Where To Find A Quad-Core Bargain (And Which Intel Processor Is Selling For More Than List)

Here's a strange, but understandable, example of free-market capitalism at work in the market for hot chips. Intel instituted deep price cuts on many of its processors on July 22, the better to stoke demand and squeeze AMD. However, Intel's top-of-the-line Core 2 Extreme QX6850 is now so popular that it's actually selling for a price well above the company's list. At the same time, one big quad-core bargain has emerged.Let's take the gilt-edged stuff first: The Core 2 Extreme QX6850 debuted in July, right around the time Intel released a wide-ranging list of processor price cuts. The cuts, which took effect on July 22, pegged the QX6850's price at $999. (Since the QX6850 is new, there really was no published price prior to July 22, but that's a minor detail.)

I should add that the $999 price is for each processor when purchased in OEM quantities of 1,000 chips or more. This is how PC manufacturers buy, in bulk. The retail carriage that resellers and individual system builders pay is typically not specified. It's set by the market, and usually it's higher, but not by much.

On July 22, when I posted my Quad-Core Processor Buyer's Guide, I couldn't find any retail availability of the QX6850. I assumed this was because it was so new. (I did find a couple of copies on Ebay, selling for around $1,200 apiece.)

Now, checking back, the QX6850 is finally available through retail channels, most notably through Newegg and TigerDirect, two of the three online vendors that individual builders rely heavily on. (The other one is Frys.com.)

However, it ain't cheap: The QX6850 costs $1,200 at TigerDirect, and a whopping $1,300 at Newegg. (It's not available at Frys.)

Intel's own "Where to Buy" page hasn't yet been updated to include the QX6850 on the drop-down selection menu, so I can't tell you which retail vendors Intel is sending people to. (None, I guess, until it updates the page.)

The Best Deal

Interestingly, the next chip down in Intel's quad family, the QX6700, is also selling for a surprisingly expensive price, though one that's pretty close to the July 22 list price of $999. It's available for $975 at Newegg and $1,060 at Tiger.

However, the QX6700 is kind of the odd-quad-out, in that it's something of an "orphan" chip, because (while Intel has made no official comment on the matter) most of us think it'll be sold until supplies run out, and then it'll be replaced by the Core 2 Quad Q6700. (Note that the difference is there's no "X" in the part number.) The Q6700 lists for $530, and sells for $600 at TigerDirect and $580 at Newegg.

Don't like such top-tier pricing? You say you want a real bargain? Then the Core 2 Quad 6600 is for you. It's got a 2.4-GHz clock, which is nothing to sneer at, even though that's not quite as impressive as the 3.0-GHz of the QX6850. However, the Q6600, which lists for $266, is priced at only $290 at TigerDirect, and $310 at Newegg. With many dual-core chips selling for more than that, the time may indeed be ripe to go quad.