CPU chess match continues, Intel makes its move
CPU chess match continues, Intel makes its move
Rich Brown Former Senior Editorial Director - Home and Wellness
Rich was the editorial lead for CNET's Home and Wellness sections, based in Louisville, Kentucky. Before moving to Louisville in 2013, Rich ran CNET's desktop computer review section for 10 years in New York City. He has worked as a tech journalist since 1994, covering everything from 3D printing to Z-Wave smart locks.
Expertise Smart home | Windows PCs | Cooking (sometimes) | Woodworking tools (getting there...)
2 min read
AMD already dropped its CPU prices this week to give it some leverage against Intel's technologically superior . But with Core 2 Duo officially launching today, Intel follows with its own price move on its old Pentium D 900 series and other older dual-core chips. There are some drastic moves here, most notably the Pentium D 960, whose price was cut in half. It's still more expensive than the faster AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+, however (and the same as the Core 2 Duo E6600, which conceivably could beat them both).
The bottom line is that Core 2 Duo is having an obvious trickle-down effect. We hope the desktop vendors will pass on the savings, and we'll start to see some surprisingly powerful systems that are also cheap.
| AMD | Old price | New price |
| Athlon 64 FX-62 | $999 | $827 |
| Athlon 64 X2 5000+ | $649 | $301 |
| Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (65 watt) | $561 | $276 |
| Athlon 64 X2 4600+ | $522 | $240 |
| Athlon 64 X2 4200+ | $389 | $215 |
| Athlon 64 X2 4200+ | $339 | $187 |
| Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (65 watt) | $310 | $176 |
| Athlon 64 X2 3800+ | $277 | $152 |
| Athlon 64 3800+ | $246 | $112 |
| Athlon 64 3500+ | $161 | $91 |
| Athlon 64 3200+ | $130 | $81 |
| Intel | Old price | New price |
| Core 2 Duo X6800 | $999 | same |
| Core 2 Duo E6700 | $530 | same |
| Core 2 Duo E6600 | $316 | same |
| Core 2 Duo E6400 | $224 | same |
| Core 2 Duo E6300 | $183 | same |
| Pentium D 960 | $605 | $316 |
| Pentium D 950 | $316 | $224 |
| Pentium D 945 | NA | $163 |
| Pentium D 940 | $224 | $183 |
| Pentium D 930 | $178 | same |
| Pentium D 920 | $178 | same |
| Pentium D 915 | $199 | $133 |
The bottom line is that Core 2 Duo is having an obvious trickle-down effect. We hope the desktop vendors will pass on the savings, and we'll start to see some surprisingly powerful systems that are also cheap.
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