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AMD cuts Athlon 64 X2 prices

Published on 22nd January 2007 by Tim Smalley

AMD reduces prices, still price / performance leader in the low-end, but also still not competitive in the mid-range.

AMD has cut the retail price on most of its Athlon 64 X2 processors today in an attempt to remain competitive with Intel's increasingly more attractive product line.

Digitimes has compiled a nice chart detailing the price drops, the most notable price reduction was on the Athlon 64 X2 5200+, which dropped from $403 to $295.

Processors faster than the Athlon 64 X2 5200+ didn't get any price drop treatment, but all processors slower than the X2 5200+ had price reductions from anywhere between $10 and $30 USD.

We've compiled a product stack that should help to explain how AMD's price changes affect the marketplace - see below.

AMD has a strong grasp over the low end of the market due to the fact that Intel doesn't have any Core 2 based products priced below $180 USD. That isn't going to same forever though, as Intel is expected to release low-end Core 2 Duo E4000-series processors in the first half of this year.

Intel's price / performance advantage is still clear above $180 USD, with the Core 2 based products dominating most price points. For example, there are plenty of occasions where Intel's $224 USD E6400 offers performance that surpasses AMD's Athlon 64 X2 5000+ EE on many occasions, but the latter retails at over $60 USD more.

We haven't included the Athlon 64 X2 3600+ that we talked about over the weekend on our product stack, because it isn't officially listed on AMD's price list.

Discuss in the forums.

15 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

samkiller42 22nd January 2007, 16:29

I think is quite interesting, it means AMD have had another price drop in under a year, means that they need to pull somthing out of the bag to compete with the Core 2's.

Sam

Lazlow 22nd January 2007, 16:31

Feck! That's quite a drop, making dual-core affordable for pretty much everyone. I've just spec'd a E6300 system for work, which could have utilised an 3800 X2 to save a few more pennies.

r4tch3t 22nd January 2007, 16:34

I sure hope it has a direct translating into NZD, I will be upgrading so fast ;)

DXR_13KE 22nd January 2007, 16:41

i see intel making a move soon.....

CodeRed 22nd January 2007, 16:43

How long will it be before retailers in the UK start dropping prices?

Tim S 22nd January 2007, 18:02

I would assume these prices will come into affect in the next couple of days.

Tyinsar 22nd January 2007, 18:26

Now this is starting to sound more like the old AMD ;)

samkiller42 22nd January 2007, 19:05

These are the current prices on OCUK as of 19:04 , 22nd Jan:
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p153/samkiller42/ocuk.jpg

Watch this space basicly.

Sam

Bladestorm 23rd January 2007, 00:09

woah, to think I paid 4x as much for an X2 3800 ~10 months ago. Still, if I hadn't I'd have had to live with a crappy computer that bit longer hehe.

Generic42 23rd January 2007, 00:14

Sweet, I've been looking to go dual in a few months once quad comes out (I can only afford second best) and this should make even an X2 5000 on my price list

Also, newegg.com has the X2 4600 for $40 less than that AMD price list

Emon 23rd January 2007, 05:02

Price drops are always good, but it seems the Core 2s are still a better deal. I keep seeing new benchmarks for AMD stuff (like the new 65nm chips) and they still seem to be falling short. It's been the first time in a long time...I remember when AMD was about the only choice for enthusiasts on a budget.

Generic42 23rd January 2007, 05:37

But when compares prices you can see (on newegg at least) an X2 4600 is only $20 more than an E6300 and the only thing it doesn't have compared to the E6300 is half the L2 cache, but before you cry out in pain also realize it's 500MHz faster and has 4x the L1 cache... or course, an E6700 will stomp anything AMD has to offer at a comparable price, but at the $200 range AMD's the winner IMO...

Cthippo 23rd January 2007, 06:17

Any word on Opterons? They haven't released a new Opty since the 285 and those are coming down on eBay anyway

cpemma 23rd January 2007, 15:55

All current chips fall in price as a new faster 'flagship' chip comes out, so what's new? I've always paid about the same price for my cpus, and usually got around double the speed at each upgrade stage. Probably a branch of Moore's Law.

(Sod's Law is when you buy the day before the price drop. )

brumster 24th January 2007, 05:38

Bah, I noticed the price for an Opteron 170 dropped by £5 the day after I ordered it. Oh well, when it arrives later I will be too happy to care. :D