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Intel set to cut prices ahead of AMD's "Barcelona" launch

Last week, AMD talked about its desktop plans for the upcoming year in Sunnyvale, California. Although AMD showed its upcoming desktop processor running in single and dual-socket configurations, the company chose not to announce an official launch date for its next-generation desktop processors. According to Robert Rivet, AMD executive vice president and CFO, however, AMD's next-generation processors will be ready by Christmas.

Despite how distant the possible December launch date of AMD's native quad-core desktop processors may seem, Intel is already stepping up the competition and will be instituting a series of aggressive price cuts in July. We originally reported these major price cuts, which will be targeting Intel's quad-core desktop and server processors, in March. At the time, we didn't know the official date of when the price cuts would take place. We can confirm today that the price cuts will take place on July 22.

Intel Core 2 Quad
Model
 Core
Frequency 		L2 Cache
 FSB July 22
Pricing
QX6800 2.93 GHz 8MB 1066 MHz
 $999
Q6700 2.66 GHz 8MB 1066 MHz
 $530
Q6600 2.40 GHz 8MB 1066 MHz
 $266

The first part of the price cuts will center on Intel's quad-core desktop processors. The Q6600, which Intel launched in February, currently sells for $530 in quantities of 1000. When the product was originally launched, it was priced at $851 in quantities of 1000. The next round of price cuts will effectively lower the price to $266. The selling price of the Intel QX6700 will also be lowered, coming in at $530 by the end of July.

Intel Quad Core Xeon DP
Model
 Core
Frequency 		L2 Cache
FSBJuly 22
Pricing
X53653.00 GHz 8MB 1333 MHz
$1172
X5355 2.66 GHz8MB 1333 MHz
$744
E5345 2.33 GHz 8MB 1333 MHz
$455
E5335
2.00 GHz 8MB1333 MHz
$316
E53201.86 GHz 8MB 1066 MHz
$256
E5310
1.60 GHz 8MB1066 MHz
$209
L53201.86 GHz 8MB 1066 MHz
$320
L5310
1.60 GHz 8MB1066 MHz
$273

Intel is also slashing the prices of its quad core Xeon DP processors. The flagship Xeon DP X5355 will see its introductory $1172 price drop to a more manageable $744. Likewise, Intel's slowest 1333MHz FSB Xeon DP processor will drop to $316 while the Intel's two low-voltage Xeon DP L5320 and L5310 processors will fall to $320 and $273 respectively.

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Intel is out for blood
By hellokeith on 5/15/2007 7:09:58 PM , Rating: 5
Looks like Intel has learned its lesson. They are continuing their performance, power, and price onslaught on every front against AMD.

I do hope AMD survives, if not for the sake of competition and better prices/features for consumers, though I don't plan on purchasing any AMD hardware for a long, long time.

$266 for a quad core 2 ??? That's insane.. in a good way.




RE: Intel is out for blood
By thebrown13 on 5/15/07, Rating: 0
RE: Intel is out for blood
By Mitch101 on 5/15/2007 7:21:29 PM , Rating: 2
Luckily Barcelona is a beast even at 2.5ghz.

If the respin in silicon is true then AMD will make some serious cash on CPU's in the server market.

A 2.5ghz Barcelona will beat a 3 ghz quad Intel. A 2.9-3.1Ghz Barcelona launch will be monsterous for the company.


RE: Intel is out for blood
By stromgald on 5/15/2007 7:43:44 PM , Rating: 5
The issue for AMD isn't whether Barcelona can match Core 2. From the rumors and leaks, it's pretty clear that clock for clock, Barcelona is better. But that's to be expected from a newer architecture.

AMD's technical side isn't the problem. It's the finances. Even if Barcelona is much more powerful per clock speed than Core 2, they still might be in trouble if they can't match Intel in performance/price.

The question is whether AMD can price their 2.5Ghz Barcelona at the level of a 3Ghz quad Intel. And that remains to be seen.


RE: Intel is out for blood
By MonkeyPaw on 5/16/2007 10:26:36 AM , Rating: 2
That's the thing, when AMD has the faster CPU, they don't compete with Intel's pricing. The 3800+ X2 was around $300 until the day Core2 arrived. Now it's $80. If Barcelona is indeed faster than Intel's Q-line, then it's quite likely that it won't be sold cheaply, especially since K10 will be in limited supply early on.


RE: Intel is out for blood
By TomZ on 5/15/07, Rating: 0
RE: Intel is out for blood
By Mitch101 on 5/15/07, Rating: 0
RE: Intel is out for blood
By TomZ on 5/15/2007 8:10:36 PM , Rating: 1
I didn't say Barcelona will be a dud - I'm not making any performance claims because I haven't seen any real numbers. But to answer your question, Intel clearly wants to marginalize AMD, which is the reason for their obviously very agressive strategies.


RE: Intel is out for blood
By Polynikes on 5/15/2007 9:59:39 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Intel doesnt need to cut prices if they know the AMD chips arent faster.


Yet they had price cuts not that long after they released Core 2 Duos, despite the fact that nothing on the AM2 platform could keep up with them. Like someone said earlier, Intel IS out for blood and wants to stay a step or two ahead if they can. It's just good business. It's not like the price cuts are hurting them.


RE: Intel is out for blood
By Conroe on 5/15/2007 10:44:51 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Intel doesnt need to cut prices if they know the AMD chips arent faster. So why do it?

To sell more chips! It's not all about beating AMD, it's all about selling and making a profit. Just think about it, how many would buy a Q6600 if it was $800 and how many would if it's $266? The fact is they can keep their FABs more busy and sell more CPUs and make more money with these low prices! AMD could do it too, if only they could.


RE: Intel is out for blood
By Mitch101 on 5/16/2007 9:36:38 AM , Rating: 1
Yes this is a tactic to undermine AMD and sell more cpu's and take more market share from AMD in the pre-release of Barcelona. Barcelona is a beast you will see the benchmarks soon enough. As for why you dont its simply because AMD needs to liquidate thier inventory. Heck they still have 939 and 754 chips to liquidate but those inventories are just about low enough for AMD to make some formal announcements about Barcelona.

What everyone here is overlooking is that Intel can actually sell CPU's at the cost of manufacturing so the prices can go even lower. WHY? Because most Intel CPU's are actually sold with Intel Motherboards. Not everyone buys an NVIDIA motherboard especially on the server side of things. So if Intel doesnt make the money on the CPU's it makes it in Motherboard sales. Note the top end Intel chips which will be ordered by companies arent coming down in price. Thats because general consumer dont buy these but companies do and as I said companies dont flinch at spending an extra grand or two on a server. This is one reason why AMD had to buy ATI. Something majorly overlooked in the profit potential is motherboard sales.

Oh Golly I can buy an Intel quad core for $266.00 well then chances are you want a good motherboard to go with that and an Intel motherboard is where Intel will makes its money. Its certainly a great deal but expect to pay a premium if you want a good motherboard to go with it. The 965 chipset if one of Intels best chipsets and since most people will never consider SLI then its certainly a good buy because the 965 is probably better than NVIDIA's single PCI-E slot motherboards. Pairing up a quad core cpu with a $50.00 motherboard is like putting a V8 into a yugo and wanting corevette performance. In a straight line it might do great but try taking corners.

On the server side Intel charges the premium for the CPU and the motherboard.

Everyone is basing it just on the CPU cost? Most of the time you require the coresponding motherboard to work with that new CPU. Im sure those DDR3 motherboard will be real cheap LOL but you know that most consumers are too stupid to know that their is no benefit to a DDR3 motherboard over a low latency DDR2 motherboard so Intel can make a premium on Marchitecture. Companies and most people generally dont just upgrade the CPU they buy a whole new system to replace a previous one. Scratch build machines are not the main stream of sales.

On the CPU front yes this hurts AMD maybe AMD can only make $10.00 a cpu now for the mainstram but with AMD aquiring ATI then AMD can possibly make a few more on Motherboard sales which is something they couldnt do before.

You have to look at the final cost of CPU AND MOTHERBOARD. If the Intel CPU is $266 and the coresponding motherboard is $219.00 then its $485.00. If AMD's Barcelona is $350.00 and the motherboard is $120.00 then the AMD combo is cheaper at a total of $470.00. And we are all noticing that NewEgg and several other companies are selling combo deals right? AMD can make money on Motherboards dont forget that. Its not just graphics chips and cpu's.

I will ask one question see if you can answer this it will seem irrelevant but see if you know the answer.

What does a boeing 747 weigh?


RE: Intel is out for blood
By rcc on 5/16/2007 1:05:22 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
What does a boeing 747 weigh?


That's a general question asking for a specific answer. It's non-sensical. What model 747, what options, loaded or empty, fueled for what range, what engine configuration, etc.