Flustered by AMD's CPU Marketing...

[Packetrat]

It's a good thing, sort of.

In the middle of researching recommendations to a recent acquaintance AND looking to build my girlfriend a new computer, I became aware of the effect AMD's decisions about releasing their new Sempron line has had on the entire AMD CPU market. It, among other things, marks a real and true shift towards the Athlon 64 bit market. With two people on the verge of building new computers, this shift has caused me some stress.

The new Sempron line, if you aren't already in the know, is AMD's new replacement for their enduring Duron processor series. The Sempron really only suffers from a decrease in level two cache from 512KB to 256KB in comparison to the current mainstream, the Athlon XP series. There are a few minor tweaks here or there, but more or less speaking frankly, it's the same processor as the XP Barton. What effect has this had? Athlon XP processor prices are GOING UP.

Damned are those who want to build one last value machine before the train heads on to the 64 bit platform. If you want a 400MHz FSB processor upgrade for your Athlon motherboard in the future (like me), you'll probably be buying a Socket A Sempron. Right now they're not as cheap as they should be. We're at a high priced processor impass at this moment. Otherwise, 6 months down the road, the Athlon 64 will be the way to go for mainstream gamers and multimedia junkies.

Side question: Do tech prices usually go UP or DOWN during the holidays?

[Tekime]

Interesting observation. I dealt with the same thing recently looking for a budget replacement chip for an old Socket A board, and ended up with a Sempron 2200+.

For what it's worth, it turns out the board doesn't even support Sempron so now I'm selling the bastard for quite a bit cheaper. $36 shipped for an OEM from Newegg if you're still looking. Maybe that'll save you a few bucks - cost me $48 just a month ago!

I liked the XP's a lot - I was sad when they started locking them and will be sad when they're gone entirely. Holy potatoes, my 1700+ still runs @ 2.4GHz well over a year later.

[Tekime]

Originally Posted by Packetrat

Side question: Do tech prices usually go UP or DOWN during the holidays?

Oops, missed this.

I think on the whole prices go down, as competition goes up for the meaner markets, as everybody knows shopping goes way up during the holidays. It depends on market conditions though, and high demand products that are in short supply can earn more and still sell with a higher price.

[Packetrat]

Originally Posted by Tekime

Interesting observation. I dealt with the same thing recently looking for a budget replacement chip for an old Socket A board, and ended up with a Sempron 2200+.

For what it's worth, it turns out the board doesn't even support Sempron so now I'm selling the bastard for quite a bit cheaper. $36 shipped for an OEM from Newegg if you're still looking. Maybe that'll save you a few bucks - cost me $48 just a month ago!

Still not sure what I'm going to do. The Sempron 2200+ is about equivalent to an XP 1700+ (which we both have). I WAS looking in the XP 2500+ to 3000+ range, but prices are awful right now. If I do end up buying parts for my one friend, though, a Sempron 22000+ might be the ticket. Not sure...

[Tekime]

Yes that would be a lateral move alright. Well if I've still got it and you're looking later on let me know.

[Packetrat]

How do you tell what motherboards support Semprons? It isn't just mobos that support Socket A (for the Socket A Semprons)?