The QX6800's 2.93GHz native clock speed, as Extreme Tech's Loyd Case points out, isn't necessarily earth-shattering news. People have been pushing their Core 2 Extreme QX6700s to 3.2GHz or above for a while now. In fact, other than that bump in native clock speed, there's really not much else that distinguishes this new CPU from the QX6700.

So what is noteworthy about the new processor? According to Case, two things: its price and the way Intel is positioning it. At $1200, the QX6800 certainly isn't for the weak of wallet. But then again, neither is the QX6700 at $999. Indeed, Intel has seemingly decided to do away with its tradition of offering only one "Extreme" version of a CPU in a particular class at a time. Why do that? Pretty easy answer, it turns out. Money! Because Intel currently has such a substantial lead over rival AMD in terms of performance, the chip maker has decided to start commanding a substantial price premium as well--one that will likely continue until Barcelona shows up.

Post by Bryan Gardiner