AMD's New Sub $100 Quad Core

[RicheemxX]

AMD today announced the release of the new AMD Athlon II X4 620 and 630 price at $99 and $125 respectively. So far the new chips are getting pretty good reviews, with a couple sites showing some petty good OC'ing numbers.

Industry's First Sub-$100 Quad-Core CPU[1] Powers New AMD Mainstream Desktop Platforms: Multimedia Entertainment is More Affordable than Ever

Speed 2.6GHz and 2.8ghz
Hyper Transports 4000MHz
L2 Cache 4 x 512KB No L3 cache
Manufacturing Tech 45 nm
Thermal Design Power 95W

Reviews:
AMD Athlon II X4 Debut: Enter The $99 Quad-Core - HotHardware
AMD Athlon II X4 620 Quad Core Processor Review - Overclockers Club

Newegg has them listed at $108 right now

if you want to check more reviews I've got a ton listed at my blog

[RobRich]

No L3 cache

^Which pretty much defines Propus, but still, it is not like L3 is going to be much of a consumer concern for an ~$100 quad-core x86 processor.

On a related note, Rana should be following shortly. It is basically a three-core Propus. It will be interesting to see how low AMD can realistically price Rana, especially with Propus already targeting the sub-$100 processor market.

[RicheemxX]

AMD really seems to be all over the board with their prices lately. I think there is just too much push to saturate the market. I understand the need to stay competitive but there isn't really a reason to release 3-4 different lines all in similar price ranges. You create to much overlap on your own products which then creates too much confusion on the users end.

[RobRich]

Thus why it will be interesting to see just how cheap AMD can actually go with Rana.

AFAIK, Rana is likely just a Propus with a deactivated core. AMD is more or less simply trying to salvage silicon, though I am not sure how well that strategy will play out as the market further transitions to quad-core offerings. Rana is not alone, either. Heka should be arriving soon, and it is is essentially a Denab with a deactivated core.

Being able to salvage failed quad-core chips as triple-core offerings can look good on the fabrication side, but viable cost savings often drive consumer perception and market numbers on the sales side. Rana needs to be priced cheap IMO, especially in the OEM channel.

[cksboy15]

A quad for under $100 sounds pretty darn good to me. Course I'm taking Rob's side on this one.

[nemowolf]

The real question is how good would these do in a folding farm!?