Fall Processor Pricing – Finding the Best Bang for the Buck

[PAGETITLE=Introduction] [Top Ad] It's not too often you'll overhear someone saying, "It's a horrible time to think about purchasing a new processor", because lately, there's not too many occasions where that might be the case. Both AMD and Intel have a good selection of processors available right now, and neither company has any notable releases right around the corner that should halt you from picking up a new model now. But, there's a caveat. If you are someone who doesn't mind throwing half a wallet's worth of bills at a new processor, then Intel's Nehalem is going to be worth waiting for. There's been no official launch date given, but rumors are speculating it will happen between mid-October and early November, so it's something to bear in mind. However, whereas a nice CPU upgrade now will cost you a few hundred dollars at most, Nehalem will undoubtedly cost you more. Intel hasn't made known what Core i7 processor will be released first, but if history is anything to go by, it will be the Extreme Edition, priced at $999. Past that, two more models will be released, the lowest being priced at around $316 per 1,000 units. How long the secondary CPUs will take to launch after the initial EE, or whether or not all three will launch at once, we'll have to wait and see. Besides the CPU itself, though, Core i7 uses a new socket-type, LGA1366, which means you'll need a brand-new motherboard and CPU cooler. Luckily, the new platform sticks with DDR3, so if you have any of that kicking around currently, you should have no problem carrying them on over. As with any brand-new architecture launch, I wouldn't expect any of the launch hardware to be inexpensive, and in the end, upgrading to Nehalem will cost more than just the CPU. Minus the graphic cards, it's almost like building a completely new system. How about getting on with it? Alright, this article isn't about Nehalem, but it's important to bring up since it really is just around the corner. For those who aren't afraid to spend some money, I'd highly recommend holding off on a new CPU purchase, as we've found out in the past many times over that it's more than likely going to be worth the wait. If I said we haven't written "many" buyer's guides in the past, I'd be lying, because we've done none, save for holiday guides. Over the past year, we've had a few requests to begin implementing them, and we thought it would be a good idea to take the requests to heart and see how well-received such articles would be. You can be sure that this will not be the last buyer's guide we do, and we could continue along with other product-types as well, should there be further interest. Our choice for recommended CPUs are based off of our expertise. We stalk new CPU releases, benchmark them the life out of them in our labs and also keep a close eye on pricing, as is evident by our news section. Because of the sheer number of processors available on the market, we don't include all of them here, but rather pick different models are varying price-ranges that seem to make the most sense. We'll cover the low-end, mid-range and high-end, making sure to cover every type of customer out there. We will not be including the extreme low-end, however, such as anything under $100. 'High-End' might be the wrong term to use in this buyer's guide, since neither AMD nor Intel have true high-end products at their disposal. Intel does have a semi-high-end model on the market, but I'll touch base on the next page on why it is not wise right now to go that route. In order to find the best pricing available for each of the processors mentioned within, we took a trip around various e-tailers to compare, beginning with what's likely to be the most popular among enthusiasts, NewEgg. Throughout the guide, many of the prices and model names that are URLs will bring you to our internal Pricegrabber shopping engine, which helps support the site if you choose to use it. We thank you in advance if you do choose to do so. With that all said, let's jump right into our look at current Intel processors on the market, and what we recommend. [PAGEBREAK][PAGETITLE=Intel Processor Pricing] [Top Ad] I mentioned earlier that it's rare to find a bad time to buy a CPU, and luckily for you, that rare time is not right now. The selection is huge, especially on the Intel front. Whether or not you want something completely cheap, or really expensive, the choices are there. Dual-Core, Quad-Core? It's your choice, because regardless of what you choose, you are likely to wind up with a power-efficient, yet powerful CPU. There are a few things to bear in mind though, because lately, the Intel scene has shifted a bit, and if you are not keeping up with things, it's easy to fall prey to a deal that's not really a deal. Whenever Intel releases a new CPU, e-tailers and retailers don't stop selling the old ones. Funny still, some of the older ones even cost more than the new ones. It's ironic, but not uncommon. Take the QX9650 3.0GHz, for example. It was just replaced by the Q9650, a chip that comes in with identical specs, minus the unlocked multiplier. The difference is that the Q9650 costs close to half, as you can see in the chart below. There is -no- difference between the two, except for the multiplier, so as it stands now, the QX9650 is a CPU that should never be considered, unless all you care about is achieving the highest possible overclock, and I doubt many would find that premium to be worthy. On the budget Quad-Core side, we have two great candidates, the 'old-school' Q6600, which comes in at 2.4GHz and also the brand-new Q8200, a member of the 45-nm family. The former chip is one of the first Quad-Cores to come out, so it lacks a few things that 45nm offers, such as the SSE4 instruction set, but it's still one heck of a chip. For the asking price, it's less than $50 a core, so the multi-tasking ability / $ ratio has never been so good. Our Intel Top Picks. Below are two tables, one Quad-Core, the other Dual-Core. All chips listed are models that Intel still includes in their roadmap and have not yet discontinued. Just because some are there, though, doesn't mean they make any real sense to purchase. Even though Intel still prices older 65nm Dual-Cores, they're all priced higher than equivalent 45nm Dual-Cores that are better in every regard. You'll also note that some processors are priced exactly the same, such as the Q9550 and Q9450, and also the E8400 and E8200. It pays to keep a close eye on things. Quad-Core Model Clock Speed FSB Cache TDP $ / 1,000 Core 2 Extreme QX9775 3.20GHz 1600MHz 12MB 150W $1,499 Core 2 Extreme QX9770 3.20GHz 1600MHz 12MB 136W $1,399 Core 2 Extreme QX9650 3.00GHz 1333MHz 12MB 130W $999 Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.00GHz 1333MHz 12MB 95W $530 Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz 1333MHz 12MB 95W $316 Core 2 Quad Q9450 2.66GHz 1333MHz 12MB 95W $316 Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz 1333MHz 6MB 95W $266 Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.50GHz 1333MHz 6MB 95W $266 Core 2 Quad Q9100 2.26GHz 1066MHz 12MB 95W N/A Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz 1333MHz 4MB 95W $224 Core 2 Quad Q6700 2.66GHz 1066MHz 8MB 95W $266 Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.40GHz 1066MHz 8MB 95W $193 In both sets of graphs, you'll notice a few of the models are actually URLs. Clicking those will lead you straight to our review to that particular model. Dual-Core Model Clock Speed FSB Cache TDP $ / 1,000 Core 2 Duo E8600 3.33GHz 1333MHz 6MB 65W $266 Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz 1333MHz 6MB 65W $183 Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz 1333MHz 6MB 65W $163 Core 2 Duo E8300 2.83GHz 1333MHz 6MB 65W $163 Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66MHz 1333MHz 6MB 65W $163 Core 2 Duo E7300 2.66GHz 1066MHz 3MB 65W $133 Core 2 Duo E7200 2.53GHz 1066MHz 3MB 65W $113 Core 2 Duo E4700 2.60GHz 800MHz 2MB 65W $133 Core 2 Duo E4600 2.40MHz 800MHz 2MB 65W $113 Core 2 Duo E4500 2.20GHZ 800MHz 2MB 65W $113 Because Intel has so many different models hanging around, it can be a tough chore picking one out. You first need to know whether or not you want a Quad-Core or Dual-Core. To purchase a Quad-Core would be future-proofing your PC to an extent, since newer games are beginning to support multi-threading. Aside from that, Quad-Cores open up better multi-tasking capabilities, as long as the rest of your system matches (4GB+ of RAM, fast hard drives). It becomes especially beneficial if you use multi-threaded multimedia applications, like video encoders and the like, since the speedups can be huge. Still, with the advent of Quad-Cores, Dual-Cores still have their place for those who value raw speed over multi-threading. If you simply don't need huge multi-tasking capabilities or require the use of multi-threading in many of your applications, the raw speed of a Dual-Core probably will offer more benefit. Dual-Cores by nature are faster than their Quad-Core big brothers, but cost far less, understandably. "The Big Spender" If you have money to spend, your only option is a Quad-Core. What you'll get will be a blazing fast piece of silicon that offers great multi-tasking capability and huge benefits with your threaded applications. Unless you are looking to build a full-blown Skulltrail machine, the best choice for the big spender would of course be the Q9650, which features identical specs to the much-more-expensive QX9650, which was released last fall. It features a 3.0GHz clock speed, 12MB of L2 cache and everything else that makes 45nm CPUs so great, most notably the SSE4 instruction set, which really makes a difference in video encoding apps if you are using one that can take advantage. For those with a little more modest outlook, the best mid-range offering would have to be the Q9550. This chip was released not long ago, and at 2.83GHz, it's almost as fast as the Q9650, but costs a few hundred dollars less. Like the bigger model, it also features 12MB of L2 cache, so really, you are not missing much... just the 170MHz (ahem, which could be gained back with 'overclocking', quite easily). If you want all the best of what Yorkfields offer...

Fall Processor Pricing – Finding the Best Bang for the Buck

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Rob Williams