AMD Phenom X4 prices pop up in online stores

Chicago (IL) – If we ever had some doubt that AMD would be able to deliver its desktop quad-core processors in time for Christmas, there are now signs that a release of the CPUs may be closer than we previously thought : Several online stores have published retail prices of AMD’s new processors, indicating how AMD’s new CPUs will be competing with Intel’s Penryn processors.

Curious minds anticipating the launch of the new processors can check Google’s Product Search as well as the usual suspects such as it4profit.com to see in which price range AMD’s Phenom CPU may land. At this time, three CPUs are being published. The 2.2 GHz Phenom X4 9500, the 2.3 GHz 9600 and the 2.4 GHz 9700. While we always have to take these pre-launch prices with a grain of salt, it is already clear that AMD will be aggressive in its pricing and is unlikely to be able to attack Intel in the $500+ segment.

The 9500 is currently indicated to hit the retail market in the $260-$270 range ; the 9600 could be available for prices between $290 and $300 and the 9700 is listed for prices between $310 and $330. These numbers would put the new Phenoms squarely against Intel’s new Penryn quad-core desktop processors, which are scheduled to debut with the high-end QX9650 next Monday.

According to sources, Intel will not deviate from the pricing strategy that has been in place since the introduction of the Core architecture in July of last year. Its high-end enthusiast chip (QX9650, 3.0 GHz, 12 MB L2 cache) will launch at $999, the high-end mainstream-processor (in this case the Q9550, 2.83 GHz, 12 MB L2 cache) at $530 and the mainstream versions below at $316 (Q9450, 2.66 GHz, 12 MB L2 cache) and $266 (Q9300, 2.50 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache). History tells us that retail prices of these new processors will be substantially higher for at least several weeks after launch.

If AMD follows through with its strategy, then the new dual-core (Phenom X2) will be positioned below the $260 mark to compete with Intel’s Penryn-based dual-cores E8500 (3.16 GHz, 6 MB L2 cache, $266), E8400 (3.0 GHz, $183), E8300 (2.83 GHz, $174) and E8200 (2.66 GHz, $163).

While quad-core pricing is now nearing mainstream levels and quad-core PCs may become more affordable for more consumers, dual-core systems will continue to dominate the desktop market for the foreseeable time. In that view, it will be interesting to see how AMD will position its triple-core Phenom X3 against Intel’s dual-core CPUs – and between its own X2 and X4 processors.

The company will have to shift pricing of either the dual-cores or the quad-cores and, from today’s view, there appears to be virtual no chance for AMD to increase pricing of its X4 CPUs. It is more likely that the company will drop the prices of its X2 chips to protect its higher-margin X4 processors, which in turn, could put some pressure on Intel’s dual-core processors and ring in a new round of the price war between the two companies.

Looks like another interesting year to us.