This site may earn chapter commissions from the links on this folio. Terms of employ.

Intel-Chipset

Before this week, Intel quietly began cut the prices on some of its Core i5 and i7 processors. This happened in the run-up to Ryzen's launch, and was probable a move to preempt unattractive cost comparisons that would otherwise be front and center when Ryzen 7 hit shelves.

Micro Centre has adapted its prices dramatically downwardly, with the Core i7-7700K falling to $300 from $380, the Core i5-7600K to $200 from $270, and the Core i5-6600K to $179, from $270, HotHardware reports. Even Broadwell-E fries get on the action, with the Core i7-6850K dropping to $550 (downward from $700) and the i7-6800K itself now priced at $360, from $500.

It isn't clear yet if these price cuts are locked in for all Intel'southward product lines or if they reflect a temporary Micro Center promotion. As of this writing, none of the list prices for Intel processors have been updated. The Core i7-6850K is notwithstanding listed with a 1KU price of $617-$628, and Amazon prices don't seem to reflect this price cut. It's possible that the Micro Center deals are a exam market for Intel to guess how consumers respond to toll cuts with Ryzen now officially available.

Meanwhile, on Amazon, AMD has managed to seize multiple spots on Amazon'south superlative-selling microprocessor listing. First, hither's a screenshot of October 11's best-selling CPUs, courtesy of Wayback Machine.

AMD-October

Bestselling CPUs #1 – #12 at Amazon, circa Oct 2016

At present, compare that with a screenshot from Amazon on Thursday evening:

AMD-Current

All-time-selling CPUs #1 – #12 for March 2, 2017.

While I only screenshotted the kickoff 12 spots to proceed the images from being even longer, I tallied up the prices and products in spots #1- #xv, then averaged their selling prices. This is a simple arithmetic average that doesn't attempt to estimate full revenue or profit for either company, since we lack sales figures and manufacturing cost estimates. However, there'south an interesting blueprint at work hither.

On October 11, 2016, Intel held twelve of the peak fifteen CPU slots. The average cost of these 12 cores was $264, with prices ranging from a low of $118 upward to $439. In that location was less correlation between CPU price and placement on the list than you lot might think; the top seller cost $325, while a $118 Core i3-6100 was in tertiary place.

AMD had the remaining three slots held downwardly past the FX-6300, the FX-8350, and the FX-8320. Average selling price on these chips was only $129, with a range from $100 to $138. It's not hard to encounter how poorly this works out for AMD — its lower prices aren't getting the company much sales volume, and information technology its earnings per CPU sale are significantly smaller than Intel's.

Fast forward to today, and Intel holds 9 of the top fifteen slots, not 12. Non only has AMD gained more spots in the Height 15, the CPUs in those slots sell for far more money than the old FX lineup did (if y'all're AMD, this is a very skillful matter). Today, Intel'southward average CPU price is $230, downwardly 13% from October. AMD's average price, meanwhile, has risen to $282 — two.19x higher than what it was last fall.

We would need per-chip sales figures to fifty-fifty endeavor to estimate the relative revenue contribution of each SKU, merely even this basic data points to a much healthier mix for AMD and Ryzen. The big question is, how long will AMD CPUs hold on to those best-selling spots?

How much would these toll cuts thing?

Assuming Micro Center's prices become the new normal, how much would they modify the competitive situation between AMD and Intel? The reply, I think, depends on which CPU family y'all compare. If yous're looking at multi-threaded applications and embarrassingly parallel workloads, the Ryzen seven 1700 will still make hash of the Core i7-7700K, despite the latter'due south pregnant clock advantage. High IPC and greater speed count for a lot, merely unlike the erstwhile FX family unit, Ryzen's single-threaded performance is high enough to truly slug information technology out with Kaby Lake. If, on the other hand, you lot primarily intendance about unmarried-threaded operation and gaming, the 7700K is easily the improve selection. The Core i5 price cuts look like a preemptive move to cut Ryzen 5 off earlier it can wreak havoc in Intel'south lower-priced Core i3 / i5 division.

As for Broadwell-E, a $360 Core i7-6800K could tempt customers who want some multi-threaded operation simply as well desire adept single-threaded scaling. A 6850K at $550 is a much tougher sell. The 6800K would be $40 cheaper than Ryzen 1700X, while the 6850K would come up in $50 more than expensive.

All of this is speculation, of course, until Intel formally announces a move. If AMD keeps holding multiple spots on the height-selling CPU lists, information technology'due south going to see that tendency reflected in Q1 revenue, even though we've only got xxx days left in the quarter.