January 22nd, 2009
Quad-core price war breaks out
AMD has already cut prices for its flagship 45nm processor–which the company announced on January 8–for competitive reasons.
The 3.0GHz Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition is now priced at $225 and the 2.8GHz Phenom II X4 920 is selling for $195. At launch, those two chips were priced at $275 and $235, respectively.
Mark Hachman at PC Magazine first noticed that AMD’s new Phenom II X4s were selling for a lot less than the listed prices. AMD apparently confirmed that it had cut prices, but a spokesperson said the company wouldn’t make any announcement or update its price list because it was in a “quiet period” prior to reporting quarterly earnings later today. Nevertheless AMD’s processor price list now reflects the 17-18 percent price cuts.
On Sunday Intel slashed prices on many of its Core 2 Quad processors. Intel cut the price of the 3.0GHz Core 2 Quad Q9650 a whopping 40 percent from $530 to $316. The prices of other Core 2 Quad processors were cut 16-20 percent. The 2.83GHz Q9550, 2.66GHz Q9400, 2.50GHz Q8300 and 2.33GHz Q8200 now sell for $266, $213, $183 and $163, respectively.
With the release of the Core i7 chips in November, the Core 2 Quad are no longer the fastest horses in Intel’s stable, but reviews (links below) show that that they still compare favorably to AMD’s latest and greatest on benchmarks. That is probably why AMD is already feeling compelled to cut prices.
AMD Phenom II X4 reviews:
- AMD Phenom II X4 940 & 920: A True Return to Competition [AnandTech]
- AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition Review [ExtremeTech]
- AMD Phenom II X4 940 Processor Review [Legit Reviews]
- AMD’s Phenom II processors [Tech Report]
John Morris is a former executive editor at CNET Networks and senior editor at PC Magazine. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
Subscribe to Laptops & Desktops via Email alerts or RSS.
