Sunnyvale (CA) – The competition between AMD and Intel may appear to have calmed down a bit over recent months, but the retail market shows every sign that a new battle has begun: Following the dual-core fight, it now appears that triple-cores in fact are increasing the pressure on dual-core PCs and quad-core PCs have officially arrived in the mainstream.

For about half a year it seemed like entry-level quad-core PCs were stuck in the $800 to $1000 range, with Intel’s Core 2 Quad Q6600 controlling supply and demand. But suddenly we are seeing a whole new dynamic in this market. Large retail chains are selling what we would consider cheap multi-core processor systems that are competing with some aging dual-core systems still in inventory and are pushing more up-to-date dual-core PCs below $500 and even into the sub-$300 segment.    

Newegg is currently selling a Gateway PC (without monitor) using AMD’s triple-core Phenom 8400 processor for $530 (the same PC is available at Circuit City for $580 and for $550 at Best Buy).  Circuit City is also offering a Gateway quad-core Phenom 9500 computer for $580 as well as ZT Systems Intel Q6600 PC for $600. The product lineups in fact are somewhat confusing as older dual-core computers, such as systems with AMD’s Athlon X2 CPUs are overlapping into the quad-core price level and are, in some cases, actually more expensive than newer processors with more cores.

At Best Buy, the AMD triple-core is the cheapest desktop computer you can buy at this time and there are no dual-core PCs available through its online store at this time. Circuit City still carries dual-core PCs, which, however are mostly entry-level systems and are priced as low as $299.99 for an Intel E2160 system.

With the exception of the Q6600 model at Circuit City, Intel quad-core PCs are substantially more expensive than AMD models. Systems without monitors are available from $850 (Q6600) to $1100 (Q9300) at Best Buy.

Triple-core CPUs have actually been launched to help AMD compete with Intel’s dual-core processors. And so far they appear to be working very well. And if you are looking into building your own triple-core system, it looks like you can pick up a triple-core 8400 processor for about $150 right now, while the quad-core 9500 has just dropped below $200 at some stores.    

Intel’s quad-core processors remain more expensive, according to Pricegrabber.com. The Q6600 is selling for an average of $268, with a low of $216 today, while the Q6700 version is, following the most recent price drop, available for an average of $322 and a low of $275.

Lots of Cores = Marketing

Apr 22, 2008 11:06     

Hey look, punctuation! Gosh that means a lot to the tech savvy readers on TGDaily. When it comes down to your basic and decipherable thoughts, you're correct. There's relatively few programs that utilize multiple cores at all. Kudos. However, just like back in the Pentium4 days, when Ghz were all the rage, times have changed. It's a multi-core consumer market. Just like how the Wii has turned into a huge sensation overnite with its "gameplay > graphics", the processor market has moved away from Ghz, and is adopting more cores. Programs that could use the extra power will adopt it, but for the most part, a 5 year old single core processor is always going to be more than enough to run Word, Excel, and IE. It will never stop technology from advancing, and if it's going too fast for you, maybe you should get off the ride. Buy a bike. Go outside and play with a football. Get yourself a new pair of shoes and tear up the dance floor. This is no place to talk down about new technology as 90% of the readers here obsess and devote their lives to the tidbits dribbling down from the top.

Jay report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Phenom Tri-Core=Garbage

Apr 22, 2008 12:27     

Phenom tri-cores are slower than Intel dual cores. Should be in dual core territory. Why class them together with quad cores?
OCer report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Triple cores not garbage

Apr 22, 2008 17:59     

Funny i have a cheap gateway i recently bought from cuircut city. Cost $450 for Winvista Phemon 3 core , 3 gigs dual channel 1gigx2 512x2 , 320 7200rpm sata 3.0 hdd , Nvida Nforce mother board with overclocking , INtergraded Geforce 6150se , installed 8800 gt over clock . And this machine outpreforms my brothers INtel Dual core rig that cost $200 more. I run Crysis better and at higher settings , HellGate london better and at high setings,Edit and convert Media faster.

pyrosity report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1