Core 2 Extreme - What Does "Extreme" Mean?

[Mr Skills]

Is "extreme" just a name for the same processor with a higher clock speed, or is it different?

 

[mkrishnan]

The difference is apparently mostly the clock speed and the fact that the multiplier is unlocked, allowing for tweaking.

Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core_2

Practically speaking, it gets complicated because Core 2 Duo is used for two different processor lines, as far as I know (Merom notebook processors and... Conroe (?) desktop ones). Also Intel tends to recycle names, so that in one year, a brand name like Celeron means something completely different than it meant the previous year.

The most straightforward thing is to look up either benchmarks for the actual computers you're interested in or else look up the specific tech differences between the processors in question.

 

[Wayfarer]

In other words, Extreme = Awesome...

Therefore, Core 2 Extreme = Core 2 Awesome. 😉

 

[mkrishnan]

Therefore, Core 2 Extreme = Core 2 Awesome. 😉

Hehehehe, you wouldn't go for Core 2 Extreme? Not even if it were really, really, ridiculously fast? 🙂

 

[Chaszmyr]

Interestingly, when Intel started using the "Extreme" moniker in the late days of the Pentium 4, the only real difference was that the Extreme chip had twice as large of a cache. The Core 2 Extreme chip, however, has the same cache size as the non-extreme version. There are still some differences, as was pointed out already, but it started out as a marketing gimmick, and now it's even more of one.

 

[pcorajr]

In other words, Extreme = Awesome...

Therefore, Core 2 Extreme = Core 2 Awesome. 😉

You only coverd half of the meaning of EXTREME.


Yes it does mean awsome, but it also means more expensive.

 

[cascaman]

and hotter

 

[RRK]

You only coverd half of the meaning of EXTREME.


Yes it does mean awsome, but it also means more expensive.

I think this is more true then you may be implying. I think they are limited production chips so they make them more expensive and therefore they wont be adopted into high production lines of computers since they may not be able to keep up.
Really though I am just basing all of this on what might be a inaccurate memory. I think I remember that there was a quad core extreme processor that someone was suggesting would come in a high end iMac and someone else responded saying that Apple would never put an "extreme" chip in an iMac because of this pricing scheme.

 

[Sirmausalot]

Is it actually possible to overclock these things in a mac? Potentially? On the windows (bootcamp side even?) since they are unlocked?

 

[RevToTheRedline]

Being out of the PC building loop for a while I actually had to do some research to find out really what the difference is.

In reality, there is none. The Extreme part of the C2D is in fact most often used to state that has an unlocked multiplier, but in the iMacs case I don't think that matters anyway, unless someone eventually finds out how to overclock it. The only gain the iMac seeds is the speed difference between the CPU's offered. 2, 2.4, and 2.8.

The X7900 is of course the 2.8ghz chip used in the iMac, it's also the most powerful mobile CPU available right now. At a price of $851 for OEMs


http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sspec=slaf4

 

[4JNA]

...At a price of $851

extreme price, or extreme profits... depending on if you are selling or buying.