Report: AMD Phenom II X6 CPUs in Short Supply

By Marcus Yam
published

Thuban's not easy to find, apparently.

Having trouble tracking down an AMD hexacore CPU? According to DigiTimes, citing its sources with motherboard OEMs, AMD is having a supply issue with getting enough of the Phenom II X6 CPU to consumers.

If this is true, it's not a necessarily a bad thing for AMD as consumers are taking quite well to the six-core part and the value it presents.

Motherboard makers aren't pleased with the supposed chip shortage, as it has affected the demand of 800-series motherboards. The shortage of the hexacore chip may have also affected the supply schedule of quad-core AMD CPUs including the Phenom II 960T.

Have you had trouble putting together a new, shiny AMD system due to supply issues?

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
44 Comments Comment from the forums
  • feeddagoat
    Problems with producing these or underestimate demand?
    Reply
  • hundredislandsboy
    Better get one now before they run out!! I guess the demand is better than expected which isn't too surprising considering the excellent value offered - six cores for under $200!

    Good thing I beat the shortage. I ordered mine from Newegg last week and received it 2 days later.
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    This news was already posted on some other site.But I'm wondering whether AMD will increase prices.
    Reply
  • 6 core is good but. I still believe the opteron 12 core 2 way server is the best solution after all. 24 core is hot. all I got to say that is intel is little over price.
    Reply
  • JPForums
    Problems with producing these or underestimate demand?

    If they had problems producing these, I wouldn't think it would have any affect on the supply schedule for the new quad core part. Given AMD's current ability to produce quad core parts, it is very likely that defective Hexacore parts would have at least four functional cores and could then be sold as quad core.

    However, if they underestimated demand, reallocating resources to produce more hexacore parts could cause a delay in the release of quad core parts. This seems to be the more likely scenario.

    ... I'm wondering whether AMD will increase prices.

    Unlike with the HD5850, AMD's hexacore processors aren't in the position of be clearly superior to the competition while being priced less than the competition (~$350 for GTX285 vs ~$260 MSRP for HD5850 before price increase). Keep in mind that AMD did not raise the MSRP for the HD5870 (still at ~$380), board manufactures raise those prices themselves. That said, I believe it is more likely that AMD will leave the MSRP for their hexacore processors alone. However, if demand is outstripping supply enough that AMD can raise the MSRP and still have shortages for the foreseeable future (unlikely), then they could and should do so.
    Reply
  • very ture that I got the pair of opteron 6168 magny core from newegg for $1500 and dual G34 motherboard about $450. everything with pw and case include plus 16G or ddr3 lessthan $3000. which I got a powerful 24 core workstation. 3d render easly kick ass out of intel 8 core socket 1136 serials.
    Reply
  • Regulas
    Bah, PC games can't properly use 2 or 4 cores yet.
    Reply
  • kresso
    regulasBah, PC games can't properly use 2 or 4 cores yet.My simulations certainly can. Gaming isn't everything, plus I don't think these are targeted at gamers, but I could be wrong.
    Reply
  • jitpublisher
    regulasBah, PC games can't properly use 2 or 4 cores yet.News flash....some people do more with their PC than play games.
    Reply
  • spidey180
    Its good to see that AMD is selling whatever they produce. Its a shame that they cant keep up with the demand.
    Reply