from Intel is said to be launched later, sometime during the next year and it will be a quad-core processor. To Intel's claim that the X7800 is "the world's highest performing mobile processor", AMD declined to give an answer and even declined to speculate about the possible success of its new griffin mobile processor against Intel's 65 nm Meron and 45 nm Penryn cores.
Even if in full load conditions, Intel's Core 2 Duo Extreme Edition X7800 needs lots of power for a mobile processor, it does include some power-saving features, just like the rest of the mobile CPU already available. A dynamic frontside bus lets the system drop into a "low frequency mode" in order to conserve energy and "Enchanced Deep Sleep" is used when the system is idle for the same reasons. Intel claims that X7800 gains about 28% in computing power over the previous generation of dual-core mobile processors released in January 2006.
For the desktop segment, Intel introduced its FSB 1333MHz upgrade for Core 2 Duo E-series and the upgraded versions run at 3 2.66 and 2.33GHz. A new FSB 1333HMz quad processor for gamers, named QX6850, running at 3GHz and a FSB1066 quad-core for the upper mainstream (Q6700, 2.66GHz) are new additions to the desktop processors as well. Intel's latest Core 2 Duo highlights once more that AMD will need very powerful processors (coming in a few months as the Phenom X2 and Phenom X4) to successfully compete over the high-end CPU market.