Intel prices take a tumble, Beancountergate mist lifting

BEANCOUNTERGATE, the fiasco that has surrounded the launch of the Intel Pentium 4 3GHz with HyperThreading, has had the predicted effect on the prices of Intel high-end processors. Not that there's anything too unusual about Intel dropping the prices on its processors.

After a week of the information on Intel price cuts being available for you on THE INQUIRER, various sources have discovered them. There can only really be two reasons for the timing. Either Beancountergate is true and Intel fluffed the launch or Chipzilla is trying to steal a little thunder from the Opteron launch tomorrow. Either way, Intel looks a tad muppet-like.

The prices of the high-end chips are set to drop heavily, 32% in the case of the P4 3GHz, down to $400. A hefty 38% is going to come off the 2.4GHz P4M cutting it down to $348.

More interesting news is that the 3.2GHz P4 is still set for May, at a price of $640. It's the first physical speed hike in Intel processors since the 3.06GHz was launched last year. But if there's an erratum-not-bug with the 3GHz processor, surely it would be there on the 3.2GHz variety too? The more time passes, the more this looks like Beancountergate. µ

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