According to the chipmaker's latest price list, the
Core 2 Quad Q8200
costs $224 in volume quantities and packs four 2.33GHz cores, 4MB of L2
cache, and a 1333MHz front-side bus. Those specs make the Q8200 akin to the $190
Core 2 Quad Q6600, but I'd wager the Q8200's 45nm process yields lower power
consumption. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether that's worth the
(relatively hefty) premium. Either way, Newegg already sells
the Q8200 for $229.99 shipped. Two other CPUs have shared the Q8200's ride
into Intel's price list. The Core 2 Duo E5200 isn't up on Newegg yet, but it
delivers two 2.5GHz cores, 2MB of L2 cache, and an 800MHz FSB for only $84-and
Intel builds it using 45nm process technology. Penny-pinchers might also like
the $53 Celeron D 450, whose lone 65nm core runs at 2.2GHz and includes 512KB of
L2 cache. The E5200 looks like a much sweeter bargain for overclockers, though.
