I dont understand how the Intel Extreme processors cost $1000, are they 5 times faster than the core 2 duos?

Answer 1

Ok, they are already overclocked, and if you are a serious gamer, that is a plus and a half!

Answer 2

Well like anything you pay a premium for performance.

Cost is not directly proportional to Performance, its often exponentially proportional!! The main difference with the processors is the clock speed and the increased L2 cache. Also the clock multiplier is unlocked allowing people to overclock the processor to gain even more performance out of it. (with the right cooling!)

Answer 3

It's part of Intel's marketing game- premium price for a premium positioned product. Perhaps like a Lincoln Navigator vs an Expedition or a Lexus 4x4 SUV vs a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Just4ivaylo is also right. Look at what my idols did w/ their E6600:
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=166676
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=137093
http://valid.x86-secret.com/show_oc?id=168130

Answer 4

goorkon is wrong. they arent overclocked. they are unlocked so u can overclock them though. the multiplier is unlocked which is much better for overclocking than just raising the fsb. a processor would run more stable @ 14x250fsb than 8x437.5fsb

Answer 5

The E6600 is the "sweet spot". It's a great price, and you can overclock(very, very, very easy to do) them to more than 3 GHz on air EASILY. Plus, they are $700 cheaper. :)

Answer 6

More like 10-20% faster (according to program).
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html
Not really worth it unless running programs (NOT games) that use all of the cpu resources (speed) and have to have the speed. Gaming it's the video card that will be the most important. http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html