So far only Q9450 OEM available..Q9300 retail been release already. Does anyone know when Q9450 retail will be available? Thx!
 

No, but my Q9450 OEM should arrive shortly!

Yeah good question, that's what i,m waiting for. Micro center has the Q9450 OEM for $300 great price. But i,m not sure if I should trust Micro Center:S esspecialy since it is an OEM product and is more subseptible to damage during transport.

I got the Q9450 OEM a few weeks ago and it works great.  From what I have seen they package the OEMs pretty well so they don't get damaged in shipping.

What's so good with retail, other than it comes with a stock cooler? You should get an aftermarket one anyways.

 
For some the fact that it comes with 3x longer warranty (here OEM gets you 12 months/BOX gets you 36 months).
For others the fact that the BOX looks pretty on a shelf  .
Or maybe it is the fact that the stock cooler makes their dull office life worth living cause they can have headphones on all day .

definately longer warrenty Andrius hit it right on the spot

has anyone seen a q9450 review? a proper one, not one done by some guy posting on a forum....

There's a Microcenter store in my area, I've been going there for years.  Unfortunately, they didn't have the Q9450 in stock and I had to order it online, too bad.  I don't have any worries about dealing with them.  

Are you saying that OEM products are more susceptible to damage during transport than retail products?

Newegg is today, showing the Intel X3350 processor, which is the same as the Q9450, in stock for $349.

 
 
I,m not sure but that is what i,m afraid of. A retail CPU comes in a big box so I would think it could take alot more beeding during transport then a oem that just comes in a smalle plastic box. That's the reason i,ve never ordered an OEM cpu, I never use the stock fan so that's not the reason I go for Retail.

I really hope the Q9450 and the one i have been waiting 3 months for the Q9550 are out soon. I mean come on stores have had them listed as a preorder item since Jan. And i preordered mine in Feb. Intel needs to get off there butts already. I mean why even make it a preorder item if its not going to be out for more than 3 months.......just stupid. ok im done ranting.

I ordered an X3360, which is identical to the Q9550, from Newgg about 3 weeks ago, and I had it within 3 days.  I haven't finished putting everything on the new build yet, but I had it up and running last night.  It works fine in an EVGA 790i Ultra board.  I had problems with the OCZ DDR3 memory and had to send it back and I bought some from Corsair that works.
 
Newegg is showing the X3360 as out of stock, but they say they have the X3350 for $349, and it's the retail, boxed version with the factory cooling fan.  

Heh... the packaging I don't really think matters too much, as far as keeping the goods safe.
 
My E4400 was retail.  Even though it was in a box, in another box with peanut foam, the CPU was clearly visible in plastic.
 
I recently got my Q6600 OEM, and it was in a plastic box with foam padding on both sides, with the cap to protect the gold pad, not to mention it was also in a bigger box filled with peanut foam.  
 
As far as warranty, I've never used the warranty on any CPU's I've had in the past.
 
Wonder if someone should do a poll just to see how many people actually depend on the warranty, and if it was physical damage / OC'ing / or maybe something totally... stupid (like showing his gf the CPU and he dropped in his drink or something?)  

I heard the slowdown to retail on these is instability.  Can't remember where I read that but Intel was having problems with longevity or something.
 
EDIT:  This was on Intel's side not from consumers tho.

Just make sure you get a mobo that comes with the BIOS that supports it.  If it has an earlier BIOS, you will need a supported CPU to get it to post so you can flash the BIOS to the latest.

Finally...NCIX.COM have Q9450 retail instock...but I perfer to buy locally..(ahem..from Indian reserved..no tax.