Yesterday, Intel announced that it is cutting the prices on their Core 2 Quad Q6700 processor by half (from $530 to $266). I suppose this discount will officially mark the end of the road for their 65-nm Kentsfield processor line, and paves the way for volume shipping of their new 45-nm Yorkfield heir-apparents later this summer. It's great news for folks that may have been considering a quad-core upgrade though. The Q6600 (2.4 GHz) and Q6700 (2.66 GHz) are great processors that offer a lot of overclocking headroom. At the new prices ($224 and $266 respectively), they are an absolute steal! Of course, the new 45-nm line does offer better performance and lower power consumption, but you will now be paying a premium price for those advancements in Intel's CPU technology with the Q9450 running you about $90 more than the comparable Q6700.
If the thought of upgrading to a quad core CPU trips your geek trigger, now's definitely a good time to get in the game. Let the Kentsfield clearance sale begin!