qx6700
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Alienware loading Area-51 ALX with overclocked, quad core QX6700
Hardcore gamers seeking top-of-the-line performance can always look to Alienware for rigs with the latest components -- at a steep premium, of course -- so it's no surprise that the recent Dell acquisition has decided to stuff an overclocked, quad core Core 2 Extreme QX6700 chip into the legendary Area-51 ALX. The mad scientists tinkering away at AW HQ (a UFO, perhaps?) have stepped Intel's premiere CPU up from 2.66GHz to 3.2GHZ -- a pretty sizable boost, while still giving speed addicts room to push the processor even further. As usual with this gear, pricing will range wildly depending on the configuration you choose, but expect to pay top dollar for the extra labor and always-pimpin' case.
Velocity Micro's latest HTPCs add Vista and ATI Digital Cable tuner
Looks like Okoro Media Systems isn't the only HTPC builder on the block cramming Microsoft's latest OS into its systems and upping the specs, as Velocity Micro has taken a break from its NoteMagix series to amp up a few media PCs. Both boxes come with Windows Vista Premium pre-installed, ATI's TV Wonder Digital Cable tuner, and options for HD DVD and Blu-ray playback. The CineMagix Pro Cinema rocks a fairly average black chassis, 500-watt power supply, AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, HDCP-compliant ATI Radeon X1950 Pro, onboard 7.1 audio, 8-in-1 flash card reader, up to 1.5TB of hard drive space, dual gigabit Ethernet adapter, 802.11b/g, a pair of FireWire connectors, six USB 2.0 ports, and a wireless keyboard / mouse combo. The Intel-powered CineMagix Grand Theater swaps in your choice of CPU, including options for both the Core 2 Extreme X6800 or QX6700, up to 4GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS, up to 2.25TB of HDD space, but otherwise mimics its AMD-packin' sibling. Both units are fully customizable if you've got the cash to burn, and while the CineMagix Pro Cinema starts at $1,695, the Grand Theater rings up between $2,195 and near-five digits.[Via 64-Bit-Computers]
Faith-go's Inspire X does quad-core AMD style
Lest we forget, Intel's QX6700 isn't the only quad-core game in town, and while AMD's Quad FX platform might've been edged out by Intel in benchmark land, there's still plenty to love about the power chompin' beast. Faith-go is putting those cores to good use in its stylish new Inspire X FX70XN/DVR-88GTX setup, which sports an Athlon 64 FX-70 processor, along with GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB graphics, 2GB of RAM, a 10k rpm 150GB HDD, and a super multi-DVD drive. All of this (literal) hotness resides on a NVIDIA nForce 680a SLI chipset, with the chutzpah to support up to four graphics cards. Considering the bleeding edge components on display here, the $3,253 pricetag doesn't sound too ridiculous, though we're not positive this box will be making its way to the US anyways, so perhaps the point is moot.
AMD's fancy new Quad FX chips smeared by single Intel CPU
With as much AMD fanfare as there was leading up to this release, you'd think they would've managed to drum up a bit better showing. After running up against a battery of benchmark tests, AMD's Quad FX dual CPU platform has been throughly trounced by Intel's QX6700 2.66GHz processor. While things looks great on paper for AMD, with exciting amounts of bandwidth between the two processors, and dedicated memory for each chip, in practice the Quad FX platform is an utter power hog (double that of the QX6700), and only squeezed by Intel in a handful of tests, while for the most part racking up loss after loss, trailing from 10 to 40 percent behind the Intel's 65nm quad-core chip. Price is also a concern, since even though AMD is pricing the actual chips aggressively, you'll still have to spring around $480 for the only motherboard that can handle 'em, and those 1000W power supplies don't really come cheap. Of course, AMD does have 65nm chips on the way, which should do better against Intel on a clock-to-clock basis, and Windows Vista will include lots of mult-thread enhancements to "even the playing field," but there's still no denying that AMD got spanked in this round, and we don't suppose Intel will just be sitting around while AMD plays catch up.[Via ZDNet]Read - FiringSquadRead - [H] EnthusiastRead - TomsHardwareRead - Hot Hardware
Niveus goes quad-core with new n9 "Pro Series" media server
You know how it goes, once one manufacturer goes quad-core with thems Intel Core 2 Extreme procs, everybody has to do it. Now Niveus is jumping into the game with its new Pro Series n9 rack-mount media server, which sports a quad-core QX6700 processor, along with Intel Viiv tech, GeForce Series 7 Graphics, 3 terabytes of storage, HD DVD playback, multiple independent HD video and music playback sessions through out the house, and plenty more. The 3U unit is CableCARD ready, and includes HDMI, RAID 5 storage protection, 4 TV tuners (two NTSC, two ATSC), 4GB of RAM and a couple fancy audio options. Of course, none of this comes cheap. The Media Center starts at a cool $15k, and while we've definitely seen pricier solutions to HD nirvana, that doesn't change the fact that $15k is a good chunk of change.[Thanks, Michael F.]
Dell's quad-core XPS 710 gaming rig, for designers
Dell's bringing the quad-core gaming heat this morning with a Core 2 Extreme QX6700 update to their XPS 700 gaming rig. The new XPS 710 is said to be a "gaming beast" offering "up to" a 55% bump in performance at an equivalent premium over its C2E dual-core cuz. Just be careful here folks, 'cause as we've seen in the reviews, the QX6700 is matched in performance by the dual-core X6800 and E6700 procs (found in the XPS 700) when tested in real world gaming scenarios despite having twice the cores. See most games simply aren't written for four cores -- yet -- having just now adapted to dual-core architectures. But let's wait for the reviews before getting too far ahead of ourselves on this. Prices start at $3,699 for that quad-core luxury in jet black chassis or $3,799 for Special Edition Formula Red and heftier 1-kilowatt power supply. Just don't come crying to us if you find it better suited at 'Shopping images than an all night frag-fest.
Vadim Computers unveils $8,800 quad-core gaming rig in the UK
Just moments ago, we're sure a hoard of you rushed off to purchase the newest OMEN PC from VoodooPC in order to have the most intense gaming rig in your neck of the woods, but we've got news for you: it's already been outdone. Vadim Computers is offering a custom-built machine that packs the latest and greatest computing hardware the world has to (currently) offer, outdoing even VoodooPC's latest offering. Inside the liquid-cooled case, you'll find Intel's quad-core 2.66GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor nestled in an Asus P5N32-SLI Premium motherboard, surrounded by such niceties as 2GB of DDR2 RAM, dual nVidia 8800GTX 768Mb PCI-e graphics cards, twin 150GB Raptor 10000 drives (and a 750GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 just for storage), dual-layer DVD burner, CD-burning combo drive, and a Creative 7.1 X-Fi ExtremeMusic sound card -- and that's just the bottom-of-the-line configuration. The "3-to-20 percent variable overclocking," as well as the system itself, is backed by a two-year warranty, but similar to the Mac Mini, you'll be providing your own mouse, keyboard, and monitor. The tally on this incredulous beast comes to £4,622.23 ($8,818) -- which isn't quite what Dell demanded for its all-inclusive Renegade 600 -- but that's before the government even takes its share. Pony up, fellas.[Via The Inquirer]
Intel's quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor released, reviewed
With all this jabber about quad-core being "on the horizon," it's mighty refreshing to finally see one of these highly-touted chips in the wild and on the chopping block. The lucky folks over at TechSpot were able to get their paws on Intel's first officially released quad-core processor, the 2.66GHz (not to mention the dual 4MB L2 cache and 1,066MHz FSB) Core 2 Extreme QX6700. Reviewers noted that there were "no new additions" technology-wise in this Kentsfield architecture, and that it was "merely a quad-core version of the Conroe," but stopped to exaggerate that this was far from being a "bad thing." Benchmarking the new kid on the block was a mixed bag, as it scorched dual-core alternatives in SiSoft testing, lagged behind in 3DMark, and provided just marginal gains in "real world gaming" scenarios. However, video editors and graphics designers should appreciate the "25 percent" increase in Photoshop CS2 processing, "78 percent" boost in Pinnacle rendering speed, and the "60 percent" jump in 3D Studio Max. It should also be noted that the thermal output of the chip was "very manageable" at factory speeds, but even water-cooling would only allow 3.33GHz due to its finicky nature. Overall, it was stated that Intel's quad-core offerings will not likely live up to the performance gains seen in the Core 2 Duo rollout, and while gamers should probably save their $1,000 for other necessary upgrades, those tired of seeing an immeasurably long rendering bar might want to give this bad boy a once over.[Thanks, Ryan]
