As exciting as the news regarding AMD and ATI's official partnership is, there's even more good news from AMD that has a more immediate impact. AMD has recently reduced pricing on the Athlon line, encompassing the X2 and FX series. From the high-end 5000+ X2 and the FX-62 down to the Semprons, we're seeing the chips go down quite a bit. Of special interest to the budget market is the Semprons that are now dipping below $100:
AMD's single-core product lineup is left with seven models with the Athlon 64 3800+, 3500+ and 3200+ in Socket AM2, 939 and energy efficient configurations. Most of the Sempron desktop lineup has fallen below the $100 mark, with the exception of the Sempron 3600+ which is $101.
AMD isn't planning any more price cuts in the near future, so it may be ample time to get an Athlon if you've been waiting. It's good to see the prices still being competitive with Intel, though the cost of current-gen CPUs on both sides seems to be a bit hard to take for many.