AMD Single-Core
While practically all of the Athlon 64 single-core processors have remained at the same price point since our last CPU price guide, we can see that only the AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 San Diego [RTPE: ADAFX57BNBOX] has seen any significant price adjustment. Coming down $166, the FX-57 is now at an even $845 shipped.
On to the more reasonably priced processors, the AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego [RTPE: ADA3700BNBOX] is priced at about $215. Honestly though, if you're looking to spend a tad more than this amount or even higher, we would like to remind you that you could easily go with a dual-core processor for about $30 more. Something from either Intel or AMD would be perfect. Just for comparison's sake, you can go with the Pentium D 820 for about $245 shipped or even the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ for about $300 shipped.
For a decent low-end setup, the socket 754 processors are still a viable option. The AMD Athlon 64 (754) 3000+ Venice [RTPE: ADA3000BXBOX] is reasonably priced at about $130 shipped.
While the AMD Athlon 64 (754) Mobile 3000+ [RTPE: AMN3000BIX5AR] is also a fair alternative, on sale for an even $118 shipped. This isn't exactly the lowest price we've seen by any means, but we would still like to point out that the AMD Athlon 64 (754) 3700+ 1MB Hammer [RTPE: ADA3700AEP5AR] is available for about $209 shipped after a $50 mail-in rebate, found over at TigerDirect. This mail-in rebate is valid until January 31st, 2006 and must be postmarked within 30 days of purchase.
To see how the current price of the A64 3700+ fairs, check out the graph below:
AMD Athlon 64 (754) 3700+ 1MB Hammer
For a very low budget-based system, the Sempron 64 can be a great choice for your needs. The AMD Sempron 64 (754) 2800+ 256KB Palermo [RTPE: SDA2800BXBOX] seems reasonably priced at an even $75 shipped. If you start getting into the $100 price range in the Sempron 64 line-up, we suggest going with a low-end Athlon 64 (socket 754) which contains twice (or even four times) the amount of cache of the Sempron 64's. For instance, the Sempron 3400+ vs. the Athlon 64 3000+ (Venice) saves you $6 for half the cache - not at all worth it, in our opinion.
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JarredWalton - Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - link
I personally don't believe in "guaranteed 2.8+ GHz on air!" claims for most Opterons. I've got a 165 that does 2.56 GHz with the retail HSF, and that seems about typical. A bit better air cooler might get 2.65 to 2.70 GHz, and water might get 2.80+ GHz. For single core chips, you can add about 200 MHz to the estimates. So, all told, the Opteron chips are still reasonable, and they include good retail HSFs. If you're just looking for 2.6 to 2.8 GHz you won't be disappointed; if you want 2.8+ GHz, though, water cooling is about the only way I would say it's anywhere near "guaranteed".TowerShield - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
Pretty large drop.I'm guessing the FX-60 showing up a second time under AMD single-cores is a typo?
rrcn - Monday, January 23, 2006 - link
Yeah, the FX-60 is also showing up under the single-core page because I haven't been able to figure out the code to get it to disappear. :p