More pressure on AMD as Intel drops prices of some of its CPUs

Putting even more pressure on rival AMD, which is already struggling and replaced its CEO, Intel over the weekend cut some processor prices from 12 percent up to 31 percent, specifically focusing in on its Core 2 and quad core CPUs.

Intel's Core 2 Duo E8500, which runs at 3.16GHz, received a 31 percent price cut, with prices dropping from $266 down to $183. The Desktop Core 2 Duo E7200, operating at 2.53GHz, received a 15 percent price cut down to $113 from $133.

The quad-core Q6600 chip running at 2.4GHz, one of Intel's most popular quad-core CPUs, is now 14 percent cheaper, down to $193 from $224. This is the second time this year the Q6600 has received a price cut, with Intel previously dropping the price 16 percent in April.

Along with its desktop CPUs, Intel also dropped prices of several processors in its Xeon server line. The Xeon X3220, operating at 2.40 GHz, saw a price decrease from $224 to $198. The Xeon X3210, operating at 2.13GHz, also received a 12 percent price cut from $224 to $198. The E3110, operating at 3 GHz, saw a 11 percent price decrease, and went from $188 down to $167.

The Intel QX "Extreme" line of processors have not received a price drop yet; for example, the QX9775 chip running at 3.2 Ghz still costs $1,499, with Intel offering no details about possible QX price cuts on the horizon.

The new price list follows the introduction of Intel's Centrino 2 platform, which will be used in notebooks and other portable devices and is the successor to the original Centrino chipset released in 2003. The Centrino 2 is most notable for mixing Wi-Fi and WiMax together, although rollouts of WiMax networks have been slow in the United States and mostly non-existent elsewhere.

Meanwhile, AMD recently announced its Bobcat chip, a single-core, 64-bit processor will compete against Intel's Atom in the ultra mobile PC and low-cost mobile notebook market. But Intel CEO Paul Otellini acknowledged during a recent conference call that the Atom won't replace the Celeron, and said the chip was something "most of us wouldn't use."

Bobcat offers 1GHz clock speed, 256KB L2 cache and will support one 800 MHz DDR2 DIMM. AMD expects to release Bobcat in November, although with Intel unable to meet current demand for its Atom CPU, trying to launch Bobcat before then would benefit AMD as it struggles to compete amid heavy debt following its acquisition of graphics chip firm ATI.