Windows 7: I7 980x cheaper than QX9650 & QX9770

So I was browsing through Canada Computers - Your Neighbourhood Computer Store and Service Centre - PC Systems, PC Components, Computer Parts & Accessories, Notebooks, Netbooks, Electronics, and more. and an Intel Core i7 980x cost WAY less than a Intel core 2 Extreme QX9650 and QX9770. I know that the i7 980x is the fastest processor for pc, so shouldn't that make it cost more? Or maybe it's the supply and demand thingy like DDR1 ram cost more than DDR2 ram.

i7 980x : Canada Computers - Intel Core i7 980X Extreme Edition Six-Core Socket LGA1366, 3.33Ghz, 6.4GT/s FSB, 12MB L3 Cache, 32nm (Retail Boxed) (BX80613I7980X)

QX9770: Canada Computers - Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9770 Quad-Core Socket LGA775, 3.2GHz, 1600 MHz FSB, 12MB L2 Cache, 45nm (Retail Box) (BX80569QX9770)



QX9650 : Canada Computers - Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 Quad-Core Socket LGA775, 3.0GHz, 1333 MHz FSB, 12MB L2 Cache, 45nm (Retail Box) (BX80569QX9650)

It's the same in US, but the I7 980x is available most places, and the others are not. As you say, may have more to do with availability. A Guy

A lot of it also has to do with retailers not wanting to make a loss as well as availability.

They paid X amount for the chip and instead making a loss by cutting the price - they retain the high price because they do become rarer to obtain although you'd have to be pretty committed to that socket to pay such a price.

Yeah, the QX9770 has been discontinued. Amazing to see it cost that much. My Q9450 that I got for $145 used on Ebay is clocked to the same external clock (3.2GHz) and FSB (1600MHz) as the QX9770.

Is the QX9770 and QX9650 as fast as or faster than some i7 processor?

Oh and I also found that i7 965 and i7 675 still cost more than the i7 980x... (Price comparison: i7 965> i7 975> i7 980x)

i7 965: http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...t0fqgoi27nrtv7

i7 975: http://www.canadacomputers.com/produ...t0fqgoi27nrtv7

Not really.

At stock clocks, on certain tasks they may come close, or even beat the lower end i7's, but on the whole they are not faster.

The X are the 'extreme' versions which means they have an unlocked multipliers. 'Normal' chips are limited to certain multiplier levels.

The 965/975 also have some other higher stock speeds ie. 4.5GT/S of the 920-950 vs 6.4GT/s of the 965/975.

Yet the 980-x is still the superior chip for a cheaper price.

Basically any intel chip with an X for extreme in the title rarely sees a price drop in it's lifetime unless it's superseded (like the 965<975).

Even then, the superseded chips still retain a high price.

Depends on the benchmark. In many cases they are quite equal or actually outperform the lower end Core i7 processors. The only instance where a Core i7 is superior is when it comes to video encoding. That's only because with a Core i7 you have 4 physical processors yet HyperThreading so it is 8 logical processors.

Did you happen to notice that they have none of those in stock except for the i7 980X, and all the ones out of stock are all special order.

Yes I have

Kinda off topic but is core i3 faster than core 2 quads? But core i3 are dual cores so I think it's slower?