Intel's 45nm Prices & Performance

[Ghost742]

if i upgrade x3110 ftw 188 bucks is unbeatable

[Vryada]

Wait, so now folks are in a rush. How long did you guys wait for A64, X2 and now Phenom? You skipped Conroe so why should you even care? At least this is worth waiting for and even in April it will be worth it

I didn’t skip intels because of amd (I mean, I wasn’t waiting for some “magic recovery/release”). I was just fine with my rig until recently, when it started to struggle with some new games/apps - especially audio stuff that eats cpu like crazy.

Of course it’s worth the wait, but I gotta keep working with audio (because, basically, that’s my job), and therefore, I need a new rig ASAP.

[Natalia]

I know there was a great deal of speculation over the last several months about whether you could do a Q9450 on a 680i.

What was the verdict. My search results aren't finding anything 'current'

[Vryada]

Well, basically Q9450 is limited by it's low multiplier.

[[XC] hipno650]

so nobody knows when the Q9450 is going to be out? oh man. i have a customer itching to get a new video edit machine and i would love to put a Q9450 in it and overclock it to the moon. (i wonder what a 3.8ghz Q9450 would do for his render time) i would at least like to give him an ETA for the chip. so March or April?

[Vryada]

3rd march, they say.
¿What do I say? Get the first Xeon X3350 you see (less demand, same chip).

[lv_88]

3rd march, they say.
¿What do I say? Get the first Xeon X3350 you see (less demand, same chip).

Oh so these ones are essentially the same? Completely compatible?

[largon]

so nobody knows when the Q9450 is going to be out? oh man. i have a customer itching to get a new video edit machine and i would love to put a Q9450 in it and overclock it to the moon. (i wonder what a 3.8ghz Q9450 would do for his render time (...)

Good luck trying to break the FSB wall. I bet Q9450 (8x333) will have trouble passing 3.4GHz.

[Epsilon84]

Good luck trying to break the FSB wall. I bet Q9450 (8x333) will have trouble passing 3.4GHz.

3.4GHz is 'only' 425FSB. Considering most P35/X38 boards are capable of 450FSB+... I'd say most Q9450s should break 3.4GHz easily. Beyond 3.6GHz, not so easily.

[G80]

overclockers.co.uk have a few wolfdales if anyone is interested.

[Vryada]

Oh so these ones are essentially the same? Completely compatible?

Yep. socket 775 quad cores, 45 nm.

[Roger_D25]

I just picked up a Q9550 (C1) stepping and so far I'm pretty happy with it (despite high price tag that is)! I have only had it since the weekend and because of graduate school I havn't spent as much time as I would like testing and tweaking! With that said however I'm currenlty running at 450Mhz x 8.0x and its fairly stable (HyperPI 32M stable, looping 3DMark06, 3+hrs of Prime95 v25.5, AQ3). The only reason I havn't run Prime for longer is due to high NB and CPU temps, they are right on the edge of being too high for my liking (NB=55C-60C & CPU=55C-59C) stock cooling on my Blitz Extreme except for CPU which is watercooled.

If I decided to keep the Blitz Extreme over my DFI UT P35 (I will keep whatever board likes this chip better and allows for more headroom) I will replace the stock heatpipe and NB waterblock and new heatsinks on everything else. In anycase once I get some more testing data together I'll start a new thread and share my results and hopefully get some pointers!

I got this chip from a member here so I don't know when they will actualy be available for retail sale but I'm always amazed that there isn't a well known release date from Intel, this is a big event, lol! Like many have already posted I heard the beginning of March?

[71 (Bryan)]

where did you get it Roger?
im itching SO BAD for a Q9450

[[XC] hipno650]

Good luck trying to break the FSB wall. I bet Q9450 (8x333) will have trouble passing 3.4GHz.

i don't think so. it will be on water (most likely) and the chipset might be as well. the voltages will be "high" im just waiting for them to come out

[Vryada]

I’ve heard that until older quads are sold out, new ones won’t be massively released. This measure is to prevent losses from the retailers. For example: Q6700s (2.66 ghz, 1066 fsb, and 8 mb cache) prices range from $500 to $550. If Intel gives out Q9450s (2.66 ghz, 1333 fsb, and 12 mb cache) at $315-$360 approximately, Q6700s would have their price’s cut (drastically reducing earnings from the retailer). That would make a chain reaction with all other processors of a similar range, so in order to avoid such disorder, 45nm quads won’t be released in large quantities yet.

I’ve read that the ETA is 24 April, but that’s too far away. I might go for an E8400 instead (that even if it’s hard to get, it’s easier than new quads).

[Start]

I’ve heard that until older quads are sold out, new ones won’t be massively released. This measure is to prevent losses from the retailers. For example: Q6700s (2.66 ghz, 1066 fsb, and 8 mb cache) prices range from $500 to $550. If Intel gives out Q9450s (2.66 ghz, 1333 fsb, and 12 mb cache) at $315-$360 approximately, Q6700s would have their price’s cut (drastically reducing earnings from the retailer). That would make a chain reaction with all other processors of a similar range, so in order to avoid such disorder, 45nm quads won’t be released in large quantities yet.

I’ve read that the ETA is 24 April, but that’s too far away. I might go for an E8400 instead (that even if it’s hard to get, it’s easier than new quads).

Doubt it. Remember E6750 got released when E6600 and E6700 were still on the market? The E6750 undercut both chips while the E6600 and E6700 stayed at the same prices, even to this day.

[TheCarLessDriven]

will a Q9450 45nm fit in my mobo?? (In my sig) or is it a matter of support with the mobo??

[Roger_D25]

AC3421,
The chip will physically fit into your motherboard although I'm not 100% sure that your motherboard offers support for the new 45nm Quad chips though? There is a thread either here or at XS that list the motherboards that offer 45nm support (both dual and quad core Intel chips)? I will keep my eyes open and post a linky if I find it agian). With that said however I believe your motherboard fully supports the new 45nm quads and if it doesn't a simple BIOS update should solve that problem.

[TheCarLessDriven]

AC3421,
The chip will physically fit into your motherboard although I'm not 100% sure that your motherboard offers support for the new 45nm Quad chips though? There is a thread either here or at XS that list the motherboards that offer 45nm support (both dual and quad core Intel chips)? I will keep my eyes open and post a linky if I find it agian). With that said however I believe your motherboard fully supports the new 45nm quads and if it doesn't a simple BIOS update should solve that problem.

Thanks for the input roger.

But I just found this http://www.uabit.com/index.php?optio...ge=3&model=333

Im happy

The Q9450 is superior to the Q6600 correct?? I know its 2.66ghz and 45nm, what else is different?

[Swatrecon_]

Thanks for the input roger.

But I just found this http://www.uabit.com/index.php?optio...ge=3&model=333

Im happy

The Q9450 is superior to the Q6600 correct?? I know its 2.66ghz and 45nm, what else is different?

the instruction pipeline (aka architecture) is different, so it can do more at the same speed with less heat (thanks to 45nm) and less errors.

[Vryada]

Thanks for the input roger.

But I just found this http://www.uabit.com/index.php?optio...ge=3&model=333

Im happy

The Q9450 is superior to the Q6600 correct?? I know its 2.66ghz and 45nm, what else is different?

1333 fsb, 12 mb caché.

[TheCarLessDriven]

the instruction pipeline (aka architecture) is different, so it can do more at the same speed with less heat (thanks to 45nm) and less errors.

1333 fsb, 12 mb caché.

damn, nice! I cant wait to get my hands on this chip. So they are available just not in mass yet, correct?

[Cronos]

1333 fsb, 12 mb caché.

First one is actually a bad thing, only second one is an advantage.

[TheCarLessDriven]

Why is 1333 bad??

[Epsilon84]

Why is 1333 bad??

Because the low multis means you will hit the FSB wall on current chipsets before maxing out the CPU. ~470FSB is about the limit, so that would in turn limit a Q9300 to around ~3.5GHz and Q9450 to ~3.75GHz. Theoretically, without FSB limitations, these chips should be capable of 4GHz+ overclocks, given they are on the 45nm process.