Intel to Phase Out its Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor Next Year

[malware]

DigiTimes reports that Intel is to phase out its most beloved 65nm 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor in the first quarter of 2009.

Intel is planning to start phasing out the 65nm Core 2 Quad Q6600 in the first quarter of 2009, prompting several PC and channel vendors to start planning to cut Q6600-product prices to clear their inventory before the end of this year, according to sources at PC vendors.
Intel will issue a product discontinuance notice for the Q6600 in the first quarter next year, and call end-of-lifecycle in the second quarter.
Acer has reduced pricing for its Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600-based desktops to below NT$13,900 (US$418) for the IT Month consumer show in the Taiwan market, and other vendors are expected to follow suit.

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[RadeonX2]

sad news but all things should put to end once in a while.Q6600 will be the greatest chip I had, OC'ed well.

 

[ShadowFold]

I don't think they are necessary anymore with the E7000's and E8000's.

 

[xu^]

great ,hopefully might be able to pick 1 up cheap

 

[Bundy]

sad news but all things should put to end once in a while.Q6600 will be the greatest chip I had, OC'ed well.

Agree, sad day. This processor has really pumped the quad market and has proven to be one of the stars in the core2 lineup. With such widespead use of Q6600, many software writers can now justify programming to use multi cores, much to all our future benefit.

 

[WhiteLotus]

Sweet may as well pick one of these up if they are going to be sold off cheap. I don't really understand why though, if they stop they are pretty much going to be handing a market of a decent quad core over to AMD.

 

[EarlZ]

So i still have 2 years warranty left on my Q6600 this coming jan, if it breaks what would intel ive me as a replacement ?

 

[WhiteLotus]

IF that happens they may just send you a slightly higher quad, or an insane dualie. They could be replacing it with sometime alltogether though. Although if they are, they are keeping that pretty secret. It could be a move to force people off to the higher, more expensive end.

 

[Mussels]

bye bye q6600!

my two are still going strong despite their age.

 

[pentastar111]

Q6600....One of the best bangs for the buck out there!! I got one and I love it...They could sell it for another year and it would still be a good buy......

 

[Rey17]

So i still have 2 years warranty left on my Q6600 this coming jan, if it breaks what would intel ive me as a replacement ?

if you really want to know.... well i do.... you should try calling them (if they have number or something) and ask tell them about ur situation... maybe they actually might give you a Q6700 or a good dual core ! ?? you never know ?

 

[imperialreign]

is it just me - or does it seem rather odd for Intel to do?

I mean, Intel still has Celeron, Pentium 4 and initial release Core 2 Duos still on the market . . . but they choose the Q6600 as the next to be blackballed . . .

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

great ,hopefully might be able to pick 1 up cheap

If thats the case, I want to get one for my dad for Christmas.

Granted I had a B3, it was one of the best chips I have ever owned. My X3350 is ranked numero uno.

 

[newtekie1]

Warranties on EOL work like this:

If they have what you send back, then they replace it. They usually keep a few laying around for this purpose.

If they don't have it, they will replace it with something equivalent or slightly better if they have it laying around.(Another Q6000 or QX series).

If they don't have any of those, then they will replace it with something from the currrent line of processors(Q8000 would probably be the case).

 

[PaulieG]

The Q6600 will go down as one of the best enthusiast chips ever, when you consider potential vs. price. The only chip I can think of that comes close to it is the old 939 Opty 165.

 

[philbrown23]

it is a sad day for benchers and folders alike, R.I.P

 

[newtekie1]

Hopefully, this makes them drop the price on the other Q processors, I was hoping the Q9650 would be down below $300 by now actually.

The Q6600 will go down as one of the best enthusiast chips ever, when you consider potential vs. price. The only chip I can think of that comes close to it is the old 939 Opty 165.

The Pentium D 805 ranks pretty high up there in my book also, though probably not in most others.

 

[imperialreign]

I guess it also depends on your view of enthusiast CPU as well . . .

e.g. Pentium 4s are pretty revered by extreme OCing enthusiasts - simply for the insane speeds they can hit thanks to the high multis

 

[lemonadesoda]

It's a shame they dont move Q6600 to 45nm and 65W envelope, and make a Q6700, Q6800 and Q6900 at higher clocks. The Extreme edition would then be QX6900. Intel used to have a process-upgrade strategy, where they wanted to sell more than one CPU per PC (mainboard, memory etc). Now they want to see a new chipset everytime they release a new CPU.

Remember the days of 486 with DX4, and Pentium Overdrive? Bring that back. Let peeps on a regular s775 that doesnt do 1600FSB buy a high performance CPU on 1033.

 

[Assimilator]

An end of a glorious era for Intel. I might pick up 1 (or even 2) of these chips if the price comes down enough.

If they don't have any of those, then they will replace it with something from the currrent line of processors (Q8000 would probably be the case).

If this is true, what would happen if your 65nm CPU dies and your mobo isn't compatible with the 45nm models? I've always wondered about that, anyone know the policy?

 

[newtekie1]

It's a shame they dont move Q6600 to 45nm and 65W envelope, and make a Q6700, Q6800 and Q6900 at higher clocks. The Extreme edition would then be QX6900. Intel used to have a process-upgrade strategy, where they wanted to sell more than one CPU per PC (mainboard, memory etc). Now they want to see a new chipset everytime they release a new CPU.

Remember the days of 486 with DX4, and Pentium Overdrive? Bring that back. Let peeps on a regular s775 that doesnt do 1600FSB buy a high performance CPU on 1033.

I think they kind of did move the Q6600 to 45nm, I think they meant the Q9300 or Q9400 to replace it.

They did have a Q6700, but at $200 more than the Q6600, and the demend for quad processor still fairly low at the time, no one was buying the Q6700. So they canned it a long while ago. The Q6600 sold well simply because it for its time, it hit the sweet spot of performance and price. The other 65nm Quads were way overpriced. Hell, I would say the 45nm Quads are still way overpriced. I would like to see the Q9650 down in the $300 range personally.

If this is true, what would happen if your 65nm CPU dies and your mobo isn't compatible with the 45nm models? I've always wondered about that, anyone know the policy?

I've seen this happen once with a customer, and it was an old Socket 478 motherboard with a P4C 3.0GHz. In cases where they don't have the same part, and are going to send something comparible, but an "upgrade" that might not be compatible, they will usually contact the customer to make sure the motherboard will work with the new processor. In this case they wanted to send him a P4E 3.0GHz to repalce the P4C. Since the old one was a Northwood and the new one was a Prescott, his board wouldn't support the new processor. Intel was really cool about it, they shipped him a board that supported the new processor also, which was a great improvement over the VIA POS board he had originally.

 

[kyle2020]

aww, i love my Q6600 so much, what a shame to phase out such an epic chip! CustomPC claim they are one of THE best processors ever made (the G0 stepping versions).

Ah well, ive only ever had two processors - my beloved 5000+BE and this, and i have no intention of swapping this out any time soon! especially seeing as it was quite a late batch but still can shadow 4Ghz! (see below)

 

[hv43082]

Long live Q6600. Love mine at 3.6 GHz. Paired with Abit IP-35E and OC'ed it to 3.6 in 30 seconds. Easiest OC ever.

 

[kyle2020]

Long live Q6600. Love mine at 3.6 GHz. Paired with Abit IP-35E and OC'ed it to 3.6 in 30 seconds. Easiest OC ever.

can i ask, what voltage?

 

[hv43082]

can i ask, what voltage?

Vcore is 1.45 I think. Can't remember the rest but this board only had like 4-5 other voltage control options.