Introduction
Welcome back to another edition of our CPU price guide. Overall, we're noticing many processors have actually decreased in price and this is obviously a great occurrence. The recent addition to the FX line, the dual-core Athlon 64 FX-60, has been introduced into our RTPE. Price-wise, this processor is up there with the Intel Extreme Edition CPUs, so it's not something for everyone. Check out Anand's FX-60 write-up for more info regarding this.
Intel's new additions to the dual-core line-up, the Presler 9xx, are fairly impressive. They are currently competing very nicely with AMD's variants, and this is an exceptional stand to see Intel take.
And lastly, don't forget to check out our RTPE at http://labs.anandtech.com/ for your hardware buying needs.
Starting off the guide, we would like to take a look at AMD's dual-core line-up.
Dual-Core Desktops
This week, we're noticing that all of the AMD X2 processors have seen some sort of price adjustment; most have decreased in price, although a couple of which have gone up. The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester [RTPE: ADA4200BVBOX] has seen a slight price decrease of $24, bringing it down to $365 shipped, the lowest we've seen this processor sell for.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 (939) 4200+ 2x512KB Manchester
If you're looking for a cheaper alternative, the AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester [RTPE: ADA3800BVBOX] is still an excellent option. Down about $20, the X2 3800+ is on sale for $300. We would also like to mention that the highest available AMD X2, the Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo [RTPE: ADA4800CDBOX], has come down by an impressive $147, bringing the total cost down to an even $640 shipped (the lowest price we've seen it go for).
The newly released Athlon 64 FX-60 [RTPE: ADAFX60CDBOX] has actually come down about $100 in the couple weeks it has been out. Currently, the dual-core FX-60 is priced at about $1,109 shipped.
Just as well as the dual-core AMD CPUs, a few of the dual-core Intel processors have also seen a decent reduction in price, ranging from about $20 to $50. The newly released Presler (9xx) processors are in stock and at fairly reasonable prices. Going for $339, the Intel Pentium D 930 [RTPE: HH80553PG0804M] is down about $37. Clocked at 3.4GHz, the Intel Pentium D 950 [RTPE: HH80553PG0964M] is the fastest dual-core Intel CPU available at the moment. It is currently priced at $689 shipped.
With the miniscule price difference of about $20 between the lowest Presler (Pentium D 920) and lowest Smithfield (Pentium D 820), we recommend going with the Intel Pentium D 920 (Presler) [RTPE: HH80553PG0724M] for $266 rather than the Intel Pentium D 820 [RTPE: HH80551PG0722MN].
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DigitalFreak - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
You have the FX-60 cache listed as 2x2MB. Should be 2x1MB, right?KeithDust2000 - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
I don´t see you warning against the fact that power management is currently not working in the Pentium D parts. Since this is a CPU guide, it would be wise to include that.Questar - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
Your AMD fanbotism is really showing through today.KeithDust2000 - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
Just because you aren´t aware of the issue doesn´t mean it doesn´t exist.But I see that the area of your expertise is rather "personal attacks out of nowhere, with no content or argument to the contrary of any sort".
KeithDust2000 - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
By that I am of course referring to the Presler parts that you are recommending in your guide.KeithDust2000 - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
This week, we're noticing that all of the AMD X2 processors have seen some sort of price adjustment; most have decreased in price, although a couple of which have gone up.Actually, the price drops were across the X2 line-up.
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=3147">link
KeithDust2000 - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
Intel's new additions to the dual-core line-up, the Presler 9xx, are fairly impressive. They are currently competing very nicely with AMD's variants, and this is an exceptional stand to see Intel take.Let me see. Their performance is lower, they consume more power and also cost quite a bit more, as your price engine shows. I don´t know where you guys have spent the last few years, but this is not exceptional, but has rather been the rule for many years.
One43637 - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
ouch $513 for a 175? glad i ordered a retail for under $500.while getting a nice OC is good to hope for, i'd be happy if it could clock like my current P4.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
I put together a Pentium 4 506 based system for a family member. He didn't need much, I had a P4 board available, etc. The PSU died last week during a power failure, likely because he was using an old power strip as opposed to a real surge protector. I replaced the PSU for him, and in the process I was checking out the system.Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was running at 4.0 GHz instead of 2.66 GHz. Yikes! I asked him if it had been crashing or anything, and he said he hadn't noticed anything. Still, I poked around a bit and it didn't seem fully stable.
Now, this was with the stock HSF running stock voltages. Considering this is only a http://labs.anandtech.com/search.php?q=pentium+506">$120 Intel CPU - albeit without HyperThreading - you might be able to get some nice results with a better HSF and motherboard.
tjpark1111 - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
are the opterons still a go or are the steppings crappy and it's a no-go? I would just get a venice instead, no reason to get an opteron if it ain't gonna OC better than venices. Can anyone confirm?