The new E8400 Core 2 duo's were released today. These run at 3GHz and have 6MB of L2 cache.

The biggest thing with the new chips is that they're featuring 45nm technology. They're more efficient, so they're cooler burning, which is less of a power draw.

I'm gawking at the Q9450 ... an Intel Core 2 Quad, 45nm, 2.66Ghz, 12mb of L2. I found a presale for $340 (ships in late Feb, early March) and I'm really tempted.

Quad = overkill? Awesome? Thoughts?


(ps: i'm saying :fawk: to the budget when it comes to the CPU.)