Xbitlabs Q9300 review

[Epsilon84]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2quad-q9300.html

Summary:
- 7% faster than Q6600
- Overclockable to ~3.5GHz, then hits FSB wall.

Considering it's the same price as the Q6600, you can't really complain about the stock performance, although the 7.5x multiplier means you will probably never reach the full overclocking potential of the chip. A lower FSB / higher multi would have been nicer, it's probably capable of 4GHz if not for the FSB wall.

That said, even at 3.5GHz it's still slightly faster than a Q6600 @ 3.6GHz, with lower power consumption too, so it's not a bad chip overall, it just could've been better...

[G80]

Pity they couldent include the Q9450 also, which have double cache size.

[labs23]

^+1, Indeed, since i want a Q9450 without full knowledge on how good it performs...

[TopherTony]

Pity they couldent include the Q9450 also, which have double cache size.

QFT

I think the 9450 will be a major hit for intel. The 9300 is nice but imo the 9450 will fill the gigantic gap between the 6600 and the 6700 admorably. As long as the multiplier is high enough, around 9-9.5 i think, then it should be a hit.

[Start]

I think the results are about what we expected. We knew that the 7.5x multiplier would be the weakness of this chip.

[grimREEFER]

i dont think they enabled sse4 or enhanced multithreading for the divx test. i was expecting huge pwnage by the q9300 there.

[[XC] gomeler]

QFT

I think the 9450 will be a major hit for intel. The 9300 is nice but imo the 9450 will fill the gigantic gap between the 6600 and the 6700 admorably. As long as the multiplier is high enough, around 9-9.5 i think, then it should be a hit.

We've already been told that the Q9450 will have an 8x multiplier and therefore be capable of 4GHz with a lucky chip/board combination. You will pay dearly for a 9x multiplier which is sadly what is really necessary to push these chips.

[Lestat]

i dont think they enabled sse4 or enhanced multithreading for the divx test. i was expecting huge pwnage by the q9300 there.


please show me any encoding program that really uses all 4 cores
please i mean it show me, i been looking for one for ages.

[emoners]

so when will the new Quads come to retail?

[MuffinFlavored]

please show me any encoding program that really uses all 4 cores
please i mean it show me, i been looking for one for ages.

I am about to pay a lucky penny for a program that can convert between FLV and MP4/AVI and MP4 and AVI.

I am still using my Q6700, but I am very interested in the new line up of quad cores.

[Morais]

Nice piece of hardware!
Thanks for posting.

[highoctane]

please show me any encoding program that really uses all 4 cores
please i mean it show me, i been looking for one for ages.

automkv, megui both use x264 which will max out a quad

[mstp2009]

please show me any encoding program that really uses all 4 cores
please i mean it show me, i been looking for one for ages.

Any frontend for the x264 codec will max out a quad.

[Jamesrt2004]

shame about the FSB wall :(

good chip though + Cheap :D

[villa1n]

hrmmm, well this doesnt have me to excited for a new system overhaul :/ depending on how the 9450 performs, my little quady might have to last until nehalem.

[Swatrecon_]

A whole 7%? I might need to buy one. :shakes:

I can see this being useful in laptops, but that's about it.

...my little quady might have to last until nehalem.

I see no reason why it won't. New games aren't demanding more CPU, they want more GPU. That's why I bought my quad at least. I'm still waiting for a decent single card solution to come out.

[blackdem0n]

very interesting... Thanks for posting.:)

[Alucard-]

Well this reviews makes me wonder if I should keep my q6600 since my board limits me to around 3.1 or get a e8500 which my board could probably do 4.5ghz with, not so sure about my ram though. Trying to decide if it's worth buying a decent p35 board to get 3.5- 3.7ghz.

[labs23]

I have this on my mind, more or like a prediction on my SIG when i put it on a months ago... An 8x is doable but not as good as the Q6600's 9x, at this time time i ain't upgrading yet until a Q9450 is tested by many(when it arrives to the local market soon)... I'm still sticking to Q6600 this time a little longer...

[grimREEFER]

dont forget that after the pricecuts, the q6700 will be slightly cheaper than the q9450.

[Swatrecon_]

dont forget that after the pricecuts, the q6700 will be slightly cheaper than the q9450.

Q6700 has no advantage over an even cheaper Q6600.

[Halendor]

so when will the new Quads come to retail?

19th of March is on Scan's site.Not sure if this has been 100% confirmed though

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=743028

[jeeka]

please show me any encoding program that really uses all 4 cores
please i mean it show me, i been looking for one for ages.

Sony Vegas 8.0 :) - It crushes on my 3.8Ghz q6600 like there is no tomorrow.
That uses my cores up beautifully.

[S1mon-]

The multiplier on these new chips are killing them... Maybe 7% increase in perf. but if you have an Q6600 that runs are 3,6-4GHz, the Q6600 easily takes the lead back ;)

[jeeka]

The multiplier on these new chips are killing them... Maybe 7% increase in perf. but if you have an Q6600 that runs are 3,6-4GHz, the Q6600 easily takes the lead back ;)

What he said :)

[death]

What he said :)

defo i can see my b3 quad staying with me till the next lot of chips come out

[Epsilon84]

The multiplier on these new chips are killing them... Maybe 7% increase in perf. but if you have an Q6600 that runs are 3,6-4GHz, the Q6600 easily takes the lead back ;)

Actually at 3.6GHz the Q6600 still slightly trails the Q9300 @ 3.5GHz... ;)

Of course at 4GHz it'll definitely beat the Q9300 but that's not very likely, at least on air cooling.

[S1mon-]

The Q6600 doesn't really trail... It's on par with the Q9300 or maybe 0,5-1% less... but we shall keep in mind that the Q9300 has reached it's full potential on air/water/etc because of it's FSB wall on most quad... The Q6600 can most of the time have the same performance on air (or more), not to mention if the Q6600 goes on water ;)

[Pinacolada]

Is there any clock-to-clock review ?

[Epsilon84]

Is there any clock-to-clock review ?

Nope. But you can tell that the Q9300 is slightly faster clock for clock, not much, probably 3 - 5% tops.

[emoners]

well a 3-5% increase may not be much to some...but with the 45nm architecture, it would definitely run cooler