Quad Core Q9550

The Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550, launched in March 2008, was a premier quad-core processor of its era and remains a significant product in the secondhand and legacy industrial markets as of 2026. TechpowerupTechnical

Product Overview & Legacy

* Architecture: Part of the Yorkfield (Penryn) family, it was among the first consumer chips to use a 45nm process, featuring 820 million transistors and a massive 12MB L2 cache. TechpowerupCpu-Monkey

* Specifications: It operates at a base clock of 2.83 GHz with a 1333 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) on the LGA775 socket. AmazonOpenbenchmarking

* Modern Compatibility: It lacks support for modern instructions like AVX2 and does not natively support Windows 11, limiting its use to retro gaming, basic office tasks, or legacy server environments. QuoraCpubenchmark

Market Trends & Insights (2026)

* Secondhand Demand: The Q9550 maintains a steady presence on consumer platforms like eBay and Amazon, often priced between $20 and $32 for individual units. EbayCpubenchmark

* Wholesale Availability: In the B2B market, bulk lots are available from suppliers in Shenzhen, with wholesale prices ranging from $14 to $18 for minimum orders of 100+ units. AlibabaAlibaba

* Industrial Niche: A significant trend is its continued use in industrial computing. Specialized LGA775 motherboards featuring legacy ports (ISA slots, LPT, COM) are still manufactured to support older equipment that relies on these specific quad-core processors. AlibabaAlibaba

Performance Trajectory

* Benchmarking: While a powerhouse in 2008, its PassMark score of ~2,384 is now roughly 1.39% of modern high-end leaders. CpubenchmarkTechnical

* Gaming: It can still run roughly 78% of historically cataloged games, but struggles with AAA titles released after 2018 unless paired with a modern budget GPU like the GTX 750 Ti or GT 1030 for 720p/1080p low settings. TechnicalQuora

The attached files provide detailed sourcing lists for Q9550 processors and compatible motherboards currently available in the wholesale market.