Intel's Q-Series Quads: Inexpensive, but Hard to Find

Intel has started shipping units of its Q-series quad-core processors, after a long trench of delays. Initially announced for early January this year, the chip manufacturer delayed their introduction a couple of times.

The company finally started shipping its 45-nanometer Q-series of mainstream-oriented chips, but their availability is currently limited to PC vendors and system integrators only. Recent reports claim that the Q9550, Q9450, and Q9300 Core 2 Quad processors are now available upon purchasing a new computer from top-tier retailers such as Alienware and Velocity Micro.

The few units that made it to the retail market have been immediately sold out, and resellers such as Buy.com and Computers4sure have no units of the three processors currently available in their stock.

"We are really seeing high demand on these parts, and we are filling orders as fast as we can," claimed one of Intel's spokespersons. He also stated that the processors have just been launched earlier this week, and the CPU manufacturer will send new batches to the market in a short period.

Unlike the Q-Extreme counterparts, the Q processors are targeted at the mid-range market, and they come with more affordable prices. Of course, their performance is scaled accordingly, with lower clock speeds and front-side bus (FSB) speeds. The thermal design power is also lower than in the Q-Extreme chips, that come branded with the "QX-" prefix to complete the processor model.

The Q9550 comes with a core clock speed of 2.83GHz, 12MB of L2 cache and a front speed bus of 1333 MHz. If you are that lucky to find available units, you will have to pay around $530. The Q9450 features an internal clock of 2.66GHz, while the other specifications are identical to its faster sibling. The chip retails for $316. Last and least, the lowest offering in the Q-series is the Q9300 chip, that sports a clock speed of 2.50 GHz. It comes with only 6 MB of L2 cache and a price tag of $266.