Intel slashes chip prices, boosting pressure on AMD
Cuts Core 2 Quad and Xeon chips prices in half as it moves to clear out 65nm processors
April 21, 2008 (Computerworld) Intel Corp. is slashing the price of some of its processors up to 50%, a slap in the face to rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., long known as the low-price alternative in the chip market.
Intel announced on its Web site yesterday that it had cut the price of about a dozen processors. Patrick Ward, a spokesman for Intel, noted that most of the processors on the price-cut list were built on 65 nanometer technology, which Intel is phasing out in favor of its new 45nm chips. It's akin to car dealers cutting the prices on last year's models to make room for the latest ones.
"We're transitioning from 65nm to 45nm," said Ward. "We're in the process of refreshing our line. If you see a 65nm [chip], it's older technology and we're moving on from it."
According to Intel's new price list, its Q6700 Core 2 Quad processor price decreased from $530 to $266 for a shipment of 1,000 chips -- a 50% change. The Intel Xeon X3230 also had its price slashed in half, dropping from $530 to $266.
The company also noted that the price of 1,000 Core 2 Duo E6850 chips was cut from $266 to $183, a 31% drop, while the Intel Celeron 430 dipped 23%, to $34. And the price of an Intel Xeon 3085 shipment was cut from $266 to $188.
Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc., said it's fairly common for Intel to trim some chip prices, but he's surprised that the company would make such big cuts on so many chips at once.
"This really keeps up the pressure on AMD," he added. "Intel blankets the market from high end to low end, with multiple choices at almost every price point -- each competitive with AMD on either performance or price or both. They're making sure they have a compelling price and/or performance value proposition in every segment where they compete with AMD. In short, it isn't getting any easier to compete with Intel."
AMD said last week that it's on track to ship its first 45nm chips in volume in the fourth quarter. If that is when AMD enters the 45nm race, the company will be about a year behind Intel, which shipped its first 45nm Penryn chip this past November.
November 12, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Intel Corp.'s new 45-nanometer chip for the desktop, part of the newly released Penryn family, should give gamers, researchers and serious multitaskers a significant performance boost, according to analysts.
And that is not good news for rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which recently started shipping its quad-core Barcelona processor -- built using a 65nm manufacturing process. AMD isn't expected to move to 45nm technology until the second half of 2008.
The release of Intel's Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor came as part of a larger release of Penryn processors, including 15 server dual-core and quad-core 45nm Hi-k Intel Xeon processors. To make the move from 65nm to 45nm processors, Intel designed a new transistor, stemming leakage and improving energy efficiency. With 820 million of these newly designed transistors in just one chip, Intel is calling it one of its biggest advancements.
On the desktop side, all of this should add up to a major performance boost.
Dean Freeman, an analyst at Gartner Inc., said he expects Penryn will be 20% to 50% faster than Intel's previous chip releases in general purpose applications and 10% to 40% faster in technical applications, multimedia and games. For example, someone using Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint should see a 20% to 50% boost, while an Adobe Photoshop user should see a 10% to 40% increase.
"It's going to mean a faster desktop. It's a more powerful tool, operating applications faster," said Freeman. "Basically, it means that for those of us who are concerned about the speed at which applications work on our desktop, the good news is that it will work faster."
Boyd Davis, a general manager at Intel, said a larger L2 cache and support for new SSE4 media instructions are part of the chip's performance boost.
And while no one will be expectantly lining up around the block for the new chips, Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT Inc. in Hayward, Calif., said that Penryn is a "step up" from previous Intel designs and should appeal to the high-end gamers and workstation customers.
"The Penryn architecture blends notably high performance with significant steps forward in power efficiency," he added. "It's a bit like a new sports car that hits a higher top speed than previous models, while simultaneously delivering better gas mileage."
Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc., said the Penryn desktop won't just appeal to the gaming community. Power users with more than 10 applications open at once, video editors and researchers are going to be eager for a performance boost.
April 21, 2008 (Computerworld) Intel Corp. is slashing the price of some of its processors up to 50%, a slap in the face to rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., long known as the low-price alternative in the chip market.
Intel announced on its Web site yesterday that it had cut the price of about a dozen processors. Patrick Ward, a spokesman for Intel, noted that most of the processors on the price-cut list were built on 65 nanometer technology, which Intel is phasing out in favor of its new 45nm chips. It's akin to car dealers cutting the prices on last year's models to make room for the latest ones.
"We're transitioning from 65nm to 45nm," said Ward. "We're in the process of refreshing our line. If you see a 65nm [chip], it's older technology and we're moving on from it."
According to Intel's new price list, its Q6700 Core 2 Quad processor price decreased from $530 to $266 for a shipment of 1,000 chips -- a 50% change. The Intel Xeon X3230 also had its price slashed in half, dropping from $530 to $266.
The company also noted that the price of 1,000 Core 2 Duo E6850 chips was cut from $266 to $183, a 31% drop, while the Intel Celeron 430 dipped 23%, to $34. And the price of an Intel Xeon 3085 shipment was cut from $266 to $188.
Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc., said it's fairly common for Intel to trim some chip prices, but he's surprised that the company would make such big cuts on so many chips at once.
"This really keeps up the pressure on AMD," he added. "Intel blankets the market from high end to low end, with multiple choices at almost every price point -- each competitive with AMD on either performance or price or both. They're making sure they have a compelling price and/or performance value proposition in every segment where they compete with AMD. In short, it isn't getting any easier to compete with Intel."
AMD said last week that it's on track to ship its first 45nm chips in volume in the fourth quarter. If that is when AMD enters the 45nm race, the company will be about a year behind Intel, which shipped its first 45nm Penryn chip this past November.
November 12, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Intel Corp.'s new 45-nanometer chip for the desktop, part of the newly released Penryn family, should give gamers, researchers and serious multitaskers a significant performance boost, according to analysts.
And that is not good news for rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which recently started shipping its quad-core Barcelona processor -- built using a 65nm manufacturing process. AMD isn't expected to move to 45nm technology until the second half of 2008.
The release of Intel's Core 2 Extreme quad-core processor came as part of a larger release of Penryn processors, including 15 server dual-core and quad-core 45nm Hi-k Intel Xeon processors. To make the move from 65nm to 45nm processors, Intel designed a new transistor, stemming leakage and improving energy efficiency. With 820 million of these newly designed transistors in just one chip, Intel is calling it one of its biggest advancements.
On the desktop side, all of this should add up to a major performance boost.
Dean Freeman, an analyst at Gartner Inc., said he expects Penryn will be 20% to 50% faster than Intel's previous chip releases in general purpose applications and 10% to 40% faster in technical applications, multimedia and games. For example, someone using Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint should see a 20% to 50% boost, while an Adobe Photoshop user should see a 10% to 40% increase.
"It's going to mean a faster desktop. It's a more powerful tool, operating applications faster," said Freeman. "Basically, it means that for those of us who are concerned about the speed at which applications work on our desktop, the good news is that it will work faster."
Boyd Davis, a general manager at Intel, said a larger L2 cache and support for new SSE4 media instructions are part of the chip's performance boost.
And while no one will be expectantly lining up around the block for the new chips, Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT Inc. in Hayward, Calif., said that Penryn is a "step up" from previous Intel designs and should appeal to the high-end gamers and workstation customers.
"The Penryn architecture blends notably high performance with significant steps forward in power efficiency," he added. "It's a bit like a new sports car that hits a higher top speed than previous models, while simultaneously delivering better gas mileage."
Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group Inc., said the Penryn desktop won't just appeal to the gaming community. Power users with more than 10 applications open at once, video editors and researchers are going to be eager for a performance boost.
