AMD to cut Quad FX prices

[Furen]

The Inquirer reports that AMD is set to cut Quad FX across the board by $100. This means the flamethrower FX-74 set will cost $899 (no doubt to offset the power-draw expense), the FX-72 will cost $699 and the FX-70 will cost $499. If the parts that actually ship have a better power draw than what we saw from reviews then AMD will be in a decent-enough shape. Dual-CPU platforms are not inherently power-hungry. They do draw more power than a single-CPU platform because of all the additional stuff that goes into it (like VRMs, all the extra IO thrown into them) but there really is no inherent difference between powering two dies on a single package or two dies on different packages. Just dropping the FX-74's voltage to a more reasonable 1.4v could save something along the lines of 50W, and a 2.6GHz FX part could conceivably draw something like 80W less (at the same 1.4v vCore). While this would still leave AMD quite a bit higher than Intel on the power-draw front, it would certainly be a much more viable alternative, especially if the 2.6GHz part undercuts Intel by 50%.

 

[myocardia]

I personally think that the biggest problem with Quad FX isn't the price or the power draw. I think it's biggest drawback is timing. Think how big it would have been, if they had released it 4 or 5 months ago, when the fastest video cards were X1900XTX's, with the much cheaper X1900XT's not far behind, performance-wise.

Instead, they've waited until nVidia has released the 8800GTX, and Intel has released the C2D's. Even a 3 Ghz Athlon 64 will be severely cpu limited, with an 8800GTX. 4 or 5 months ago, four X1900XT/X's, plus four 2.6 Ghz FX cores would have been all of our dream systems, and they would have sold every processor they produced. Now, it's way too little, way too late, IMO.

 

[Furen]

Quite true. This goes to show that AMD did not have much of a plan to deal with Kentsfield. Indeed, a dual-FX platform would have been great for AMD when it launched its new sockets back in June. The power consumption would have been forgiven, too, since AMD would have been first to market by a long shot.

 

[TuxDave]

So what's the cost of the powerbill over 4 years assuming 24/7 folding?

 

[nyker96]

flamethrower FX-74, funny name. It can also be cooking stove FX74 or room heater FX74.

 

[aka1nas]

This may even be a decent platform once K8L is out and the single-core performance is up to par. Not that I can ever afford one , lol.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

if they cut the price of the mobo ppl might actually buy it