Will CPU prices change?

[kalvindeane]

Was asking on teh forums on what CPU I should get, when the amd 6 core comes out will current cpu's (am3/i7) be any cheaper, if so should I hold off on buying one until then?

 

[Frozennova]

In short no.

If you want the long answer this is due AMDs Thuban coming in to compete with Intels 980X EE 6 Core CPU. Due to Thuban being ~£200 on release this will actually be competing with 4 core chips from AMD and Intel so this will not drive prices down, however it may force Intel to release some "affordable" 6 Core proccessors a little quicker

 

[SirCanealot]

Unfortunately the waiting game isn't such a good game to play right now, imo. Current tech is so good prices are taking their sweet time to come down :/
If you sit around waiting, you'll be waiting a long time... or even forever. May as well just save to a budget you're happy with and buy, buy, buy

 

[Corasik]

In short no.

If you want the long answer this is due AMDs Thuban coming in to compete with Intels 980X EE 6 Core CPU. Due to Thuban being ~£200 on release this will actually be competing with 4 core chips from AMD and Intel so this will not drive prices down, however it may force Intel to release some "affordable" 6 Core proccessors a little quicker

However, The 6 core Thuban will bearly keep up with a 4 core i7 with Hyperthreading enabled, and all cores fully loaded, as i7 is faster clock for clocks per core. Applications which only use 1-4 cores will be faster on the i7's still. And with hyperthreading on you can improve performance by 25% or better, so even with all 6 cores of Thuban working flat out, an i7 still has a fighting chance of being fastest at any given clock rate, and is probably using less power.

That said the Thuban is great value for upgrading existing AMD platforms and might inspire intel to release a "mainstream" version of the 6 core i7's .

On the whole prices rarely fall in the CPU market. Intel have used almost the same price points since they released Core 2 Duo... What you do see is old models being phased out, and new models coming in at those prices. With the exception of a few parts like the Q6600 which just kept going well past its best before date .

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

It maybe worth waiting. The price of Core2 quad processors dropped last year when AMD released the Phenom II processors. The lower end models of the Phenom II X6 are supposedly to be under £200. The X6 1055T has been rumoured to be around $200 at launch:

http://blogs.zdnet.com/computers/?p=1848

On top of this newer 890G and 890FX motherboards are also being released.

Anyway it is only a few weeks and if the price cuts don't happen then you can go with what processor you had in mind in the first place.

 

[kalvindeane]

shame; thanks dudes

 

[Troezar]

Anyone think the 1090T be will be priced the same as the i7 930 as they speculate in the bit-tech article?

 

[Mr Krugga]

It might be, along with 1055T priced the same as Core i5 750. It would make it a simple option for those needing the power of 6 cores.

 

[PermaBanned]

Yes. Just not much in the foreseeable future.

 

[Mr Krugga]

I'm sure there are people who need 6 cores more than higher clocks and more efficient quad cores from Intel Certainly not gamers.