by ZaAndrei Zaharia

Created on: May 15, 2009   Last Updated: May 19, 2009

It's a quad-core. It's an Intel Processor. It runs at 2.4 GHz stock speed. It is a socket LGA 775 Processor? What is it? It's the Q6600 processor. This is Intel's multi-media/gaming solution for newer programs and games. Introduced in 2006, this was the best-of-the-best. Even today I still consider it to be a very money and power efficient product.

Being a quad-core is what it's all about! It has 4 logical cores running at 2.4 GHz each. It runs at a FBS speed of 1066 MHz, with 4MB x2 of cache. All of this comes bundled on a power rating (TDP) of 105 watts. Being a quad-core it needs more electricity to run, but the results are rewarding. But what does all of this mean? All those numbers means almost nothing to average users! This processor was a rebuild of their E-xxxx Core 2 Duo processors. The Q6600 processor is basically 2 E6600 processors put side by side on the same chip. Benchmarks, or speed tests, proved that this processor delivers about a 80-90% efficiency, meaning that it can be up to 80-90% faster than the E6600. This is truly amazing!

For about $180 US, this processor will amaze! Coming from anything lower than the E6700 Core 2 Duo, anyone will notice the difference. I personally upgraded from my old Celeron 2.8 GHz processor. Going from that rusty chip to this so called beast was astonishing. I now run Windows Vista with nothing so much as a glitch or hold-back! Having 4 processors means that all 4 can split up to do different tasks. While on the internet one core's power is dedicated to running Vista, while the other 3 are there to back your actions up! Quad-cores are the future. The new true, or native, quad cores, the i7 processors, have up to 8 cores (4 logical and 4 that are Hyper Threaded).

The new Windows 7 that is coming soon will take full advantage of all 4 processors. Games and programs alike are growing rapidly into the quad-age. Having 4 cores is almost a must for your own computer. So if you want to stay up to date, but you are not into heavy duty gaming or video editing, the Q6600 is amazing! I personally bought this on a budget thinking that this is all I could afford; I went with the cheap stuff. Trust me this isn't one of those items in life that because of its price, you can say it's a piece of junk. I bought this and coupled it with an Arctic Cooling FreezerXtreme 4 Cooler and got this baby running at 3.2 GHz stable and with no sign of baking off. I am way under the Intel recommended voltage, so it is very safe.

In conclusion, this processor is really great. It beats pretty much anything in the price-for-performance category, at least, in my opinion. You can pick those up on EBay, Newegg, or DirectCanada (for Canadians). Core 2 Duos are getting outdated! Step up to the quad-age! You will NOT be disappointed!

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