Why is Intel's Q9550 higher priced than AMD's 1055T?

[soarwitheagles]

I am preparing to sell my used Q9550. I've been visiting Ebay and comparing prices. I was kind of surprised that the price on the Q9550's have actually gone up rather than down in price since I purchased several of them about 18 months ago. I was also surprised that people are paying more for a used Q9550 than for a new AMD 1055T.

Am I missing something here? I received a great deal on my new 1055T [around $100 after I sell the MB from the combo]. But the Q9550's are selling in excess of $200 for used processors...what's with that?

Can someone here explain why people are paying so much for the Q9550?

In the CPU line up, it appears there is a significant performance difference [see chart].

Chart info compliments of http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+X6+1055T

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

The thing is Soar, that you can put out all the hype you like but people still recognise true quality!! Intel Rulz 

[absic]

The thing is Soar, that you can put out all the hype you like but people still recognise true quality!! Intel Rulz 

Ooo, pass me the sick bag somebody! 

Maybe that's the real problem, too many people believe the glossy adverts and think that Intel are the only CPU's available or that they are the best. Give it a few years and it will probably be that AMD are top dog, a bit like ATI over NVidia at the moment. A few years ago ATI were seen as a poor second but now...... 

[Dark Mantis]

To be honest I think you are right. (talk about feeling sick). It wasn't so long ago that AMD were considered the best. I remember when the Athlon's first came out they kicked Intel's butt for a while. What goes round, comes round.

[soarwitheagles]

To be honest I think you are right. (talk about feeling sick). It wasn't so long ago that AMD were considered the best. I remember when the Athlon's first came out they kicked Intel's butt for a while. What goes round, comes round.

I still do not understand this...although it will work for my good, it still makes no sense to me at all. Why would people pay more money for a processor that has less performance and fewer cores?

I suppose I will scratch my head for awhile on this one!

Soar

[Dark Mantis]

It's just "Brand power" really and how people perceive the quality of that brand. It doesn't have to be any better as long as Joe Public think it is they will be willing to pay more for it. Simple psychology.

[Wonderwrench]

I would say many people have mother boards that support the Q9550. When they built or purchased their systems they went for a dual core's hoping the price on quad cores would drop. Well they have not so the used prices are being inflated by bidding wars. Soon the new stocks will be depleted and the prices may go even higher on used ones. The Q6600's did this. People were paying $250-$300 used. I purchased one new for $180 right before the new ones dried up. Demand has dropped as of late and the prices are in the $100+ range now. All Core 2 boards support Qxx00 CPU's but not all support Qxx50 CPU's.

FYI on average a 1055T is really only slightly faster than a Q9550. It all depends on what your using it for. The only time the 1055T will kill a Q9550 is when your using a program that can fully use all six cores. And at this point in time that's not many.

Bill