Intel slashes Core 2 Quad prices by 50%

Posted at: 4:03am 23rd April 2008 by Ben Hardwidge

Core 2 Quad Q6700 price cut by a massive 50 per cent, and other CPUs get a slight price cut too

In what could be seen as a response to the release of AMD’s cheaper Phenom X3 CPUs to retailers, Intel has just slashed the price of some of its cheaper CPUs by up to 50 per cent.

The biggest drop in price can be seen on the Core 2 Quad Q6700, which previously cost well over £300. However, after the price cut, the 2.66GHz chip can now be yours for just £175.65 inc VAT. As well as this, the price of the ludicrously cheap Q6600 has also dropped slightly, and can now be picked up for just £135 inc VAT.

Considering that the Q6700’s clock speed and cache setup are identical to those of the original Core 2 Extreme QX6700, this is an absolute bargain for a chip that would have set you back around £600 not too long ago. In fact, Scan is still selling the QX6700 for £540.49 inc VAT.

The price cuts have been officially implemented on orders of 1,000 processors, with Intel cutting the price of Q6600s by 16 per cent from $266 US to $224, while the Q6700 went from $530 US to $266 – a huge cut of 50 per cent. As well as this, the Core 2 Duo E6850 has also had its price cut by 31 per cent, and the cheaper E2180 and E2200 Pentium Dual-Core chips have also had a small drop in price of 12 and 14 per cent respectively.

In an interview with ComputerWorld, an Intel spokesperson, Patrick Ward, said that the price cuts were because Intel wanted to flush out its 65nm Kentsfield cores in favour of the new 45nm Penryn chips. ‘We're transitioning from 65nm to 45nm,’ said Ward. ‘We're in the process of refreshing our line. If you see a 65nm [chip], it's older technology and we're moving on from it.’

Older technology or not, the new prices are extremely good for Core 2 Quad CPUs, particularly when you consider how far you can overclock the G0-stepping Q6600. The Q6700 also features the G0 stepping, so it’s likely to be extremely overclockable too.

Are these price cuts going to make it harder for AMD to sell its X3 Phenom CPUs? Would having a 65nm CPU bother you because it’s not the latest technology? Let us know your thoughts.