Intel to cut prices of Sandy Bridge desktop CPUs in Q3 2011

This fall, Intel plans to refresh desktop mid-class and budget families with seven new models. The new processors are Core i5-2320, Core i3-2130, i3-2125 and i3-2120T, and Pentium G860, G630 and G630T. Details of these CPUs, as well as prices for some of them, were known for months. In a related move, Intel is going to drop prices on selected Sandy Bridge SKUs.

The first round of price drops will be in September, and it will affect all mid- and low-power Core i7 and Core i5 CPUs. Core i7-2600S will have its price cut by $12, from $306 to $294. Prices of Core i5s will be reduced by $11 at most. Core i5-2390T and i5-2400S will cost $184, Core i5-2405S - $201, and the prices of Core i5-2500S and i5-2500T will be reduced to $205.

The second round of price cuts will follow in October. This time Intel will slash prices on several Core i3 and Pentium microprocessors. The price of Core i3-2120 will be lowered from $138, which is expected launch price of Core i3-2130 CPU in September, to $117. Pentium G850 will cost $75, and Pentium G630 will be priced down to $64. After the cuts, the Core i3-2120 will have the same price as the i3-2100, and the Pentium G850 and G630 will be priced identical to G840 and G620 CPUs respectively.

The summary of upcoming price changes is provided in the table below:

Model	Cores	Threads	Frequency	L3 cache	Old price	New price (September)	New price (October)
Core i3-2120	2	4	3.3 GHz	3 MB	$138		$117
Core i5-2390T	2	4	2.7 GHz	3 MB	$195	$184
Core i5-2400S	4	4	2.5 GHz	6 MB	$195	$184
Core i5-2405S	4	4	2.5 GHz	6 MB	$205	$201
Core i5-2500S	4	4	2.7 GHz	6 MB	$216	$205
Core i5-2500T	4	4	2.3 GHz	6 MB	$216	$205
Core i7-2600S	4	8	2.8 GHz	8 MB	$306	$294
Pentium G630	2	2	2.7 GHz	3 MB	$75		$64
Pentium G850	2	2	2.9 GHz	3 MB	$86		$75