Pricing - Phenom 9600 For $279

At the launch event, AMD finally announced Euro-prices for the Phenom line.

The AMD Phenom 9500 (2.20 GHz) will sell for only $248 (€169), while the Phenom 9600 (2.3 GHz) comes with a price tag of $279 (€190).

Taking a look at online stores reveals that the asking price there is about $118 higher than AMD's recommended price. However, bearing in mind that these same stores also still list the Phenom 9700 with 2.40 GHz - which has been pushed back to 2008 - we can expect to see prices drop rather quickly.

For reference, Intel sells its smallest quad-core CPU, the Intel Core 2 Q6600, which is also rated at a TDP of 95 W, for around $323. These prices are for the box versions.

Overpriced in the shops

Viewed from a price/performance perspective, we can say that at this price, AMD's processor offers about the same value for money as Intel's Q6600 quad-core part.

In a personal interview with Dave Everitt we found out that AMD is also planning a faster FX version of the Phenom CPU. Furthermore, he revealed that there will also be a quad-core CPU for the 4x4/Quad-FX platform, resulting in a dual-processor eight-core system.