Merrill: Intel cuts chip prices, AMD to follow

InfoWorld ^ | November 12, 2002 7:46 am PT | Tom Krazit

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

INTEL HAS CUT the prices of its Pentium 4 in advance of the expected launch of a new 3.06GHz Pentium 4 processor Thursday, according to a research note distributed by Merrill Lynch & Co. Tuesday. Advanced Micro Devices is expected to follow suit, the note said. The approximate price of the new processor, Intel's first on the desktop to feature its hyperthreading technology, will be in about the mid-$500 range, according to Merrill. To bring slower processors in line with the new chip, the 2.8GHz Pentium 4 will fall in price from $508 to $401, and the 2.67GHz and 2.60GHz Pentium 4 processors will decline from $401 to $305. All prices are in 1,000-unit quantities. Intel will also cut prices on its budget line of Celeron desktop processors, the note said. The 2.0GHz Celeron will fall from $103 to $83, the 1.8GHz from $83 to $69, the 1.7GHz from $69 to $54, and the 1.4GHz from $74 to $55, according to Merrill. Chip manufacturers typically cut prices when a new, higher-performing chip enters the market, to align their product lines around the premium some users are willing to pay for the highest-performing processor. The prices of AMD's lower-end Athlon XP processors will also be cut sometime soon, specifically the Athlon XP 2100+, 1900+ and 1700+, according to Merrill. Neither Intel or AMD had updated price lists available on their Web sites as of Tuesday morning, and representatives for both companies were not immediately available. Tom Krazit is a Boston-based copy editor for IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

AMD cuts Athlon XP prices

Charles Chou, Taipei; Christy Lee, DigiTimes.com [Tuesday 12 November 2002]

Following Intel’s lowering of Celeron processor prices the day before, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) cut the prices of its low-end and medium-range Athlon XP processors on November 11, a source at the company’s Taiwan office confirmed. The company, however, has not yet announced the new prices on its website.

According to other sources, AMD cut prices for the Athlon XP 2200+, 2100+, 2000+, 1900+, 1800+ and 1700+ processors. The Athlon XP 2200+ was said to be still priced at over US$100, while the prices of the other five processors fell by as much as about 40% to US$60-90. Prices of the high-end Athlon XP 2400+, 2600+, 2700+ and 2800+ remained unchanged.

AMD’s price cuts, said to have been decided about half a month ago, are apparently aimed at stimulating buying and boosting market share. The company must also brace for the impact of Intel’s price reductions on Socket 478-based Celeron processors, originally not planned for the fourth quarter but recently moved up to November 10.

Source: Digitimes

[Blood of Tyrants]

And at home I am crawling along with a P2-350...

[fone]

Just in time for Christmas bump.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I just got my AMD XP 2000+ running a month or so ago, waiting for the Hammer!

[LostTribe]

>I just got my AMD XP 2000+ running a month or so ago, waiting for the Hammer!

Which mobo did you select? I've got a matched pair of old P3-500s here and am about to do mobo transplants and upgrade them to AMD XP+++.

[Common Tator]

I just got my AMD XP 2000

The last INTEL chip I bought was in my 500 meg laptop. AMD now has more afordable laptop chips. We are using the internet more and on site far less. With lots of customers on 768K DSL liens our need for on site access is far less. That is reducing the need for laptops.

I certainly don't see a market for the new notepads that MS is pushing. I keyboard a lot better than I write with a pen or pencil. I think the Notepads MS is pushing are really just a better buggy trying to make it in a Model T world. I am in my mid 60's and I never use a pen or pencil if I can put my hands on a keyboard.

In 25 years learning to write with a pen or pencil, will be like learning to harness a team. A hundred years ago everyone needed to know how to do that. Todays kids don't know what a team is. Fifty years from now pencils and pens will be as obsolete as harness for horses.

Our servers are running 1.2 and 1.3 Athlons and the desk tops are running 1.0 to 2.0 Athlons. Intel's price performance ratio is not as good as AMD.

I don't see how the Itanium is going to compete with the Hammer. Customers are demanding that new software and hardware be done in afordable steps. The Hammer is the only way many of our customers will be able to go from 32 to 64 bits.

I think Intel has made a major mistake.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I am running with a Gigabyte GA-7VAXP , pretty happy with it!

Review here

[LostTribe]

>I am running with a Gigabyte GA-7VAXP

Thanks, it got a decent review at TomsHardware also. What memory did you select, and how much?

[HamiltonJay]

$500 for an intel CPU? AT that price, you are in what I consider easily server territory... no way I would front that kind of cash for a desktop.

[fogarty]

Don't be ashamed. I've got a Pentium II 400 Mhz. And it does all I could ever need it for. I sure as heck ain't going to plunk down another $150 for a motherboard upgrade when my existing system works fine and will still work fine in years to come.

3GHZ? Goodness, maybe only 1-2% of the population need that kind of speed. With the increase in bloat in Microsoft products, I'd be willing to wager my 400 Mhz system with Windows 98 still boots up faster than that 3Ghz box with Windows XP.

[krb]

Wow...Athlon 2100+ going to get cut in price? May have to build a dual Athlon box pretty soon to use with my new Matrox Parhelia...

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Timely topic. I'm in the market, myself, and I saw the review at Tom's Hardware. Personally, I've got my eye on the Asus A7N8X with the nForce2 chipset.

It really all boils down to what you want. The Gigabyte is a good board, so is the Soyo KT400 Platinum, but one of the undercurrents I see is lack of true DDR400 support. The Asus should solve that, but others might not care. I've seen mostly good reviews of these boards.

I'm waiting for the FSB333 Athlon XP's (2600+ and up) to come down in price, according to this article that isn't happening just yet.

[Pahuanui]

It really all boils down to what you want. The Gigabyte is a good board, so is the Soyo KT400 Platinum, but one of the undercurrents I see is lack of true DDR400 support. The Asus should solve that, but others might not care. I've seen mostly good reviews of these boards.

Do yourself a big fat favor and avoid if at all possible any Soyo Dragon or Dragon Platinum cards: they have caused me innumerable config problems whenever I've tried to use anything other than the native, integrated circuits on their board for sound, video, NIC, etc.... They are HUGE headaches.

For the best boards for the new KT400 setups/memory, check out: http://www.tomshardware.com/mainboard/02q4/021007/index.html (Sorry, copy and paste, as I've no time for the link code)

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Good points, but I'm aiming for the nForce2 chipset. I'm not totally satisfied with the KT400 chipset. That's why I won't be getting the Soyo...

[razorback-bert]

I just bought a AMD 2200+ with a SY-K7V SOYO DRAGON Motherboard yesterday to upgrade my system.

Yesterday mind you!

Did I mention it was YESTERDAY!!

[LostTribe]

>Did I mention it was YESTERDAY!!

Well, that's plenty of time to use it and write up a review! {ggg}.

I've built up many computers over the decades, starting with wirewraps, using all the different CPUs, recently using mostly with Asus boards, and with mostly good luck. MSI has also done well, recently.

[Lael]

And at home I am crawling along with a P2-350...

Friend...keep that computer!!!

My mainstay is a P II 450 with 128 MB 100 MHz memory running Win98 First edition. I also have a P III 800 with 128 MB 100 MHz memory E-Machine with Stability problems. And lastly, a SONY VAIO 1.7 GHz Celeron with 256MB Double Data Rate memory running Win XP.

Taking the P II 450 as 100%, the P III 800 yields 150% during benchmarking. The SONY, however, yields only 71%, less than my Gateway p II 450.

Apparantly, Win XP, coupled with the Crippled P4 architecture that is the 1.7 Ghz Celeron, is a killer of performance. (I only bought the SONY to run very specialized Educational software, and it isn't used for anythng else!!)

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Friend...keep that computer!!!

My main computer at home is a Gateway PII 350, but frugality isn't an option anymore. There comes a point where sticking with a computer with major league stability problems due mainly to outdated an 200W power supply that I can't replace, is hard to argue in the face of $500-600 for a kickass new system. I'll be keeping the monitor to save money.

I put together my 2nd machine last year for just over $1500, for $600 I can put one together that crushes that one. If you have something made in 2xxx, a new machine at this point is probably a luxury. My '98 Gateway has got to go, though.