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Of course the quad-core (formerly code-named Kentsfield) no doubt offers incredible speed. But the test prove that the Intel's other Core 2 Extreme chip the 2.93-GHz, dual-core X6800 will give you all your moneys worth speedwise aside. For just the same $999 price, the X6800 chip offers just a bit more clock speed than the 2.66-GHz QX6700 does. And with few mainstream applications tuned to take advantage of four or more CPU cores, the extra clock speed provides a real performance advantage on most tasks. Systems with the new chip should be available this month.

Using various systems Computer world conducted a test, some of the models that participated are Alienware Area-51 7500 ($4,479), CyberPower Gamer Infinity 1950 ($3,599) and Xi MTower IGE ($4,149) -- all of which are equipped with the quad-core processor. They then compared these systems with previously tested reference PCs, as well as with an Extreme X6800-based CyberPower Gamer Infinity SLI Ultra and a 2.67-GHz Core 2 Duo E6700-based Dell XPS 700.

Needless to say systems with the dual-core Extreme X6800 provide blazing performance. It is also the best system to deal with when it comes to multi tasking. The reference PC with the X6800 finished in 279 seconds compared to 292 seconds for the system with the quad-core chip. There is a very small difference with the score of the dual core and the new quad-core. Which is of course also not a surprise as it is just a pair of linked Core 2 Duo dies on one chip. There are other various tests that show how the dual-core manage to get a headstart with the new and promising quad core. We can say that maybe it is due to the fact that it is still young and very unstable at the moment, but I guess give it more time and it will stand up to its name as well.

Review: Intel's quad-core CPU speeds video