CPU3D.com

"Prices for computer memory and mainstream processors have eroded substantially in recent weeks and gave birth to a new mainstream PCs that offer much more bang for your buck: Acer announced a new desktop PC that lacks a monitor, but includes a triple-core CPU, 4 GB of memory and a Blu-ray drive. Also, Acer’s Emachines unit is first out the gate with a PC that integrates AMD’s answer to Intel’s Atom CPU.

The main battleground for the overall declining desktop PC segment will be the mainstream in the foreseeable time: As consumers around the world shift their focus to notebooks and aren’t willing to spend as much on their computers anymore we should see much more attention dedicated to “good enough” desktops.

However, tanking DRAM prices and what appears to be a newly emerging price war between Intel and AMD to capture market share in this segment enables PC vendors to create PCs that may be considered mainstream in terms of pricing, but not in terms of their feature set: A good example is Acer’s AX3200-U3630A PC, which has almost everything you would want from a decent desktop PC: 4 GB of memory, a 640 GB hard drive, plenty of ports (USB, eSATA, HDMI) and even a Blu-ray drive.

At the core of the PC is AMD’s triple-core Phenom X3 8450 (2.1 GHz) processor. AMD positioned this CPU right next to Intel’s entry-level dual-core CPUs and seems to have trouble keeping its tray price even with this strategy. The company charges a tray-price of $104 (in 1000 units), but the average retail prices has dropped to $101, according to Pricegrabber.com and some stores are selling the CPU for less than $100.           

The major downside of the AX3200-U3630A is its graphics engine, which is based on Nvidia’s GeForce 8200 IGC. To complement the PC, Acer offers a 24” display with support for 1080p resolution, a 20,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 cd/m2 brightness and a price of $339.

In related news, Emachines - a subsidiary of Acer - announced two PCs that use AMD’s Athlon 2650e (single-core processor). This CPU is a trimmed down version of its Athlon processors that targets “ultra value clients” – essentially what is targeted by Intel’s Atom processor with Diamondville core. AMD can’t exactly compete in terms of features, especially in power consumption - the 2650e is rated at a power consumption of 15 watts while Diamondville consumes about 4 watts – but the price of the CPU may have been attractive enough to convince Emachines to buy this chip.

The EL1200-05w comes with a bare minimum of hardware, including 1 GB of memory, a 160 GB hard drive, Nvidia 6150 integrated graphics, a DVD burner and Windows XP. The MSRP is $298. An extra $51 (for a total of $349) buys an upgraded IGC (8200), 2 GB of memory, a 320 GB hard drive and Windows Vista."