The impact of Ivy Bridge on current processor pricing

Bulldozer Price Tracking – FX 8150

The flagship model of the AMD FX series is the FX 8150 8 core processor. This processor launched with a £200+ price tag and yet today you can find this processor online at Amazon for just £140.

AMD even offer a £20 cashback promotion with retailers like Scan and Dabs allowing you to pick up an FX 8150 for just £130 if shop around. The cashback program which runs until August 31st also applies to the entire Bulldozer line up and residents of the following countries benefit (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the UK). Although it is not confirmed, we think Amazon have already integrated the cashback program into their pricing, removing the need for you to go to AMD to claim your cashback.

Bulldozer launched back in October 2011 and its price held almost constant between October and January at the £200-£210 level. AMD started to usher the prices of the FX 8150 down in small notches during the run up to Ivy Bridge’s 23rd of April launch. A few days before Ivy Bridge’s launch, the FX 8150 prices were at around £185. However, as you can see from the graph the inevitable crash in Bulldozer prices happened after the Ivy Bridge NDA and release date passed. Prices eventually settled at the £160 mark for quite a while. However, after re-analysing their position AMD realised they had to cut prices more to stay competitive with the Sandy and Ivy Bridge competitors. The AMD cashback program helped give a further reduction to the FX 8150 prices meaning you can now pick one up for just £141, a healthy 30% off its launch price.

FX 8120

The FX 8120 still packs the same physical specifications as the FX 8150 except with a lower out of the box clock speed of 3.1GHz compared to 3.6GHz. At launch the FX 8120 slotted in £20 cheaper than the FX 8150, at about £185, today you can pick this up for £130.

Unlike the FX 8150 which was relatively successful in holding a stable price due to lack of stock and high demand from its AMD flagship status, the FX 8120 suffered consistent price drops throughout its lifespan. Between December and mid April the FX 8120 had around £10 worth of price cuts every month. Following Intel’s Ivy Bridge launch prices dropped in a steep fashion, by around £15. At the current price of £130 the FX 8120 is 30% cheaper than its launch price.

FX 6200

The FX 6200 processor is relatively new, launching in March about 5 months after the first Bulldozer models were introduced. The processor was introduced at the £145 mark which was a pricing that continued all the way until the Ivy Bridge launch where the processors dropped to £130.

Give or take a few sharp fluctuations in pricing between Ivy Bridge and today the FX 6200 pricing has remained relatively constant at the £130 marker. This makes it identically priced to the FX 8120 but with 2 less cores and a 0.7GHz higher clock speed. The current price is 10% lower than the launch price of this processor.