BX80562QX6800 - Intel Core2 Quad Extreme QX6800, S775, Kentsfield, 2.93GHz, 1066MHz, 8MB Cache, 11x Ratio, 130W, Ret

There’s been a lot of hype about Intel’s Core 2 recently, even since they launched Core in fact. Words like Conroe, Badaxe and Allendale have been flying around. The bottom line is that Core 2 is the name of Intel’s latest line of CPUs, based on a new micro-architecture, designed for speed and efficiency.

Over the course of the last year or so we’ve seen GHz become less of a focus when it comes to processors. Instead, we’re seeing a shift towards processors that do more work per clock, have larger caches, are more power efficient, and of course we’ve seen dual-core processors hit the market. So what is dual-core all about, and how does it weigh up compared to single-core?

It’s been a long time since MHz were the only part of a CPU’s specification that concerned people. Manufacturers take different approaches to CPU design, even when using the same architecture. That means for example, at the same clock speed, an Intel and AMD processor will deliver different performance.

Intel’s been on a mission of late. That mission revolves around grouping and standardising key technologies under various banners that are designed to ensure hardware compatibility and consumer ease of use. We’ll take a closer look at three such technologies that fall under the headings of Centrino, Viiv, and vPro, respectively.

Intel has plans for a new brand structure that it claims will be less confusing for customers. In this TekSpek we'll take a look at Inte's proposals and speculate on its future line-up of processors.

In the same way that Centrino technology defines Intel’s vision for mobile computing hardware requirements, Intel’s vPro technology platform amalgamates a collection of hardware requirements for better management of a business PC network.

This TekSpek explains why you’d want to overclock your graphics board, the risks in doing so and how you can go about doing it.

What makes a PC tick? Is it the processor, graphics card, RAM, or a plethora of other peripherals. It’s all those and more, but none would be much use without a means of connecting said components in an efficient manner. That’s where your humble motherboard comes in. Its job is to ensure that all devices can communicate correctly, and the beating heart of any motherboard is the chipset it’s based upon.