14 DAY TRIAL // In an ongoing struggle for the leadership of the x86 processors market, Intel continues with a price cut on the processors. Following the previously announced increase in the size of L2 cache memory from 2MB to 4MB, which brought the 50 termination to the processor number on its processor line, this next step sends AMD even further down the rabbit hole and this time it will take something close to a miracle to bring them out.
The competition between AMD and Intel has been going on for decades and apparently, Intel has now taken the lead. Not even AMD's Quad-FX initiative managed to bring the necessary impulse in order to re-establish their position as the first x86 processor manufacturer on the market.
This is why they have to settle for the second place, and Intel isn't cutting them any slack. The updated roadmap shows Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 taking a nose dive from 530$ per 1000 units shipped to just 266$ per 1000 units shipped. This occurs after another price cut from 851$ to 530$ on the 22nd of April. Taking its place will be the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 processor (2.66GHz, 2x4MB L2 cache, 1066MHz FSB) at a price of 530$ per 1000 units shipped.
Intel will no longer release Core 2 Extreme, along side with Core 2 Quad Q6400. The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6800, with a price tag of 999$ per 1000 units shipped will replace the Core 2 Extreme QX6700 segment. Even though Intel already has Core 2 Duo and Extreme processors with a 1333MHz FSB, on the Core 2 Quad series, the 1333MHz FSB will be available only on the Extreme versions, codenamed Yorkfield, the rest maintaining the 1066MHz FSB.
AMD has also been trying to stay on this very unstable market, by reducing the prices on its line of processors and by introducing the new line built on the 65nm manufacturing process. So it's safe to say that right now, AMD is going through a phase, a very gray one nevertheless.
