Weekly CPU & Video Card Price Guide: March 2001 2nd Edition

Yesterday, AMD officially unveiled the 1.3GHz Athlon-B (200MHz FSB) and Athlon-C (266MHz FSB) processors. We saw both of these processors in last week's guide, however this week we see both of them drop in price. The 1.3GHz Athlon-C dropped $32 bringing it to a more affordable $277. This processor is actually more affordable than it's Athlon-B cousin, which is now $289. The rest of the Athlon-C line saw significant price drops as well. The largest drop came from the 1.0GHz part which is now only $176. It should be noted that a motherboard that supports the 266MHz (133MHz DDR) FSB is required to take advantage of Athlon-C processors.

The high-end Athlon-B processors saw hefty price drops as well this week. The 1.2GHz part topped the list this week with a $16 drop in price, putting it at $204. This is still not as good a value as the 1.0GHz and 1.1GHz parts which are now $187 and $161, respectively. The mid- and low-range Thunderbirds saw only small price fluctuations this week.

AMD's "classic" Slot-A Athlons showed a downward trend in prices this week. The largest drop came from the 800MHz part which can be found for $99. The 900MHz part is still the best buy in this category as it is relatively cheap and offers excellent performance for the current Slot-A motherboard owner. Those looking to upgrade an older Athlon system need only upgrade their motherboard's BIOS is order to support these higher clocked Athlons.

The low-cost Duron line of processors showed some slight price drops this week as well. The 850MHz chip can now be found for $75, however the 800MHz part is still a better deal for only $60 as it offers similar performance for a better price. Those interested in overclocking should look to the Duron 700MHz, which is a steal at only $42.

Related Reviews

Make sure you check out our latest Athlon and Duron reviews for more information.