Intel Core 2 Q6600 G0 Stepping: Cheap Quad Core Just Got Better
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 16, 2007 11:53 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Power Consumption: A Cooler SLACR?
We know from Intel's own documentation that G0 cores draw less power at idle than their B3 predecessors. In the C1E power state the G0 Q6600 is supposed to dissipate 24W compared to 50W of its B3 predecessor. On paper the savings are dramatic, but keep in mind that a processor doesn't spend all of its time in C1E - so how does G0 stack up in the real world?
In order to find out we looked at total system power consumption in two situations: idle and when running our Windows Media Encoder 9 test, a fairly CPU intensive benchmark. We measured average power consumption over the course of the test.
At idle, G0 draws 5.6 fewer watts, a reduction of just over 3%. Nothing terribly impressive, but let's look at results under load:
The G0 advantage grows to 10.5W under load, or an advantage of just under 5%. This alone isn't reason to upgrade, but lower power consumption is far from a bad thing. Does the new G0 stepping translate into better overclocking potential given its lower power consumption?
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strikeback03 - Friday, August 17, 2007 - link
...that Newegg shipped me a pair of the B3 stepping ones in the box I opened this morning.Does anyone actually sell these for $266? Cheapest I found seemed to be around $285.
Roy2001 - Friday, August 17, 2007 - link
$266 is price for 1000 units. Since demand is high and there is no competition, retailers would price it higher. Remember how much egg wanted when they restock it? From $299 to $379.ruusnak - Friday, August 17, 2007 - link
Did you measure temperature differences under load? Even when the new stepping draws more power, the Intel spec sheet's temp curves are quite different... does G0 run hotter or cooler in practice?ruusnak - Friday, August 17, 2007 - link
I meant "even if the new stepping draws less power" of course...jay401 - Thursday, August 16, 2007 - link
What's this Intel Resource Center that's now a link at the bottom of the conclusion page next to "Home"? I don't see an AMD Resource Center at the bottom of the concluding page of AMD articles.vijay333 - Thursday, August 16, 2007 - link
Intel ponied up the cash : "This site is presented by Intel" (right on top), while AMD chose not to for some reason...mostlyprudent - Friday, August 17, 2007 - link
Or, it could have something to do with the fact that it's an article about a new stepping of an INTEL chip. This site is so pro Intel that they spent a year or more recommending Athlon X2s as the chips to buy. Must have been a conspiracy so that when the Core 2 was released they could show their true colors.vijay333 - Thursday, August 16, 2007 - link
probably deprecated due to lack of activity...jto168 - Thursday, August 16, 2007 - link
Anand,Is it possible for you to state which Batch # the B3 stepping came from?
I have found that many users with earlier Batches of B3 have found it difficult to overclock it successfully as the thermal throttling usually backs the multiplier down.
brentpresley - Thursday, August 16, 2007 - link
For the record - C2D never shipped on the B1 stepping (it was only available in ES chips). The first OEM and Retail silicon was the B2 stepping.