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Memory and Disk Prices Slashed on Selected Power i Gear
Published: May 18, 2009
by Timothy Prickett Morgan
As part of the April 28 Power System i product line enhancements, IBM has decided to cut the memory, disk, and processor prices on selected models of its Power Systems lineup.
It is hard to say for sure what IBM's thinking is whenever it cuts prices, but there is little doubt in my mind that Big Blue is feeling the competitive pressure from Intel's "Nehalem EP" Xeon 5500 servers, which compete head-to-head against the Power 520 and Power 550 machines as well as their analogues in the Power blade lineup, the JS12, JS22, JS23, and JS43.
Not every machine got price cuts, as you can see from the announcement letter. Oh, but wait. You can't see that, because IBM never tells you what the features are when it cuts prices. That's why you keep me around, I guess. So here are the details on the price changes, including the feature descriptions so you can figure out what the deal is:
| Machine |
Feature |
|
List Price |
|
Price |
| Type |
Number |
Description |
Old |
New |
Change |
| 7998 |
8229 |
JS12, 4 GB memory |
$459 |
$209 |
-54.5% |
| 7998 |
8234 |
JS22, 8 GB memory |
$1,099 |
$599 |
-45.5% |
| 7998 |
8235 |
JS22, 16 GB memory |
$7,999 |
$3,999 |
-50.0% |
| 7998 |
8239 |
JS12, 8 GB memory |
$1,699 |
$459 |
-73.0% |
| 7998 |
8245 |
JS12, 16 GB memory |
$6,999 |
$3,599 |
-48.6% |
| 8203 |
5608 |
Power 520, GX Dual-Port 12X Adapter |
$2,200 |
$1,300 |
-40.9% |
| 8203 |
5634 |
2-Core 4.2 GHz Power6 Card |
$5,185 |
$3,889 |
-25.0% |
| 8203 |
5654 |
1 Core Activation, 5634 Card |
$2,154 |
$1,616 |
-25.0% |
| 8204 |
5608 |
Power 550, GX Dual-Port 12X Adapter |
$2,200 |
$1,300 |
-40.9% |
| 9406 |
3647 |
Power 570, 146.8 GB 15K Disk |
$981 |
$498 |
-49.2% |
| 9406 |
3648 |
Power 570, 300 GB 15K Disk |
$1,510 |
$1,150 |
-23.8% |
| 9406 |
3677 |
Power 570, 139.5 GB 15K Disk |
$981 |
$498 |
-49.2% |
| 9406 |
3678 |
Power 570, 283.7 GB 15K Disk |
$1,510 |
$1,150 |
-23.8% |
| 9408 |
1267 |
Power M25, 70.56 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$999 |
$754 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
1268 |
Power M25, 141.12 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$1,299 |
$981 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
1269 |
Power M25, 282.25 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$2,799 |
$2,114 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
1298 |
Power M25, 146.8 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$1,299 |
$981 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
1898 |
Power M25, 146.8 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$1,299 |
$981 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
3647 |
Power M25, 146.8 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$981 |
$498 |
-49.2% |
| 9408 |
3648 |
Power M25, 300 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$1,510 |
$1,150 |
-23.8% |
| 9408 |
3677 |
Power M25, 139.5 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$981 |
$498 |
-49.2% |
| 9408 |
3678 |
Power M25, 283.7 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$1,510 |
$1,150 |
-23.8% |
| 9408 |
4327 |
Power M25, 70.56 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$999 |
$754 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
4328 |
Power M25, 141.12 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$1,299 |
$981 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
4329 |
Power M25, 282.25 GB 15K RPM Disk |
$2,799 |
$2,114 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
4520 |
Power M25, 1 GB Memory |
$512 |
$360 |
-29.7% |
| 9408 |
4521 |
Power M25, 2 GB Memory |
$1,024 |
$720 |
-29.7% |
| 9408 |
4522 |
Power M25, 4 GB Memory |
$2,048 |
$1,440 |
-29.7% |
| 9408 |
4523 |
Power M25, 8 GB Memory |
$5,734 |
$2,867 |
-50.0% |
| 9408 |
4524 |
Power M25, 16 GB Memory |
$19,661 |
$13,926 |
-29.2% |
| 9408 |
5654 |
1 Core Activation, 5634 Card |
$2,154 |
$1,616 |
-25.0% |
| 9408 |
7510 |
Quantity 150 of
Feature 4328 |
$194,850 |
$147,150 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
7518 |
Quantity 150 of
Feature 3677 |
$147,150 |
$74,700 |
-49.2% |
| 9408 |
7519 |
Quantity 150 of
Feature 3678 |
$226,500 |
$172,500 |
-23.8% |
| 9408 |
7522 |
Quantity 150 of
Feature 1268 |
$194,850 |
$147,150 |
-24.5% |
| 9408 |
7529 |
Quantity 150 of
Feature 1298 |
$194,850 |
$147,150 |
-24.5% |
As you can see, memory on the JS12 and JS22 blade servers (those are Power6 models) was slashed, as were prices on 4.2 GHz Power6 cards for the Power 520 and processor core activations for those cards. Disks for the earlier generation of Power6-based Power 570 servers also saw some cuts, as did disk, memory, and processor activations for the Power M25 Power5+ user-priced box from two years ago. I guess IBM must still have inventories of their M25 and 520 machines that it wants to get rid of.
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