Intel debuts Celerons, Core 2s, cuts prices

Intel late yesterday refreshed its processor line with a combination of new chips and price cuts. Among the new lineup, the Celeron E1400 is unique as the semiconductor firm's first budget processor to crack 2GHz while also offering dual cores; the refinement is a significant boost from its 1.6GHz predecessor but occupies the same $53 price point as the earlier design, making it feasible for budget desktops. It should be available today and will see the price of the older chip drop to $43. A single-core, 2.66GHz Celeron 570 ships for $134 and contributes to a price drop on the 1.8GHz Celeron 430 to $34.

Two Core 2 Duos are also being introduced for the mainstream desktop, Intel notes. The 2.53GHz E7200 is aimed at budget concerns and carries just 3MB of Level 2 cache to reach its $133 price. The 2.83GHz E8300 doubles the cache to 6MB at $163. Both are based on Intel's 45 nanometer architecture and share the 1.33GHz system bus as most of the company's current desktop lineup.

As part of the introduction, the company is also cutting prices on older quad-core processors as well as budget Pentium dual-core versions, all to help make room for newer designs. The 2.66GHz Core 2 Quad Q6700 and Xeon X3230 both drop from $530 to $266, while the 2GHz and 2.2GHz Pentium E2180 and E2200 now cost $64 and $74 each.

Filed under: computers, upgrades/storage
Other story tags: Intel, Core 2, Celeron, Xeon, Pentium