Product Reviews

It's been just over a year since we reviewed Intel's first incarnation of its Core 2 Duo processor range. The Core 2 Duo E6750 is the latest update. It is part of the Conroe family, like the previous desktop models, and has the same 2.66GHz core speed as its predecessor, the Core 2 Duo E6700.

However, while the previous generation of chips ran with a frontside bus (FSB) of 1,066MHz, the E6750 runs with a 1,333MHz FSB. You'll need a motherboard that supports this increased speed, including any Intel P35-based motherboard, such as Asus's P5K/WiFi-AP.

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The increased bus helps speed up communication between the processor and other system components, such as memory. It's particularly important with the launch of DDR3, as the Core 2 Duo E6750 can run 1,333MHz memory at full bandwidth.

Other than the FSB increase, the Core 2 Duo E6750 is no different to the previous generation of processors. It has the same 4MB of shared L2 cache, 14-step pipeline and Smart memory access, so data can be loaded into the cache before it's needed. Impressively, the E6750 still has the same 65W Thermal Design Power (TDP), so it runs really cool.

With the FSB being the main change, then, the E6750 is a touch faster than the E6700, so it's still an amazingly fast processor. The astonishing thing is the price: the E6750 is £77 cheaper than the E6700 and only £21 more expensive than the E6320.

The only slightly disappointing thing is that it needs a new motherboard, so overall it will work out marginally cheaper for upgraders with older LGA775 motherboards to buy the E6700. For anyone building a new PC, though, the E6750 has it all: performance and a price that screams "buy me".