Chicago (IL) - While Intel reportedly is gearing for a launch of its quad-core processors on Monday next week, a wide range of etailers has begun pre-selling or even selling the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 processor. A 1000-unit price of $1000 and a very limited availability indicated a scenario of potentially inflated etail pricing of the CPU, but at least the initial list of retailers will sell the processor for about the same price as a dual-core Core 2 Extreme X6800.

Images and first test results of the Core 2 Duo QX6700 ...

Currently listed Etail prices over about two dozen websites checked by TG Daily range from $1020 to $1218, with an average price of $1167 across the board. These prices paint a very different picture than, for example, Dell's pricing policy: The company will charge a $1234 premium for the quad-core CPU over a Core 2 Duo E6300 dual-core processor.

The Core 2 Extreme QX6700 with Kentsfield core will launch with a clock speed of 2.66 GHz and 8 MB of L2 cache.

According to sources, Intel will add a second quad-core processor in January of next year: The Core 2 Quad Q6600 will also include the FSB1066 and 8 MB L2 cache of the Extreme edition, but will run at a slightly lower clock speed of 2.4 GHz and cost $851 in 1000-unit orders.

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