Intel slashes Core 2 Duo and Quad chip prices
24 Jul 2008
Chipmaker Intel has fired the next salvo in the microprocessor war against smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) over the weekend, slashing the prices for its top dual-core desktop processor by a third to under $200 and adjusting prices for six other desktop and server devices more moderately.
However, the reduced prices are tray prices or those available to resellers when they buy the units in bulk, or in this case, trays of 1000 units. (See: Intel and AMD extend their dominance of the microprocessor market and AMD scores as FTC opens investigation into Intel)
The largest reduction was made to its E8500 Core 2 Duo processor. That chip, the fastest (3.16-GHz) Core 2 Duo processor that Intel sells, was trimmed 31 per cent from $266 to $183. Intel also cut the price of the 3.00GHz Core 2 Duo E8400, the second-fastest dual-core desktop device in Intel's 45nm Penryn class, from $183 to $163, an 11 per cent reduction.
With this latest round of price adjustments, Intel now has four 45nm Core 2 Duo desktop chips of varying speeds priced at $163. Going by past record, there is a high probability that the slower models will be phased out soon
Other desktop processor price adjustments included a 15 per cent cut to the 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo E7200 ($133 to $113) and a 14 per cent cut to the 2.4GHz Core 2 Quad Q6600 ($224 to $193), Intel's cheapest quad-core desktop CPU.
That last price cut may be the one most directly aimed at AMD. The smaller chip maker's 2.4GHz Phenom X4 9750 matches the Q6600 on clock speed and like the older Intel part is a 65nm quad-core processor. But until the weekend price cuts, the 9750's $215 price tag had the Q6600 beat as an entry-level quad-core.
Intel also trimmed prices for two 65nm Xeon server processors and one 45nm Xeon part. The chip maker announced 12 per cent cuts to the two 105W older parts, the 2.4GHz X3220 and the 2.13GHz X3210, bringing both down from $224 to $198. Intel also trimmed the price of its 65W, 3.00GHz Xeon E3110 from $188 to $167, an 11 per cent reduction.
(See: revised price list)
