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Intels Core 2 Quad Q9300 has some rather large shoes to fill. This newly shipping, relatively low-cost(~$270) quad-core processor from Intel is a replacement for their long-standing price to performancechamp, the Core 2 Quad Q6600. The Q6600 was the first quad-core in Intels arsenal which was actuallyaffordable, and even today, it remains one of the best values on the market. Not only is the Core 2 QuadQ6600 inexpensive for a quad-core at around $230, but it is extremely overclockable and provides asignificant amount of computing power for the dollar. Core 2 Quad Q6600s are still in high-demand atrend which is likely to continue until Intel physically removes from them from the market.

Like we said, rather large shoes to fill. Luckily, the Core 2 Quad Q9300 processor has some impressivenew features under the hood along with a higher clock speed, all at a similar price point as the Q6600. Asthe Core 2 Quad Q9300 utilizes Intels new 45nm manufacturing technology (as opposed to 65nm of theQ6600), potential buyers will be expecting the Q9300 to perform better and produce less heat comparedto its predecessor certainly a difficult task but one which we believe Intel can meet. Weve already seenwhat Intels 45nm manufacturing technology is capable of with its dual-core Wolfdale architecture, and ifIntel can bring the same benefits to the quad-core market as it did for dual-cores with Wolfdale, Intel willbe in good shape.

The Q9300 is coming to market at an interesting time. Intel has struggled somewhat to get theirmainstream 45nm quad-core components on to market, and the Core 2 Quad Q9300 represents Intels

first real attempt at holding on to the low-cost quad-core market against a newly resilient AMD. WithAMDs new lineup of quad-core Phenom X4 B3 processors bringing similar features at a lower price pointthan the Q9300, Intel may have to work a little harder in order to make the Q9300 a success. Let's see ifthey're up for the challenge.

Intel's Core 2 Quad Q9300 Engineering Sample

2.5 GHz Clock Speed, Quad-Core

"Yorkfield" Core Architecture

45nm Manufacturing Technology

Socket-775 Form Factor Design

1.225V Default Core Voltage

Supports 32/64-bit Processing (EM64T)

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256 kB L1 Cache (Data/Instruction)

6 MB Shared L2 Cache (Full Speed)

1333 MHz Front Side Bus Speed

Supports SSE / SSE2 / SSE3 / SSE4.1

Supports Intel Speedstep / C1E

Supports Execute Disable (xD) Bit

Core 2 Quad Q9300 - Top Core 2 Quad Q9300 - Bottom

This Core 2 Quad processor, as we mentioned before, is based on Intels 45nm Yorkfield architecture,which replaces their 65nm Kentsfield designs that dominated Intels product lineup throughout 2007 andmost of early 2008. The Yorkfield architecture is, more or less, two 45nm Wolfdale cores connectedtogether into a single chip design. The Core 2 Quad Q9300 is not a native quad-core like AMDs Phenomprocessor, but rather is two dual-cores connected under a single heat spreader - a multi-chip module. Asour tests have shown in the past, this does not affect performance in any real way, and shouldnt be aconsideration when thinking of buying one of these chips. However, it is just an interesting aspect to note,from a technology perspective.

The Q9300 is somewhat of an anomaly as its the only member of the Core 2 Quad 45nm family whichhas 6 MB of L2 cache (2 x 3 MB cache per dual-core die). All other members of the Core 2 Quad familyhave a double-sized 12 MB of cache, which will give an estimated 5-10% performance boost at the sameclock speed compared to the 6 MB variants. Interestingly enough, with 6 MB of L2 cache, the Q9300actually has less cache compared to its predecessor (the Q6600), which had 8 MB of L2 cache (2 x 4MB). However, cache latencies have improved with the new architecture, so performance will not suffergreatly due to this design decision. We do find it strange that Intel is introducing only one model basedwith 6 MB of cache, although it's certainly possible that Intel will be introducing newer models to fitalongside this chip in the future.

While the Q9300 takes a hit on cache, its architecture is improved just about everywhere else. The Q9300runs at a clock speed of 2.5 GHz with a front side bus speed of 1333 MHz (compare to the Q6600 at 2.4GHz @ 1066 MHz FSB). In addition, the Q9300 supports Intels new SSE 4.1 instruction set, which unlikeany other SSE release weve seen in the past, can offer huge performance increases with properly codedapplications. The biggest benefactor of this new instruction set have been video encoding applications,which can see massive (30%+) performance gains with SSE 4.1 supported processors.

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Even with all these new features under the hood, the Core 2 Quad Q9300 runs on a standard Socket-775interface and is compatible with the vast majority of Socket-775 motherboards on the market today. Mostmotherboards require a BIOS update in order to see the proper CPUIDs of these new processors, but ifyour motherboard supports 45nm, 1333 MHz FSB processors, youll likely be able to run one of thesenew chips. The Q9300 has a TDP (thermal design power) rating of 95W, which means you likely wonthave to replace your existing cooler, either. However, if you buy a retail boxed processor, youll get one ofIntels (decent) retail cooling systems. For our tests, well be using something a little bigger after all, wewant to see what this chip is capable of without cooling being a limitation.