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Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1929
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].
AMD Single-Core
While practically all of the Athlon 64 single-core processors have remained at the same price point since our last CPU price guide, we can see that only the AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 San Diego [RTPE: ADAFX57BNBOX] has seen any significant price adjustment. Coming down $166, the FX-57 is now at an even $845 shipped.
On to the more reasonably priced processors, the AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego [RTPE: ADA3700BNBOX] is priced at about $215. Honestly though, if you're looking to spend a tad more than this amount or even higher, we would like to remind you that you could easily go with a dual-core processor for about $30 more. Something from either Intel or AMD would be perfect. Just for comparison's sake, you can go with the Pentium D 820 for about $245 shipped or even the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ for about $300 shipped.
For a decent low-end setup, the socket 754 processors are still a viable option. The AMD Athlon 64 (754) 3000+ Venice [RTPE: ADA3000BXBOX] is reasonably priced at about $130 shipped.
While the AMD Athlon 64 (754) Mobile 3000+ [RTPE: AMN3000BIX5AR] is also a fair alternative, on sale for an even $118 shipped. This isn't exactly the lowest price we've seen by any means, but we would still like to point out that the AMD Athlon 64 (754) 3700+ 1MB Hammer [RTPE: ADA3700AEP5AR] is available for about $209 shipped after a $50 mail-in rebate, found over at TigerDirect. This mail-in rebate is valid until January 31st, 2006 and must be postmarked within 30 days of purchase.
To see how the current price of the A64 3700+ fairs, check out the graph below:
AMD Athlon 64 (754) 3700+ 1MB Hammer
For a very low budget-based system, the Sempron 64 can be a great choice for your needs. The AMD Sempron 64 (754) 2800+ 256KB Palermo [RTPE: SDA2800BXBOX] seems reasonably priced at an even $75 shipped. If you start getting into the $100 price range in the Sempron 64 line-up, we suggest going with a low-end Athlon 64 (socket 754) which contains twice (or even four times) the amount of cache of the Sempron 64's. For instance, the Sempron 3400+ vs. the Athlon 64 3000+ (Venice) saves you $6 for half the cache - not at all worth it, in our opinion.
Intel Pentium 4
Rather than going with the 5xx series, we recommend you go with one of the 6xx processors. We are noticing that the last time we looked at the Intel Pentium 4 630 [RTPE: BX80547PG3000F], it was going for about $165. Today, we are seeing the 630 going for approximately $182, that's a $17 increase. $17 isn't too significant, but we thought we would point this out.
For approximately $40 more than the P4 630, the Intel Pentium 4 640 [RTPE: BX80547PG3200F] is on sale for just under $220.
Intel Celeron D
For basic home office tasks and the like, an Intel Celeron D (775) is a great alternative to AMD's Sempron 64. The Intel Celeron D (775) 345 [RTPE: BX80547RE3066C] is a decent deal, going for approximately $100. For something just a bit cheaper, the Intel Celeron D (775) 331 [RTPE: BX80547RE2667CN] is also at an acceptable price, currently going for about $80 shipped.
We're seeing the Intel Celeron D (775) 341 [RTPE: BX80547RE2933CN] is on sale for approximately $59 shipped after a $50 mail-in rebate (MIR). The Intel Celeron D (478) 345 [RTPE: BX80546RE3066C] is also going for about $59 shipped after a $50 mail-in rebate.
One other processor featuring a MIR is the Intel Celeron D (478) 340 [RTPE: BX80546RE2933C] which is going for about $49 shipped after a $50 MIR. Please do take notice that these rebates are valid until January 31st, 2006 and are currently offered at TigerDirect.
The Pentium M processors have remained fairly steady since our last price guide. A few of them have slightly gone up or down in price, but nothing really significant. The Intel Pentium M (479) 740 533FSB 2MB [RTPE: BX80536GE1733F] is on sale for a reasonable $208, shipped.
Opteron & Xeon
The two most popular Opterons amongst overclockers are the 144 and 146, Venus cores. Overclockers are still in luck as these two models can still be found at a great price. The AMD Opteron 144 Venus [RTPE: OSA144DAA5BN] is going for about $159 shipped, while the AMD Opteron 146 Venus [RTPE: OSA146DAA5BN] is on sale for approximately $189 shipped.
The Xeon processors aren't as great of a hit as the Opterons are, although they still make excellent server CPUs. We can see the Intel Xeon 2.8GHz 800FSB 1MB [RTPE: BX80546KG2800E] is going for approximately $211 shipped. We're also seeing the Intel Xeon 3.2GHz 800FSB 2MB [RTPE: BX80546KG3200F] on sale for $341.
Thanks for taking a look through this weeks CPU price guide. Stay tuned next week when we take a look at what's going on with the latest and greatest in the motherboard marketplace.