Update AMD quietly trimmed the prices of its top-two single-processor system Opteron 100 series and its dual-processor Opteron 200 series yesterday possibly paving the way for a new, faster version of the chips.

The Opteron 144's price was cut from $669 to $438, a cut of around 35 per cent. The Opteron 142 fell from $438 to $292, down 33 per cent. the Opteron 140 remains unchanged at $229. All prices are for processors sold in batches of 1000.

The Opteron 244 was previously priced at $794; now it's $690, a drop of 13 per cent. The Opteron 242's price was also cut, to $455 from $690, a fall of 24 per cent. The Opteron 240 dropped 9.5 per cent, from $283 to $256.

The price cuts suggest the imminent arrival of new, top-end 100 and 200-series Opterons, probably the 146 and 246. The latter has been expected for some time and is believed to be scheduled for a 4 August launch. We've not heard of an upcoming 100-series Opteron, but the price cuts suggest that one may nevertheless make an appearance.

AMD also cut is mobile Athlon chip prices, and those of its multi-processor Athlon MP parts:

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