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AMD reduces prices on mainstream Phenom and Athlon CPUs

by Tarinder Sandhu on 21 October 2009, 13:58

Tags: AMD (NYSE:AMD)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qauj6

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After announcing a raft of new chips designed for lower power, AMD is, once again, cutting the price of its high-end and mainstream chips.

Processor Cores Clock speed Form factor L2 cache (total) L3 cache (shared) Memory controller speed (up to) TDP Previous price Current price
Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 4 3.4GHz AM3 2MB 6MB 2.0GHz 140W £170 £149
Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 4 3.2GHz AM3 2MB 6MB 2.0GHz 140W £160 £134
Phenom II X4 945 4 3.0GHz AM3 2MB 6MB 2.0GHz 125W/95W
 £140 £128
Phenom II X4 905e 4 2.5GHz AM3 2MB 6MB 2.0GHz 65W £130 £130
Athlon II X2 250 2 3.0GHz AM3 2MB N/A 2.0GHz 65W £59 £51

The new pricing, taken from Scan, shows that the range-topping Phenom II X4 965 BE is now available for under £150. A bunch of other quad-core chips now fill the £125-£150 gap and, looking towards the budget end of the market, the Athlon II X2 250 is now etailing at £51. The quad-core Athlon II X4 620 continues to ship at £75.

The introduction of Intel's LGA1156-based chips has further strangled AMD's attempts to charge a higher price for its AM3 parts. Indeed, now, AMD's fastest desktop CPU etails at the same price as Intel's slowest Core i5.

We'll be seeing a process revision for the Phenom II X4 chips, bringing TDPs down by around 15W, but there's nothing wholly new on the horizon, to help in boosting ASPs for the high-end parts.

AMD price-drop further cements the value proposition offered by the Phenom and Athlon CPUs.

HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Posted by ChuvelxD - Wed 21 Oct 2009 14:55
This STINKS of desparation on AMDs part. Could this be a tactic from their poor Q3 numbers? I think so.
Posted by shaithis - Wed 21 Oct 2009 15:32
Eh? It's usual to reduce prices every now and again….nothing desperate about it, Intel do the same (and seemigly, more regular then AMD!)

To be fair though, the price cuts seem quite small, not enough to make people rush out and buy them IMO.
Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH - Wed 21 Oct 2009 15:53
TBH, AMD has the sub £100 to themselves more or less. With the Phenom II the prices of many Core2 parts crashed as a result. Competition is always a good thing TBH and if anything AMD's third quarter results were far better than they themselves expected. Considering that even at their peak AMD still did not dominate the market when they had the Athlon 64, which was the superior architecture at the time, it only shows that competing with a giant like Intel is not very easy at all.

Anyway price reductions are normal part of what happens with computer parts when there is competition. If not prices would be sky high!! If the roles were reversed Intel would be doing the same!!
Posted by tickedon - Wed 21 Oct 2009 17:18
AMD don't necessarily have to compete at the £150+ up marks. Most computers are not sold with Core i5-level performance.

AMD has always provided excellent value, and they will hopefully continue to do so. It might not bring huge profits, however, all they need are mainstream parts they can sell in volume (they have these now) and it should let them turn a profit - I think last quarter they managed to eek out at $2million profit? With ATI firing on all cylinders, lets hope they can sort out their CPU's as well.
Posted by Jimbo75 - Wed 21 Oct 2009 17:34
ChuvelxD
This STINKS of desparation on AMDs part. Could this be a tactic from their poor Q3 numbers? I think so.

AMD had a pretty good 3rd quarter, making a profit on the chip side of the business.