Intel’s fastest non-Extreme edition Core 2 Quad, Q9650 with 12MB of cache, FSB 1333 and 3.0GHz core clock is now selling for €309. This is the lowest etail listing which is available. As of 18th of January, this is the new price of this Quad core 3GHz CPU and until that day the same CPU was selling for €475.

This massive price cut a part of Intel’s new price strategy where Core i7 still holds its launch prices and all Core 2 Quad and many Core 2 got cheaper.

The cheapest Quad core from Intel, Q8200 with 2.5GHz core clock dropped down from $219 to new $187 wholesale price or €156 in European Etail which is only a slight price adjustment considering that for Xmas it was selling for €163.

New prices will put some additional pressure of Phenom II  but we can tell that the Phenom II 940 3.0GHz unlocked part is selling quite well for €215, dropped down from €250 at launch.