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Intel 'Penryn' Core 2 Extreme QX9770 and X48 chipset
Say hello to the 1600MHz desktop FSB
And so we come to the Asus X48 motherboard which is the natural partner for the QX9770. We ran the processor at 3.20GHz with PC3-1333 memory at 1066MHz, just as we had with the other two systems and achieved results that were very similar - but slightly slower- than the X38. At 4.00GHz the X48 once again mirrored the X38 and despite our best efforts with monstrous voltages through the Northbridge and memory the QX9770 had no intention of running any faster.
PCMark05 Test - X48 Chipset
Longer bars are better
The Asus X48 is the type of motherboard that will delight overclockers as it caps the CPU voltage at 1.70V but if you install a jumper you can raise the voltage to 2.1V. We plan on using this CPU in the future so we kept the voltage to a lowly 1.475V but if you spend £699 on a QX9770 and fancy trying more than two volts do please let us know how you get on.
iTunes AAC Conversion Test - X48 Chipset
Time in seconds to convert 150MB of MP3 files to AAC
Shorter bars are better
As a final test we swapped out the OCZ PC3-1333 memory for some OCZ PC3-1600 and ran it at full speed to make sure that the 4.00GHz CPU wasn’t being starved of memory bandwidth however performance increased by only the smallest of margins.
DivX 6.7 Recode Test - X48 Chipset
Time in seconds to recode a 350MB AVI file
Shorter bars are better
Verdict
Intel's X48 chipset appears to be little more than a carefully selected X38, and our enthusiasm for the new chipset was washed away in a torrent of disappointment. But the Core 2 Extreme QX9770 is a completely different story. It’s unbelievably fast and it overclocks to 4.0GHz with the bare minimum of cooling. Intel looks to be in for a good 2008, and no doubt that’s why it decided to send us a the QX9770 just before Christmas, just so it could spread the cheer around.