HKEPC has a list of Intel price cuts effective sometime in Q2 2007 sometime in Q2 2007.
By then, the E4300 we’ve been talking about will go down from $163 to $113, but frankly, anything on the lower half of HKEPC’s list looks pretty good.
It would be nice to know what Intel plans to do with its 45nm processors the second half of the year, that will involve a socket change, and it would be nice to know if they plan on having any reasonably priced 45nm chips in 2007, but I suspect not, given the slightly upgraded Conroe chips that will become available in Q3 2007.
Nonetheless, it’s pretty hard to see why any AMD fan in his right mind would want to buy into a new green system before the real 65nm chips show up, and if they don’t measure up to Conroe, there isn’t going to be an AMD O/C niche any longer.
Unless . . . .
If I were AMD, and if I gave a turd about keeping the current OCing AMDers from buying Intel (which we doubt), and I knew the chips I was going to put out in six months weren’t going to be quite as good as the Conroes, I’d do what it took to make some socket 939 versions of whatever I had.
I think that would keep many, probably most AMDers loyal, simply because a $100-120 CPU upgrade is a lot cheaper than a Conroe system replacement, and if it’s not quite as fast as Intel or even AM2 models, well, I think most could live pretty happily with that.
The old AMD used to do things like that, remember 180nm K6-2+s?
Yes, AMD would rather have people buy an AM2 board, then an AM2+, then an AM3 board over the next couple years, but you can’t always get what you want. Yes, an AM3 chip is supposed to work with an AM2 board with some reduced functionality, but if that’s OK, why not a 939 chip with the same?
AMD has to decide, do they want to lose, some motherboard sales, or more customers?
And if AMD would rather flip the bird than toss a bone to the loyal dogs (because they’re a bit too mangy for the new AMD?), maybe this is now a case of unrequited passion, AMD fans, and the company you once loved is no more.
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