I don't think it should be forgotten that while AMD can ship all of the x2's it can make, Intel estimates that by the end of this year Conroe (Core 2) will amount to only 20%-25% of its cpu shipments, which indicates to me Intel expects a period of time before Core 2 is ramped up sufficiently to meet demand (which probably won't happen until sometime in 2007.) If Intel's projections are on target for this year then I think you can take those higher-end Core 2 prices as listed above and toss them right out of the window...;) If Core 2 is what people are expecting it to be, then Intel's constrained supply for the rest of the year, coupled with a demand far in excess of supply, will mean we could be seeing these chips selling at 2x-3x the price of the AMD .90 x2s.

By the end of the year according to Intel, 75%-80% of the cpus it will be shipping will not be Core 2's, but some Netburst derivative, which the .90 x2s can handle with ease. And if AMD's leaked prices are any indicator, AMD isn't planning to make it easy for Intel to dump all of its older inventory while it's ramping up Core 2 production.

I have a feeling that it will probably be 2007 before we see the fireworks begin on the high end, as both AMD and Intel will be bringing their .65 processes to desirable yield levels about then, along with AMD's next Athlon architecture foray. I'm guessing this is why the analysts for Intel are doom and gloom for the next couple of quarters. Until yields ramp for Core 2, I think you can forget the idea of bargain-basement pricing for it. Unless of course Core 2 seriously disappoints in some way, in which case it won't matter what it costs...;) Interesting times ahead!

I suspect the AMD prices are there to get some balance (although not fully) with the Conroe. And secondarily as a reaction to the drop in the 8xx and 9xx line, which it will also have to compete for the rest of the year.
However if the Conroe can get out in volume in all markets quickly, especially the lower 3 (6300/6400/6600), and without a large marukup, I suspect AMD will have to lower their X2 prices again. AMD seems to be counting on tight supplies.
I wish the chart also included Intel's 8xx and 9xx CPUs!

Regarding the updated price list --- the only x2 on there that looks remotely competitive in terms of price/performance is the 3800+ (and even then, you might have to OC it to make that case). I can't imagine why anyone would even consider buying any of the other A64s, unless availability of Core2 really sucks, and you just can't stand to wait a few months.

This reminds me of the T-bred B and Northwood days. ;) I just hope AMD can hold-out the onslaught of the price wars, until the K8L arrives. Just for the sake of the customers as we cannot have ether party have near-complete domination of the market. ;)

Not like we didn't see this coming.
AMD is NOT stupid.

Once again, even if the new Intel chips are faster, how much will it cost to have the fastest chip around, regardless if it is AMD or Intel?

(Around $1k as usual)

And once again, the sweet spot will be some Intel or AMD CPU, this time dual core, priced around $150-$300, that overclocks very easily to close of the performance of the top CPU.

Anybody who thinks that "up to 50%" cuts on X2s will be enough should have a look at the following Conroe E6600-X6800 round-up. Not pretty for AMD:

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/914

Nice, and 65nm coming soon too.

What if these price wars would be going on in the GFX side to.

This is a tangent: I think the 1meg cache Athlon64 was not a good move. I've thought this for a while but not mentioned it. AMD should have gone 512K cache for all A64s and just scaled clockspeed and had fewer models or done smaller clockspeed increments (the integrated mem controller may make that harder?).

Anyway, their dual core parts will not be priced low enough to compete with Intel's price warriors me thinks. This might sound crazy, but AMD could do a dual core Sempy with 2*256 cache to compete in the $100 range.

Edit: fixed typo

Sweet.... A whole lot of power for very $$$ on both sides. Now if we could just get the 7900 GT to $199 :P

I've been waiting for this, and very likely will buy a 2.2 X2, probably the 4200, if the price is right.

no s939 lovin?

All this dual core goodness starts to get me anxious, but there's nothing I do that needs dual core until games start using it.

WooHoo let the fun begin....

I'm hoping for an early August purchase to replace my aging 3Ghz Northwood/9800Pro rig. Maybe I'll actually be able to afford something decent with these price wars!