Weekly CPU & Video Card Price Guide: November 2001 2nd Edition

Weekly AMD CPU Prices
CPU	Price	Change	Vendor	Shipping	CNet Pricing	Notes
Athlon XP 1900+ (1.6GHz)	$255		Accubyte	$10.95		OEM
Athlon XP 1800+ (1.53GHz)	$191		EconoPC	$10.95		OEM
Athlon XP 1700+ (1.47GHz)	$144		Pcboost.com	$9.95		OEM
Athlon XP 1600+ (1.40GHz)	$112		Accubyte	$10.95		OEM
Athlon XP 1500+ (1.33GHz)	$112		EconoPC	$10.75		OEM
Athlon MP 1800+ (1.53GHz)*	$260		EconoPC	$10.95		OEM
Athlon MP 1600+ (1.40GHz)*	$175		Accubyte	$10.95		OEM
Athlon MP 1500+ (1.33GHz)*	$165		Googlegear.com	See Site		OEM
Athlon MP 1.2GHz*	$154		EconoPC	$10.95		OEM
Athlon MP 1.0GHz*	$148		IComPz.com	$10.75		OEM
Athlon-C 1.4GHz	$116		Accubyte	$10.95		OEM
Athlon-C 1.33GHz	$100		Pcboost.com	$9.95		OEM
Athlon-C 1.2GHz	$87		EconoPC	$10.95		OEM
Athlon-C 1.13GHz	$77		IComPz.com	$10.75		OEM
Athlon 1.4GHz	$136		Atacom, Inc.	$10.55		OEM
Athlon 1.3GHz	$98		EconoPC	$9.95		OEM
Athlon 1.2GHz	$85		Pcboost.com	$9.95		OEM
Athlon 1.1GHz	$82		Krex Direct	$10.74		OEM
Athlon 1.0GHz	$71		Accubyte	$10.95		OEM
Athlon 950MHz	$56		Compubuzz	$10.74		OEM
Athlon 900MHz	$53		EconoPC	$10.75		OEM
Athlon 850MHz	$56		Compubuzz	$10.74		OEM
Duron 1.1GHz	$82		IComPz.com	$10.75		OEM
Duron 1.0GHz	$62		Accubyte	$10.95		OEM
Duron 950MHz	$54		Newegg.com	See Site		OEM
Duron 900MHz	$46		EconoPC	$10.95		OEM
Duron 850MHz	$44		IComPz.com	$10.75		OEM
Duron 800MHz	$37		IComPz.com	$10.75		OEM

With the release of the Athlon XP line of processors, AMD's pricing structure seems to have returned to normal. Instead of all of their processors (value and flagship) be sold for under $100, the new XPs are very competitively priced with Intel's Pentium 4 CPUs. This unfortunately means that the best bang for your buck is no longer at the top of the product line, rather it's close to the end of the product line. One of AMD's best sellers is the Athlon XP 1600+ and it's no surprise that it continues to carry our best value recommendation for this price guide. From what we gathered from AMD at Comdex, they are actually sold out of their 1600+ processors which is an indication of how well they are selling. Let's just hope we don't see a shortage of our highly recommended part.

The XP 1900+ was released earlier this month but as usual, the price premium this recently introduced chip carries isn't worth the marginal performance benefits you get over the cheaper 1800+. Remember that the 1900+ has less than a 5% clock speed advantage over the 1800+.

If you're building a MP system and want an officially supported processor then the Athlon MP version of the 1600+ takes our recommendation there as well. Note that there are no architectural differences between the XP and MP processors and although they both work in MP systems, AMD only validates their MP processors for use in 2P systems.

With the dropping price of the Duron, the 1.0GHz solution takes our recommendation for best overall value if you're looking at the Duron line. However it is worth noting that for $15 more you can get an Athlon-C 1.13GHz whose extra cache definitely helps performance.