Intel preps Pentium, Celeron price cuts

Intel is set to cut the price of its Pentium D and Pentium 4 desktop processor lines in January 2007 as it pushes the Core 2 Duo family further downmarket. But that's not stopping the chip giant from releasing at least one more PD and a top-of-the-range Celeron D in the same month.

A variety of reports coming out of Taiwan - all, we believe, based on leaks of Intel's latest roadmap update - show the arrival of the 3.2GHz Pentium D 935 next January, priced at $133. That will push down the prices of the by then remaining PDs, the 925 and 915, to $113 and $93, respectively, drops of 15 per cent and 17.7 per cent.

Members of the Pentium 4 family will see their prices cut by between 60.7 per cent and 7.3 per cent, with the biggest cuts coming to the 6xx series. The cuts presage the arrival of the single-core Pentium E1040 based on the Core 2 Duo architecture.

The reports suggest January will see the debut of the Celeron D 365, a 3.6GHz chip with 512KB of L2 cache and 533MHz FSB support. It may be the last Celeron D 3xx chip to ship before the arrival of the 'Conroe'-based Celeron D 4xx series in Q3 next year.

The 365 will cost $69, the reports indicate, and herald price cuts across the current Celeron D line-up of 8.5-14.5 per cent. ®