Relentless
Intel has launched seven new 45nm processors today, including the Q9650, which will head-up its quad core range (not including the extreme series).
It has been introduced at the same price point as the previous top quad core. The Q9550 used to cost $530 but has seen that price axed by 40 percent to $316.
The $530 Q9650 appears to be the first mainstream quad core CPU to clock at 3.0 GHz, with the Q9550 clocking at 2.83 GHz. The price compares favourably to the QX9650, which has identical clock speed, L2 cache and FSB figures, but costs $999.
An analogous launch and price drop has happened in the Xeon server CPU range, with the 3 GHz X3370 coming in at $530 and the X3360 dropping by 40 percent from $530 to $316.
The five other new CPUs are as follows, with Q signifiying quad, E dual core and X quad Xeon. Apparently the last E is also a Xeon :
Q9400: 6M L2 cache, 2.66 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB, $266
E8600: 6M L2 cache, 3.33 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB, $266
E7300: 3M L2 cache, 2.66 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, $133
X3330: 6M L2 cache, 2.66 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB, $266
E3120: 6M L2 cache, 3.16 GHz, 1333 MHz FSB, $188
The Q9550 now costs the same as the 2.66 GHz Q9450, while the Q9400 costs the same as the 2.5 GHz Q9300 and 65nm Q6700. Intel now has no less than four desktop processors priced at $266 so we can probably expect at least one to drop off the list soon.