Performance on the QX9770 was exemplary, easily the fastest CPU or system I have ever tested with the exception being the dual QX9775 SkullTrail system which is faster, but of course that is with two CPUs that are virtually identical to the single QX9770 here. The QX9770 easily beats the Phenom X4 9850 CPU, but the two CPUs are in completely different price leagues and not a fair comparison as the person wanting a QX9770 will not likely look at an AMD CPU for their high-end computer. The extra L2 cache really shines in applications and games. As our main video gaming test CPU, the QX9770 when combined with a high end dual card like the 9800GX2 or HD3870X2.

If you are looking for the fastest CPU for the home market and not willing to spend the $6000 a Skulltrail system would run you, this is it. The combination of a nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard or Intel X48 motherboard along with two HD3870X2 cards or two NVIDIA 9800GX2 cards are the fastest available gaming platforms on the market today depending on whether you want to use the multiple NVIDIA or multiple ATI cards. Until NVIDIA and ATI release their next generation of video cards, the GT200 and RV770 series in the upcoming weeks, these will be the definitive gaming platforms for the market. I think it’s kind of ironic that Intel’s main rival AMD builds graphics cards that can be Cross-fired but NVIDIA won’t let Intel use SLI.