▷ Quad core processor: what is it and why were they so important?

2006-2007, Core 2 Quad, Kentsfield and Kentsfield XE

It would all start with Kentsfield and Kentsfield XE, a family of desktop porocessors that would be released on November 2, 2006. With this release we first saw Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Extreme, quad core processors . The most powerful range would be the Extreme QX6xxx which would have a fairly high price.

The manufacturing process was 65nm and the best-selling of all was the Core 2 Quad Q6600, which was released on January 8, 2007 for about $ 851, but months later it dropped to $ 500. At that time, the processors had EIST, Intel VT-x, iAMT2, or Intel 64.

It was a range of processors that came out only for LGA 775, since it was the quintessential enthusiastic socket of that time. We are not facing the most spectacular frequencies, but taking into account that the change from 2 cores to 4 was spectacular, to think that this frequency was multiplied by 4 was something incredible.

Here you have the Kentsfield processors

Name	Cores (threads)	Base frequency	FSB	L2 cache	TDP	Socket	Launching	Starting price
Core 2 Quad Q6400	4 (4)	2.13 GHz	1066 MT / s	2 × 4 MB	105 W	LGA 775	N / A	N / A
Core 2 Quad Q6600	4 (4)	2.4 GHz	1066 MT / s	2 × 4 MB	105 W	LGA 775	January 2007	$ 530
Core 2 Quad Q6700	4 (4)	2.67 GHz	1066 MT / s	2 × 4 MB	105 W	LGA 775	April 2007	$ 851

On the other hand, the Core 2 Extreme range would come with Kentsfield XE, but they would share technologies and socket. As it was the high performance range of Core 2 Quad, its frequency and TDP increased. The output of the QX6700 was a full blow, but the QX6850 achieved brutal performance.

Name	Cores (threads)	Base frequency	FSB	L2 cache	TDP	Socket	Launching	Starting price
Core 2 Extreme QX6700	4 (4)	2.66 GHz	1066 MT / s	2 × 4 MB	130 W	LGA 775	November 2006	$ 999
Core 2 Extreme QX6800	4 (4)	2.93 GHz	1066 MT / s	2 × 4 MB	130 W	LGA 775	April 2007	$ 1199
Core 2 Extreme QX6850	4 (4)	3 GHz	1333 MT / s	2 × 4 MB	130 W	LGA 775	July 2007	$ 999

The Kentsfield family was not only made up of Core 2 Quad, but also had its range for servers, which would be starred by the Intel Xeon. Aesthetically, there were no differences between a Core 2 Quad and a Core 2 Duo, but they were processors that did not go for the same socket, the first being for LGA 755.

Intel released the QX6700 as a trump card for maximum possible desktop performance, but its high price meant it was not a best seller. In this way, the Q6600 dropped in price throughout 2007 until it became affordable for many homes.

As a curious fact, AMD responded to Intel with its Quad Core Opteron that came manufactured at 65 nm with 4MB of L3 cache and with DDR3 RAM support .

2007 and 2008, Yorkfield and Yorkfield XE

Between 2007 and 2008, Intel launched its second Quad Core offensive with Yorkfield, Yorkfield XE, and Penryn XE. Also, we had a range of notebook processors called Penryn-QC and Penryn-QC XE. We know that it can bundle so many family of processors, so we have decided to diversify them for your better understanding.

Yorkfield

The Yorkfield family was quite large and focused on quad-core processors, such as the Xeon X33xx and Core 2 Extreme QX9xxx. It is true that the Extreme range belonged to the Yorkfield XE family, but the base was practically the same.

The Penryn chips referred to the entire family of processors that belonged to the 45nm architecture . Thus, Penryn's desktop CPUs were named Wolfdale and Yorkfield. The former was a dual-core family, but Yorkfield was quad-core. In 2007 a Yorkfield was said to be a Wolfdale with two more cores.

These processors were following a 45nm node and we had processors of two sizes: a small version with 6MB of L2 cache and another with a larger one with 12MB of L2 cache. We mentioned the Penryn-QC notebook processors earlier because they were a portable version of Yorkfield.

The Quad range fell in price, as well as consumer. From being processors that cost € 500 at least, they went on to have prices that moved around € 300. This family housed 5 Core 2 Quad processors that standardized the 1, 333 MT / s of FSB, as they lowered consumption to 65 and 95 watts. We show them below.

Name	Cores (threads)	Base frequency	FSB	L2 cache	TDP	Socket	Launching	Starting price
Core 2 Quad Q9450	4 (4)	2.67 GHz	1333 MT / s	12 MB	95 W	LGA 775	March 2008	$ 316
Core 2 Quad Q9450S	4 (4)	2.67 GHz	1333 MT / s	12 MB	65 W	LGA 775	N / A	N / A
Core 2 Quad Q9550	4 (4)	2.83 GHz	1333 MT / s	12 MB	95 W	LGA 775	March 2008	$ 530
Core 2 Quad Q9550S	4 (4)	2.83 GHz	1333 MT / s	12 MB	65 W	LGA 775	January 2009	$ 369
Core 2 Quad Q9650	4 (4)	3 GHz	1333 MT / s	12 MB	95 W	LGA 775	August 2008	$ 530

Yorkfield XE

The initials "XE" were already known as synonymous with high performance because they related to the Extreme range of Intel. However, this range was more extreme than the previous ones because we had a processor that supported I / O acceleration technology: the QX9775. This would be one of the most powerful processors in the family.

Although in theory they were 4 XE processors, the truth is that the QX9750 was never launched because Intel had internal problems with its employees in 2009. Do not be scared to see their starting prices, such as the consumption of the QX9775 because they were processors with a disproportionate performance in full 2008.

Both the cache and the FSB were improved compared to Kentsfield XE, but both brought an unlocked multiplier.

Name	Cores (threads)	Base frequency	FSB	L2 cache	TDP	Socket	Launching	Starting price
Core 2 Extreme QX9650	4 (4)	3 GHz	1333 MT / s	12 MB	130 W	LGA 775	November 2007	$ 999
Core 2 Extreme QX9750	4 (4)	3.17 GHz	1333 MT / s	12 MB	130 W	LGA 775	N / A	Not out
Core 2 Extreme QX9770	4 (4)	3.2 GHz	1600 MT / s	12 MB	136 W	LGA 775	March 2008	$ 1399
Core 2 Extreme QX9775	4 (4)	3.2 GHz	1600 MT / s	12 MB	150 W	LGA 771	March 2008	$ 1499

In general terms, the base frequency was greatly improved, with 3 GHz being the standard that was previously only reserved for the most powerful processor in the range. Note that the QX9775 was the only processor in the LGA 771 compatible family , a socket that was used in Dempsey, Woodcrest, Wolfdale, Clovertown, Harpertown and Yorkfield-CL.

In late 2008, AMD wanted to counterattack with its Phenom II. It would be a series manufactured in 45nm and they would get to equip up to 6 cores, which was an advance. Unfortunately, their performance couldn't be compared to Intel, although they were still a solution for humble home computers that wanted good performance without spending the more than $ 1, 000 that Intel was asking for for a Core 2 Extreme.

Phenom IIs were compatible with the AM2 + socket and would be known as “toasters” due to their high temperatures.

2010, Nehalem and end of the Quad Core processor

Intel's Quad Core processor was on the market for 4 years, being a successful odyssey. Intel knew that it had to evolve, hence, in 2010, it brought out the Nehalem family or better known as Intel Core i3, i5 and i7.

An era was ending in which Intel did not stop ruling for a second, but that would improve with time because the Nehalem would be the first stone of what we have today. On the other hand, the Extreme philosophy did not disappear thanks to the i7 Extreme Edition processors that Intel released for high-performance sockets, such as the LGA 1366.

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Did you have a Quad Core processor? Do you have good memories of these processors? If we have missed a model, tell us below!