Do you think the QX9775's price will drop significantly with the 8-core Xeon comming out?

[Liberator21]

I have an Intel D5400XS motherboard and 8Gb Kingston DDR2-6400 that was sort of acquired through trading and what-not, but the QX9775 prices are still a huge barrier for entry for me. I have a case, adequate PSU, and everything else but I can't justify that kind of cost ($1500 at the egg) for so little benefit.

A quick eBay search shows some from $650-$750, do you guys think they are worth that? I mean the price-ranged Xeon equivalent is far less than a 3.2Ghz and 12mb cache, let alone the unlocked multiplier.

And finally, I'm not familiar with Intel Extreme CPU pricing, do they typically drop after a new iteration? If so, do you think they will ever fall below $500?

Unfortunately if I went with a Core i7, it wouldn't be necessary but I wouldn't want to use the larger extended-ATX case and overkill 1KW PSU, so I'd have to factor in a lot of work selling and changing everything over.

 

[RallyMaster]

Intel's Extreme line is uh...never feasible. You might get 200MHz more out of the chip but for 1200 more than the non-Extreme version, I would have to say that's not worth it. Prices on the Extreme line also never drops as a result of new parts coming out. Just get a Q9650 or something, it'd be tons cheaper.

Core i7 does not require an eATX motherboard/case combo and will not necessarily need a 1kW supply. It all depends on what you're picking for the rest of the system.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: Liberator21
And finally, I'm not familiar with Intel Extreme CPU pricing, do they typically drop after a new iteration? If so, do you think they will ever fall below $500?

No they don't. The supply is limited and Intel never changes their official prices for the SKU even after new one's come out.

That's not to say you can't luck out and grab a used/abused one on ebay for a somewhat reasonable price.

But no, Nehalem Xeon's are not going to cause a price drop in C2Q extreme list prices.

 

[Liberator21]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
Intel's Extreme line is uh...never feasible. You might get 200MHz more out of the chip but for 1200 more than the non-Extreme version, I would have to say that's not worth it. Prices on the Extreme line also never drops as a result of new parts coming out. Just get a Q9650 or something, it'd be tons cheaper.

Core i7 does not require an eATX motherboard/case combo and will not necessarily need a 1kW supply. It all depends on what you're picking for the rest of the system.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately in this case, I believe the QX9775 will give me more than 200mhz difference, due solely to the unlocked multiplier. I know it isn't always the case, but the closest I came to the Extreme was a Xeon E5462 yesterday on eBay that went for $400... It's 2.8Ghz, but only has a (detestable) 7x multiplier. Even if the board could go to 500 FSB (it probably can't) it would only be at 3.5Ghz - and that would be extremely lucky.

Anyhow, I really had my heart set on an 8-core 4Ghz machine, but even this late in the Skulltrail game its still extremely cost inefficient.