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Intel plans October P4 price cuts ahead of Prescott launch
No reductions until autumn
PC buyers awaiting cheaper 3.2GHz Pentium 4 machines rather than splashing out after the chip's launch on 23 June will have to hold off until late October.
Intel is not planning to cut the cost of the chip before 26 October, according to Xbit Labs.
On that date, the 3.2GHz P4, which operates with a 200MHz frontside bus quad-pumped for an effective bus speed of 800MHz, will fall to $417, a reduction of 34.5 per cent. Other 800MHz FSB P4 prices will fall too, with the price of the 3GHz chip being reduced from $417 to $278 (a fall of 33.4 per cent), the 2.8GHz version falling from $278 to $218 (down 21.6 per cent) and the 2.6GHz part coming down to $178 from $218 (down 18.3 per cent). The 2.4GHz chip will stay where it is, at $178.
The 533MHz FSB 3.06GHz P4 will fall from $401 to $262, a dip of 34.7 per cent. The 2.8GHz version will fall to $193 from $262 (down 26.3 per cent) and the 2.66GHz release will be priced at $163, down 15.5 per cent from $193. The 2.53GHz P4 will also fall from $193 to $163.
Prices are per chip based on orders of 1000 units.
The price cuts come in just ahead of the anticipated launch of Intel's next-generation Pentium 4, codenamed Prescott. It is expected to debut at 3.2GHz and 3.4GHz in November. Prescott features enlarged L1 and L2 caches, better HyperThreading and 13 new instructions. The 100 million transistor dies will be fabbed at 90nm.
A month ahead of the P4 price cuts, on 28 September, Intel will trim the prices of its Springdale i865 and its i845 chipsets by a dollar or two. The i866PE and i865P will come down to $32, and the i865PE RAID and i865P RAID to $35. The integrated i865G will fall to $38, and the i865G RAID will hit $41.
The i845PE will hit $23; the i845E, $21. The integrated i845GE will be priced at $32, the i845G will be $35, and the i845GV and the i845GL will hit $22. ®
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Xbit Labs: Intel to cut Pentium 4 pricing in October