Ian Grayson23 April 2008, 10:47 AM
That multi-core PC you’ve had your eye on is about to get cheaper, thanks to some unexpectedly large price cuts by chip giant Intel.
In a move that signals the next phase in the ongoing processor wars, Intel has slashed the price of its Q6700 Core 2 Quad processor in half and shaved up to 30 per cent off other chips in its range. The list price for Q6700 chips is now $US266, down from $US530.
All up, the company has reduced the price of 14 processors in a move many industry watchers believe will ratchet up pressure on arch rival AMD.
The cuts are likely to lead to healthy price drops in quad-core based PCs within the next few weeks. Currently Dell is offering an XPS 420 desktop built around the Q6700 processor for $2128. The price cut should push this box into the sub-$2000 category.
The price drops will be welcome news for gamers who might have been ogling the powerful quad-core machines but finding their pockets a little too empty to make the plunge.
Now, for less than $2000, they’ll be able to score a box with a quad-core processor, 500GB of storage, 2GB RAM, a 20-inch flat-screen monitor and DVD burner – enough to make even the most power-hungry user happy.
Intel also took the knife to its Xeon server processors, slicing 50 per cent off its X3230 chip to make its list price $US266.
The price cuts focused on chips manufacturing using Intel’s 65-nanometer process. While the company did not give any official explanation for the hefty cuts, they do precede a move to newer 45-nanometer production processes and will help the company shift old stock ahead of the changeover.
As part of its pricing announcement, Intel also took the wraps off two new dual-core processors. The 2.83 GHz Core 2 Duo E8300 which retails at $US163, and the 2.53 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor E7200 which has a price tag of $US133.