I knew this would happen to the Q6600...

[MOUSY]

Some of you may remember my concerns about the price of the Q6600 at Newegg, in my recent "FSX and Quad Cores" post in the FSX section. Some of you may also know that the Newegg's prices vary grossly from day-to-day, particularly on processors. Let me say early that I by no means complaining about this company... but.... darn.... I knew this was going to happen...

Pre-July - the Q6600's price not-quite-steadily falls and most people expect about $266 by July 22nd... Nick and others recently assured us that this was somewhat bogus and the price would be closer to about $290.

July 21st - Newegg's prices fall to $299 (cheapest anywhere that day) and as Nick predicted, that was the price cut a day earlier than most expected.

July 22nd - Q6600s go out of stock faster than you can type in your credit card number.

July 23rd - Newegg had auto-notified me at 1:51 pm local time that the Quads were back in stock. Within 2 hours... you guessed right... they were BACK out of stock... BUT
The REAL kicker is... the price is back up to $345... :-/

I just had that gut feeling that Newegg's fluctuating prices on processors was going to come and bite my wallet on the a** when least expected... I don't know how long I can wait for it to fall below 300 again, cause believe it or not, that mere $45 is breaking my bank.

Thanks for listening to my rant and rave. I'm done.  :P

[Nick N]

relax mouse

Intel is replacing the old stock Q6600 with a new G0 stepping slug that will run cooler, clock better and has a much higher thermal shutdown spec, anyway

Give it a few days

you will get the new and improved model at the cheaper price. Any retailer is going to play with numbers. Once they get restocked it will stabilize because Intel wont let them jack the price on the replacements

http://intel.pcnalert.com/content/eolpc ... 463-00.pdf

There will be plenty to go around



Date of Qualification Data Availability: July 13, 2007
Date of First Availability of Post-Conversion Material: July 16, 2007
Date Customer Must be Ready to Receive Post-Conversion Material: July 27, 2007 <---- newegg and everyone else must take delivery by this date or they dont get the goods

I know newegg well enough to know they already have them. They can do anything they want with the price on old stock but they must abide by Intel on the new once the old is gone. Newegg will buy old stock from another distributor so they can play with the price but once all their sources are gone and dried up, they will post the new stock and price


relax

[john_uk]

im now considering a quad core,

[MOUSY]

Relaxing... impatiently waiting... but relaxing...

[Nick N]

Its like this

If it was that important you should have hit the BUY NOW button as soon as you showed me the price drop because I told you that was the lowest price.

If you snooze, you loose

It's just like concert tickets... you want be in the front row center? You best camp out in line and make sure you have the coin and are ready to buy as soon as that window opens

but in this case you will get more than you would have

[Triple_7]

Could just give it a week or so and wait.  I'm after the new E6850 but have watched Newegg change the price 4 times sense 4 PM.  Saw it at $325, then $345, then back down to $335, now its sitting at $345.  Considering the release price from Intel is $266 theres been quite a markup on them.  I wouldn't be in to big of a hurry.  Cant order mine till at least the middle of next week anyways.  But even if the money was there its better to wait till the market slows down just a tad then go after the hot items :-/  Who knows in a week the price could drop $75+ bucks or still be changing...wont kill to wait a few extra days.

[Dan Brown]

$289 on tiger direct as of 10am Central..... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=2758

I planning on going with this chip over the E6600 or the E6850, but I'm making this a 3-4 month build so I have time. Ideally I'd like to try to snag one very cheap once the new line of processors hits that people talk about in the fall. I don't need the latests and greatest, just trying to get the most out of my $1K build.

[MOUSY]

Up: Fabulous Price!!!
Down: OEM...

[Dan Brown]

Can anyone explain the OEM vs. Retail thing to me? I'm new to this and don't want to make a foolish purchase. Is it just the fact that it doesn't come with a fan? I was planning on going with an aftermarket fan anyway.

[HugoCampos]

Gosh, I wish I still lived in the US. Here the Q6600 costs at least 270 EUR which is 372 USD but most stores are selling it for 290 EUR or 300 something EUR.  :'(

[MOUSY]

Can anyone explain the OEM vs. Retail thing to me? I'm new to this and don't want to make a foolish purchase. Is it just the fact that it doesn't come with a fan? I was planning on going with an aftermarket fan anyway.

OEM basically means an open box purchase. It has been opened and returned by a previous customer, tested and put back in stock for reselling. Hence since it's not "new" per se, but still working fine, the price is discounted. In addition, it often does not come with any other components that may be needed for proper functioning and is not packaged like retail items. In this case you'll get JUST the processor shown. No heat sink, no fans, no clips, nothing...
Great way to buy if you're on a limited budget, but you don't get the 100% guarantee or anything like that...

[Politically Incorrect]

Can anyone explain the OEM vs. Retail thing to me? I'm new to this and don't want to make a foolish purchase. Is it just the fact that it doesn't come with a fan? I was planning on going with an aftermarket fan anyway.

OEM basically means an open box purchase. It has been opened and returned by a previous customer, tested and put back in stock for reselling. Hence since it's not "new" per se, but still working fine, the price is discounted. In addition, it often does not come with any other components that may be needed for proper functioning and is not packaged like retail items. In this case you'll get JUST the processor shown. No heat sink, no fans, no clips, nothing...
Great way to buy if you're on a limited budget, but you don't get the 100% guarantee or anything like that...

No that is not what OEM is.

OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacture.
This would be one company making the product or component then allowing another company such as Dell to use it in their product or market it  as their own. Often times OEM hardware will ship unboxed and without all the accessories/ cables as a retail version is this is why you can get great savings on it.

When pertaining to software it is usually software that would otherwise be packaged with hardware or components, sometimes not the full version of the software but limited version than what the retail software may be.

Most OEM items still carry the original manufacturers warranty.

What you describe is "used" or "refurbished"

[MOUSY]

I stand Politically Corrected...

[Nick N]

There is a difference between "OPEN BOX" and OEM and/or TRAY stock

Open box typically means it was either a damaged box, or it was a returned item that they claim is fine.

OEM is as PI said Original Equipment Manufacture

Tray Stock is usually the CPU's that Intel or AMD sell wholesale and without the box or HSF. Those are typically sold to OEM computer makers such as Dell or HP, or who ever orders them in quantity

Just because a CPU comes from tray stock without the box or HSF does not mean it is a 'second', dud, poor quality, it just means it was purchased in bulk at a bulk price much cheaper than the boxed CPUs and some retailers will not warranty them, it depends on where you get them from.

Newegg sells all 3. You have to look at the description carefully. Sometimes their genius website writer calls a tray stock CPU, open box. I personally would not buy one like that unless I was really strapped for cash simply because it will not carry the Intel or AMD warrantee of 1 year+ and is only replaced by the seller.

[GuitarFreak]

I'm debating whether to get the q6600 or e6850 and wait til christmas to get the penryn quad cores when they come out...