In case you have missed our comments in our latest Intel processor reviews and motherboards that make use of the latest Intel chipsets, it's been clear to us since late last year that the company is slowing down a bit, after keeping up with an aggressive launch schedule for 2-3 years and also given the pale competition AMD is putting up these days.
You may recall, back in January, we were supposed to get 45nm Core 2 Quad processors that would have eventually replaced the almighty Q6600 and company. But well, that obviously did not happen and it's just now that we begin to see hints of Intel unleashing these products that they've had ready to ship for sometime now. For example, Tech Report spotted this week an OEM Core 2 Quad Q9300 selling on Newegg for $299.99. This is $35 above the list pricing for the 2.5GHz Yorkfield processor that brings a host of enhancements like 6MB of L2 cache and a 1333MHz front-side bus over the Kentsfield 65nm design. We have no doubt the new Core 2 Quad Q9000s will quickly join the A-list of CPUs to own, especially with the right pricing.