Kentsfield (microprocessor)

Kentsfield is the code name of the first Intel desktop quad core[1] CPU branded Core 2 (and Xeon for lower-end servers and workstations), released on November 2, 2006. The top-of-the-line Kentsfields were Core 2 Extreme models numbered QX6xx0, while the mainstream ones branded Core 2 Quad were numbered Q6xx0. All of them featured two 4 MB L2 caches. The mainstream 65 nanometer Core 2 Quad Q6600, clocked at 2.4 GHz, was launched on January 8, 2007 at US$851 (reduced to US$530 on April 7, 2007). July 22, 2007 marked the release of the Q6700, and Extreme QX6850 Kentsfields at US$530 and US$999 respectively along with a further price reduction of the Q6600 to US$266.[2] Both Kentsfield and Kentsfield XE use product code 80562.

Kentsfield
Intel Core 2 Quad Kentsfield Q6600
General Info
Launched2006
Discontinued2009
CPUID code06Fx
Product code80562
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate2133 Mhz to 3000 Mhz
FSB speeds1066 MT/s to 1333 MT/s
Cache
L2 cache2x4 MiB
Architecture and classification
ApplicationDesktop, UP Server
MicroarchitectureCore
Instruction setx86-64
Physical specifications
Cores
  • 4
Socket(s)
Products, models, variants
Brand name(s)
  • Core 2 Quad Q6xxx
  • Core 2 Extreme QX6xxx
  • Xeon 32xx

Variants
ProcessorBrand nameModel (list)CoresL2 cacheSocketTDP
Kentsfield Xeon32xx42x4 MiBLGA 77595-105 W
Kentsfield Core 2 QuadQ6xxx42x4 MiBLGA 77595-105 W
Kentsfield XE Core 2 ExtremeQX6xxx42x4 MiBLGA 775130 W

Kentsfield

Analogous to the Pentium D branded CPUs, the Kentsfields comprise two separate silicon dies (each equivalent to a single Core 2 duo) on one MCM.[3] This results in lower costs but lesser share of the bandwidth from each of the CPUs to the northbridge than if the dies were each to sit in separate sockets as is the case for example with the AMD Quad FX platform.[4] Also, as might be predicted from the two-die MCM configuration, the max power consumption (TDP) of the Kentsfield (QX6800 - 130 watts, [5] QX6700 - 130 W, [6] Q6600 - 105 W [7]) has been found to be double that of its similarly clocked Core 2 Duo counterpart.

The multiple cores of the Kentsfield mostly benefits applications that can easily be broken into a small number of parallel threads (such as audio and video transcoding, data compression, video editing, 3D rendering and ray-tracing). To take a specific example, multi-threaded games such as Crysis and Gears of War which must perform multiple simultaneous tasks such as AI, audio and physics benefit from the quad-core CPUs.[8] In such cases, the processing performance may increase relative to that of a single-CPU system by a factor approaching the number of CPUs. This should, however, be considered an upper limit as it presupposes the user-level software is well-threaded. To return to the above example, some tests have demonstrated that Crysis fails to take advantage of more than two cores at any given time.[9] On the other hand, the impact of this issue on broader system performance can be significantly reduced on systems which frequently handle numerous unrelated simultaneous tasks such as multi-user environments or desktops which execute background processes while the user is active. There is still, however, some overhead involved in coordinating execution of multiple processes or threads and scheduling them on multiple CPUs which scales with the number of threads/CPUs. Finally, on the hardware level there exists the possibility of bottlenecks arising from the sharing of memory and/or I/O bandwidth between processors.

Kentsfield XE

The first Kentsfield XE, named Core 2 Extreme QX6700 (product code 80562) and clocked at 2.67 GHz, was released on November 2, 2006, at US$999.[10][11][12][13][14] January 4, 2008, marks its discontinuation.[15] It featured the Kentsfield XE core, and complemented the Core 2 Extreme X6800 dual-core processor based on the Conroe XE core. Like their dual core Extreme predecessors, CPUs with the Kentsfield XE core had unlocked multipliers.

The Core 2 Extreme QX6800 clocked at 2.93 GHz was released on April 8, 2007, at US$1,199. It had a 130 W TDP thermal envelope, and was intended for high end OEM-only systems.[16]

The Core 2 Extreme QX6850 clocked at 3.0 GHz was launched on July 22, 2007, at US$999. It featured a faster 1333 MT/s FSB. Simultaneously, the previously available Extreme QX6700 was reduced in price.

The dual-core desktop version of Kentsfield is Conroe, the server versions of Kentsfield are the dual-processor Clovertown (Xeon 53xx) and the multi-processor Tigerton (Xeon 73xx).

Successor

Kentsfield was subsequently replaced by the 45 nm Yorkfield processor.

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References
  1. "Intel Clovertowns step up, reduce power". TG Daily. Archived from the original on 2007-09-11. Retrieved 2007-09-05.
  2. "Intel Q3's Prices Revealed: 70% off to Intel C2Q Q6600". HKEPC Hardware. Archived from the original on 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  3. "Intel Kentsfield Preview". X-bit labs. Archived from the original on 2006-11-05. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  4. "AMD's Quad FX platform: AMD decides to socket to 'em". The Tech Report. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  5. "Overindulge Yourself with QX6800: Not Your Plain Vanilla System!". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  6. "Intel quad-core QX6700 reaches system builders". TG Daily. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  7. "Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600". Intel Ark. Intel.
  8. "Crysis - Confirmed Runs Best on Quad Core and 64 Bit OS". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
  9. "No Quad Core Scaling in Crysis?". Extreme Tech. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  10. "Intel's Core 2 Extreme QX6700: The Multi-core Era Begins". AnandTech. Retrieved 2006-11-11.
  11. "Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700". Bit-Tech. Archived from the original on 2006-12-15. Retrieved 2006-11-11.
  12. ""Kentsfield" to Debut at 2.66 GHz". DailyTech. Archived from the original on 2006-10-21. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  13. "The Quad Squad". CNET. Retrieved 2006-11-12.
  14. "Intel "Kentsfield" Named Core 2 Quad". DailyTech. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2006-09-29.
  15. "Intel already phasing out first quad-core CPU". TG Daily. Archived from the original on 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
  16. "Overindulge Yourself with QX6800: Not Your Plain Vanilla System!". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  17. "Gracemont". Gracemont - Microarchitectures - Intel. WikiChip.org. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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