AMD's new Ryzen microprocessors force price cuts to FX and A10 CPUs

Bargains to be had for legacy AMD microprocessors - but could Intel be about to respond to the competitive threat posed by its old rival?

AMD's release of the new Ryzen 7 and, especially, the imminent introduction of the mainstream Ryzen 5 has led to price cuts of up to one-third in AMD's legacy CPUs.

The AMD FX-8350 has seen one of the steepest price drops, slashed in price from just under $200, according to CPU-World, which tracks microprocessor prices, to $135. However, on Amazon, the part has fallen in price to $127.96, or £123.94 on eBuyer in the UK in pounds sterling, but without the Wraith CPU cooler.

In addition, while CPU-World hasn't picked up any price cuts for the AMD FX-9590, one of AMD's highest-end desktop microprocessors until the launch of the Ryzen 7 last month, pegging it at $226, prices would appear to have been slashed online, with Amazon hawking the 4.7GHz Desktop Black Edition for just $177.

In the UK, Novatech has the same part for £197.47, while Scan has it for £182.99, and eBuyer has it reduced from £229.98 to £175.96, and the 4.4GHz AMD FX-9370 at £199.97.

The 3.5GHz-4GHz AMD FX-8320 has also seen a steep price cut from just under $150 in recent weeks - straight after AMD announced the Ryzen 5, which will cost between $169 and $269 - to about $110, according to CPU World, while the FX-8300 is now just $99.

While popular US ecommerce site Newegg has the FX-8320 at $119, the FX-8300 is just $89.99. The price on Overclockers in the UK, meanwhile, is £119 and £94.99 respectively - although stocks are low of the FX-8320.

The quad-core A10-7870K, which has integrated Radeon R7 graphics, has been slashed in price from an average of about $125 to $99, according to CPU-World, while the A10-7850K has been cut from $102.50 to under $90.

Again, British buyers don't get quite such a good deal (partly due to 20 per cent VAT), with anyone in the market for an AMD A10-7870K having to shell out £119.48 to eBuyer for the same part, or £105.46 to Amazon.co.uk.

And the price cuts of a number of parts haven't yet fed through to CPU-World.

The FX-9590, for example, saw a big price cut in late 2014 and remains the same $226 today, according to CPU World's figures. However, the latest prices on Amazon suggest that prices are already being slashed in advance of the release of the similarly priced Ryzen 5, with prices today down to $177.

Buyers, though, might be tempted to keep their cash in their pockets and wait until the Ryzen 5 hits retailers in under three weeks before parting with their hard-earned for an upgrade or an entirely new PC.

All prices quoted correct at time of publication