AMD cuts desktop processor prices

AMD has announced its latest round of desktop processor price cuts which will help to make quad-core even more accessible to mainstream customers.

The company is seemingly unable to compete with Intel at the high end, but with its flagship Phenom X4 9950 Black Edition processor now listed at $186 per chip in 1,000 unit quantities on the official price list.

Here's a full breakdown of the price cuts:



By contrast, Intel's Core 2 Quad Q6600 is the company's cheapest quad-core processor and that's currently listed at $193 per CPU; that's also in 1,000 unit trays and for many, it's probably still the most attractive quad-core on the market.

The problem I see for AMD really comes from Intel's range of dual-core processors though – while quad-core processors are becoming more and more accessible, one has to ask whether a much higher clocked dual-core is enough for most of us. Even in this day and age, many tasks still aren't suited to quad-cores and so you'll find a quick dual-core is more than enough.

Some would argue that a triple-core Phenom is the answer, but as we found in our X3 8750 review, they're not the best all round solution – if anything, testing the X3 made us want to spend that little bit more on a quad-core.

Regardless of that though, AMD's price cuts will be welcome news for anyone looking to upgrade an AM2 system.

Thinking of upgrading? Tell us about it in the forums.