Cool Tech Reviews

A little more than a week ago, I mentioned that Intel was getting ready to slash prices on microprocessors starting this week. Now AMD has fired back with their own price cuts:

Advanced Micro Devices slashed prices on some PC processors by as much as 57 percent in a new listing Monday, firing the latest salvo in a battle with rival Intel Corp.
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Users can look forward to bargains in the PC space in coming months as the two companies battle it out. AMD dropped the price of its dual-core Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (socket AM2 only) to $301 on Monday, from $696 when it last published a price list in May. It also cut the price of the Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (socket AM2 and 939) by 57 percent to $240 from $558.

Although the biggest AMD price reductions were in PC processors, the company also cut prices for laptop processor prices as well.

Prices of its AMD Turion 64 mobile chips fell by as much as 26 percent, with its Model ML-44 down to $263 from $354 in May. Prices for AMD Sempron chips for desktops and laptops also fell.

As George Ou said in a quote from the previous post, no matter what you buy, it will soon be “a lot cheaper or it will be a lot faster.”

Intel is reacting fiercely to AMD’s market share gains last quarter and it’s good news for PC buyers. George Ou at ZDNet - Prices released on Conroe, AMD may need to slash 70% on FX62:

The word is out on Intel Core2 Conroe processors. The price and model numbers have been set on the new Intel processors while the price on older Pentium D processors have been slashed. Even the dual core Pentium D 945 running at 3.4 GHz has been slashed to $163 on July 23rd which is cheaper than the slowest C2D E6300 at 1.86 GHz.

More by following both links but here’s the net:

The new Conroe processors will have a devastating effect on current inventory from AMD or Intel. It’s kind of like a scorched earth tactic where Intel’s own legacy “Netburst” inventory will suffer collateral damage in the war against AMD. Anyone who’s buying computers right now should definitely hold off for 2 more weeks since there will be massive price drops on current AMD and Intel CPUs.
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The good news is that no matter what you buy 2 weeks from now, it will be a lot cheaper or it will be a lot faster.

It doesn’t hurt that PC sales have been weak in recent months either.