Intel Slices and Dices Prices

Just a few days after announcing it will be releasing a new line of chips specifically designed for the skyrocketing laptop market, Intel has now revealed it will also be slashing the price of its server and desktop processors.

Things are certainly looking up for Intel, which last week boasted an impressive second quarter profit jump. All that profitability has allowed the company to slash the price of its most prominent chip, the Core 2 Duo. Intel's top of the line version of that chip, the 3.1GHz E8500, plummeted from $266 to $183, a 31 per cent drop. The lower performance E8400 also dropped, slipping from $183 to $163 at a rate of 11 per cent. Finally, at the lower end of the Core 2 Duo line, Intel sliced 15 per cent off its E7200, from $133 to $113.

Intel wasn't done there; the chip company also announced it would be reducing the price of its server processors, including three lower-end Xeon chips. The 2.40GHz X3220 will drop 12 per cent, the 2.13GHz X3210 12 per cent, and the 3GHZ E3110 11 per cent. (Source: theregister.co.uk)

Finally, the Core 2 Quad 6600, a 65 nanometer desktop chip, has also lost 14 per cent of its last-reported price.

Many hardware junkies are upset that none of the higher-end chips have seen price reductions. For example, QX Extreme server processors like the QX9775 (which boasts 3.2 GHz and is usually listed at $1,499) remains listed at the original retail price. (Source: theinquirer.net)

Intel is clearly benefiting from a line of chips (the Core 2 Duo series) that have captured the attention of everyone from hardware experts to hardcore gamers. Competitors Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) had better take notice before their market share matches their name.