Pricing and the future

So now that you’ve read all about AMD’s new AM2 processors, how much does one cost? The following chart summarizes AMD’s latest bulk processor pricing:

AM2 CPU Pricing
FX-62	$1,031
X2 5000+	$696
X2 4800+	$645
X2 4600+	$558
X2 4400+	$470
X2 4200+	$365
X2 4000+	$328
X2 3800+	$303
Athlon 64 3800+	$290
Athlon 64 3500+	$189
Sempron 3600+	$123
Sempron 3500+	$109
Sempron 3400+	$97
Sempron 3200+	$87
Sempron 3000+	$77

And the energy efficient models:

AMD AM2 Energy Efficient CPU Pricing
65 Watts:
X2 4800+	$671
X2 4600+	$601
X2 4400+	$514
X2 4200+	$417
X2 4000+	$353
X2 3800+	$323
35 Watts:
X2 3800+	$364
Athlon 64 3500+	$231
Sempron 3400+	$145
Sempron 3200+	$119
Sempron 3000+	$101

The future

As we said in the introduction, AMD’s got a pretty busy schedule ahead of themselves. Now that they’ve got today’s AM2 platform launch behind them, their focus will shift on to their upcoming 65-nm manufacturing process. AMD’s hoping for a smooth transition.

If history is any indication, don’t expect AMD to add much to their existing core architecture in the way of added performance with the move to the new process, at least at first. AMD tends to prefer getting the process nailed down before adding any new goodies (such as more L2 cache), which can get pretty costly if you find yourself with poor yields.

Looking further out, AMD acknowledged that they’re hard at work on a mid-life extension of sorts for the K8 family, codenamed K8L. Speaking at the Spring Microprocessor Forum, AMD divulged quite a few details on this new chip, not only will it have improved HyperTransport, quad core support, and a new L3 cache, K8L will also boast enhanced SSE and floating-point performance and eventually support DDR3 memory.

But 65-nm and K8L may not be the only items on AMD’s immediate roadmap however. In fact, we’ve heard pretty solid rumors that AMD’s got something else planned to help contend against Intel’s upcoming Conroe processors, now known as the Core 2 line. If these rumors are true, the CPU market could be gearing up for a war the likes of which we haven’t seen in quite some time.

So what does the future hold for Socket 939? AMD states that they plan to continue to support the socket as long as market demand warrants it. Don’t expect AMD to release a Socket 939 X2 5200+ or FX-64 anytime soon, in all likelihood 939 CPUs will likely be largely out of AMD’s production mix by this time next year. The Athlon 64 4000+ was just recently axed, and the 3200+ will most likely join it after the next round of price cuts.