Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 vs Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)

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CPU comparison with benchmarks


Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 CPU1 vs CPU2 Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)

CPU comparison

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 or Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) - which processor is faster? In this comparison we look at the differences and analyze which of these two CPUs is better. We compare the technical data and benchmark results.

The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 has 4 cores with 4 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 2.93 GHz. Up to 16 GB of memory is supported in 2 memory channels. The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 was released in Q2/2007.

The Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) has 10 cores with 10 threads and clocks with a maximum frequency of 3.20 GHz. The CPU supports up to 64 GB of memory in 4 memory channels. The Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) was released in Q3/2021.
Intel Core2 Extreme (7) Family Apple M series (23)
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6000 (3) CPU group Apple M1 (9)
1 Generation 1
Kentsfield (Core) Architecture M1
Desktop / Server Segment Mobile
-- Predecessor --
-- Successor Apple M2 Max (38-GPU)

CPU Cores and Base Frequency

The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 is a 4 core processor with a clock frequency of 2.93 GHz. The Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) has 10 CPU cores with a clock frequency of 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz).

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Characteristic Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
4 Cores 10
4 Threads 10
normal Core architecture hybrid (big.LITTLE)
No Hyperthreading No
Yes Overclocking ? No
2.93 GHz A-Core 0.60 GHz (3.20 GHz)
8x Firestorm
-- B-Core 0.60 GHz (2.06 GHz)
2x Icestorm

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. Algorithms for ML improve their performance the more data they have collected via software. ML tasks can be processed up to 10,000 times faster than with a classic processor.

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Characteristic Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
-- AI hardware Apple Neural Engine
-- AI specifications 16 Neural cores @ 11 TOPS

Internal Graphics

The integrated graphics unit of a processor is not only responsible for the pure image output on the system, but can also significantly increase the efficiency of the system with the support of modern video codecs.

no iGPU GPU Apple M1 Max (32 Core)
GPU frequency 0.39 GHz
-- GPU (Turbo) 1.30 GHz
-- GPU Generation 1
Technology 5 nm
Max. displays 5
-- Compute units 512
-- Shader 4096
No Hardware Raytracing No
No Frame Generation No
-- Max. GPU Memory 32 GB
-- DirectX Version --

Hardware codec support

A photo or video codec that is accelerated in hardware can greatly accelerate the working speed of a processor and extend the battery life of notebooks or smartphones when playing videos.

no iGPU GPU Apple M1 Max (32 Core)
No Codec h265 / HEVC (8 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h265 / HEVC (10 bit) Decode / Encode
No Codec h264 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP9 Decode / Encode
No Codec VP8 Decode
No Codec AV1 No
No Codec AVC Decode
No Codec VC-1 Decode
No Codec JPEG Decode / Encode

Memory & PCIe

The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 supports a maximum of 16 GB of memory in 2 memory channels. The Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) can connect up to 64 GB of memory in 4 memory channels.

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Characteristic Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
DDR3-1066, DDR2-800 Memory LPDDR5-6400
16 GB Max. Memory 64 GB
2 (Dual Channel) Memory channels 4 (Quad Channel)
17.1 GB/s Max. Bandwidth 409.6 GB/s
No ECC No
8.00 MB L2 Cache 28.00 MB
-- L3 Cache --
-- PCIe version 4.0
-- PCIe lanes --
-- PCIe Bandwidth --

Thermal Management

The TDP (Thermal Design Power) of a processor specifies the required cooling solution. The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 has a TDP of 130 W, that of the Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) is 45 W.

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Characteristic Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
130 W TDP (PL1 / PBP) 45 W
-- TDP (PL2) --
-- TDP up --
-- TDP down --
-- Tjunction max. --

Technical details

The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 has a 8.00 MB cache, while the Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) cache has a total of 28.00 MB.

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Characteristic Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
65 nm Technology 5 nm
Monolithic Chip design Chiplet
x86-64 (64 bit) Instruction set (ISA) Armv8.5-A (64 bit)
MMX, SSE2, SSE3 ISA extensions Rosetta 2 x86-Emulation
LGA 775 Socket --
VT-x Virtualization Apple Virtualization Framework
No AES-NI Yes
Windows 10, Linux Operating systems macOS
Q2/2007 Release date Q3/2021
-- Release price --
show more data show more data


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Average performance in benchmarks

⌀ Single core performance in 1 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 (23%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) (100%)
⌀ Multi core performance in 2 CPU benchmarks
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 (10%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
403 (23%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
1783 (100%)

Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 5 is a cross plattform benchmark that heavily uses the systems memory. A fast memory will push the result a lot. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
1321 (10%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
12693 (100%)

Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

Some of the CPUs listed below have been benchmarked by CPU-monkey. However the majority of CPUs have not been tested and the results have been estimated by a CPU-monkey’s secret proprietary formula. As such they do not accurately reflect the actual Passmark CPU mark values and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
2258 (10%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
22255 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)

The Cinebench 2024 benchmark is based on the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxon's 3D program Cinema 4D. The benchmark runs are each 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
112 (100%)

Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

The Multi-Core test of the Cinebench 2024 benchmark uses all cpu cores to render using the Redshift rendering engine, which is also used in Maxons Cinema 4D. The benchmark run is 10 minutes long to test whether the processor is limited by its heat generation.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
796 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Single-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The single-core test only uses one CPU core, the amount of cores or hyperthreading ability doesn't count.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
1534 (100%)

Cinebench R23 (Multi-Core)

Cinebench R23 is the successor of Cinebench R20 and is also based on the Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is a worldwide used software to create 3D forms. The multi-core test involves all CPU cores and taks a big advantage of hyperthreading.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
12402 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The single-core benchmark only evaluates the performance of the fastest CPU core, the number of CPU cores in a processor is irrelevant here.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
2397 (100%)

Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)

Geekbench 6 is a benchmark for modern computers, notebooks and smartphones. What is new is an optimized utilization of newer CPU architectures, e.g. based on the big.LITTLE concept and combining CPU cores of different sizes. The multi-core benchmark evaluates the performance of all of the processor's CPU cores. Virtual thread improvements such as AMD SMT or Intel's Hyper-Threading have a positive impact on the benchmark result.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
12439 (100%)

iGPU - FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

The theoretical computing performance of the internal graphics unit of the processor with simple accuracy (32 bit) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS indicates how many billion floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
@ 0.00 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
Apple M1 Max (32 Core) @ 1.30 GHz
10600 (100%)

Blender 3.1 Benchmark

In the Blender Benchmark 3.1, the scenes "monster", "junkshop" and "classroom" are rendered and the time required by the system is measured. In our benchmark we test the CPU and not the graphics card. Blender 3.1 was presented as a standalone version in March 2022.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 3.20 GHz
192 (100%)

CPU performance per watt (efficiency)

Efficiency of the processor under full load in the Cinebench R23 (multi-core) benchmark. The benchmark result is divided by the average energy required (CPU package power in watts). The higher the value, the more efficient the CPU is under full load.
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
12,402 CB R23 MC @ 45 W
275 (100%)

Performance for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

Processors with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can process many calculations, especially audio, image and video processing, much faster than classic processors. The performance is given in the number (trillions) of arithmetic operations per second (TOPS).
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800
4C 4T @ 2.93 GHz
0 (0%)
Apple M1 Max (32-GPU) Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
10C 10T @ 0.60 GHz
11 (100%)

Devices using this processor

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)
Unknown Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2021)
Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021)

News and articles for the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800 and the Apple M1 Max (32-GPU)


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