AMD and Intel Server CPUs
We'll close off our CPU Price Guide as usual with the server/enterprise parts. Prices are substantially higher on the majority of these chips, but price is rarely a major concern when you're looking at building 4-way and 8-way servers.
Not counting the Opteron 939 offerings, the best price/performance Opteron server product would be the Opteron 270 [RTPE: OSA270CBBOX] ($448 OEM/$471 retail). If what you need is maximum performance with four or more processors, however, look no further than the Opteron 885 [RTPE: OSA885FAA6CC] ($2089 OEM). With a clock speed of 2.6 GHz, dual cores, and support for up to 8-way configurations, the Opteron 880 is currently the fastest shipping server processor. The launch of Woodcrest may change things, of course, but that hasn't officially happened.
Most businesses tend to purchase servers with all of the CPU sockets already occupied, of course, but if you need another Xeon processor there's your list. The highest performing option we're currently tracking is likely the Xeon 3.6 GHz 800FSB 2MB [RTPE: BX80546KG3600F] ($708).
Conclusion
That takes care of this month's CPU Price Guide. Now may not be the best time to upgrade processors unless you're in a really big hurry, as we should see retail availability of Intel's new processors in the next month or so. What will availability be like, and how much will they cost? Those are both good questions, and the best way to find out is to wait. However, time is money, so if you find yourself in need of a new processor and can't wait, hopefully we've been able to provide you with some useful advice. We'll be taking a look at the motherboard sector in the near future, so if you need advice on a home for your processor as well, we'll be covering that next week.
We'll close off our CPU Price Guide as usual with the server/enterprise parts. Prices are substantially higher on the majority of these chips, but price is rarely a major concern when you're looking at building 4-way and 8-way servers.
Conclusion
That takes care of this month's CPU Price Guide. Now may not be the best time to upgrade processors unless you're in a really big hurry, as we should see retail availability of Intel's new processors in the next month or so. What will availability be like, and how much will they cost? Those are both good questions, and the best way to find out is to wait. However, time is money, so if you find yourself in need of a new processor and can't wait, hopefully we've been able to provide you with some useful advice. We'll be taking a look at the motherboard sector in the near future, so if you need advice on a home for your processor as well, we'll be covering that next week.
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Calin - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
The only reason you could have to buy an Sempron (AM2) over an Athlon would be the lower power use (35W TDP for the new Semprons compared to the 65W TDP of the Athlons64 AM2 (or 89W of the X2 versions).Could there be an evaluation of the difference in power use between the same frequency Sempron and Athlon64 processors? Thanks
johnsonx - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
The low power Semprons aren't available yet, nor are the low power Athlons at the current time. Currently shipping Semprons and Athlons are all 65W TDP.Looking at the recent price lists, I'd make a bet that all the single-core Athlon64's are going away before long, with the possible exception of the highest performing parts. It's the same logic that applies to the 1Mb cache parts: single-core A64's cost AMD more to make than Semprons, yet AMD can't really charge more money for them because of their convoluted model numbering system.
Having an Athlon64 3000+ that is clocked the same but has 4x the cache as a Sempron 3400+ just makes a mess of things.
mino - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
Well they are :)AFAIK pretty much any 90nm Sempron(doesn't matter which socket) is in the 20W-35W power consumption range.
Calin - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
I saw on offers Sempron (AM2) processors with TDP of 35W, compared to the Athlon64 (AM2 versions) with TDP of 65W and the dual cores (again AM2) with 89W TDP.I suppose the low voltage versions are not here yet, but the power rating in offers still remains
JarredWalton - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
You will also be able to get low power X2 and Athlon 64 chips in the near future. I will see about testing an Athlon 64 3000+ (AM2) compared to the Sempron 3400+ (AM2). My experience in the past is that AMD's TDP power numbers have been extremely conservative, so I would be surprised if Sempron chips are more than 5 Watts lower. That might matter for notebooks/laptops, but for desktops 5 W is basically meaningless -- you're looking at $5 (or less) for power costs over the course of an entire year, assuming the system is running 24/7/365.Calin - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
Thank you very muchSonicIce - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
I can't belive how cheap single core Athlon 64's have gotten. This is a very good thing! Hopefully dual cores will fall soon.jelifah - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
That's what Jarred was trying to say in his article when he said 'if you can wait a month'July 24th AMD is expected to slash prices by around 50%. And yes that includes the pretty little X2 3800+, which should be available for $150. Now the only question is how quick NewEgg can ship them on that day, because I WILL place an order at that price.
I'm actually going to be paying LESS for a dual core than I paid for my socket 939 3000+ single core 18 months ago.
ChronoReverse - Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - link
I'll be watching prices very carefully in the upcoming months. Right now I'm still undecided as to getting an used s939 3800+, a new AM2 3800+ or getting the $160 Conroe.Great times ahead now that there's competition again.
Rebel44 - Monday, June 19, 2006 - link
Yeah they will - I´m just waiting for release of new Intel´s procesors because AMD announced to lower prices of X-2´s by up to 50%:-)