The price comparison
BGR says the Athlon 64 X2 5400+ went for around $485 and the 5600+ for around $505. Those figures match contemporary reporting. The Register reported in December 2006 that AMD had quietly added both chips to its public price list, at $485 and $505 respectively, with the already available 5200+ at $403. These are AMD list prices, not what a shopper paid after retailer markup or tax.
On the modern side, AMD's David McAfee said the Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition should be priced at $899, and AMD's launch release lists the same figure as the suggested price. That is a suggested price, not a guaranteed street price. Wccftech's launch-day roundup listed $899 at Newegg and B&H but $999 at Amazon.
The nominal gap works out like this:
| Comparison | Difference | Rough increase |
|---|---|---|
| $899 vs. $485 (5400+) | $414 | about 85% |
| $899 vs. $505 (5600+) | $394 | about 78% |
In inflation-adjusted terms, BGR says the 5400+ would cost around $811 if it were new today, which is less than the $899 Ryzen. I could not verify that $811 figure against an official CPI calculation. Treat it as BGR's estimate. If it holds, the real-terms gap is about $88, or roughly 11%. That is a far smaller story than "CPUs doubled in price."
Not the same kind of chip
The 2006 parts were top-of-the-line, but the 9950X3D2 is a niche, premium product in a very different class. The three groups of figures below are not like-for-like.
Athlon 64 X2 5400+ and 5600+ (2006)
- Both are dual-core chips built on 90nm and clocked at 2.8GHz, drawing up to 89W.
- The 5400+ has 1MB of cache and the 5600+ has 2MB, split evenly between the cores. Both use Socket AM2.
Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition (2026)
- AMD's launch release lists 16 cores and 32 threads, up to 5.6GHz boost, a 4.3GHz base clock, 208MB of total cache, a 200W TDP and the $899 suggested price.
- AMD says it is built on Zen 5 and a 4nm process. AMD's store listing shows no cooler included.
- AMD calls it the first desktop processor with 3D V-Cache on both chiplets. It drops into existing AM5 boards.
The cache numbers
BGR cites cache figures of 1,280 KB, 192 MB and 16 MB. These are not an error. AMD's store spec page lists 1280 KB of L1, 16 MB of L2 and 192 MB of L3. The 208MB headline figure is AMD's total of the L2 and L3 caches. The 2006 chips' 1MB and 2MB were L2 only, so the comparison is only loosely like-for-like.
BGR also says more cache means a CPU "can handle more memory." That is not accurate. Cache keeps frequently used data close to the cores to cut waiting on main memory. It does not raise how much RAM a system can use.
Where the article oversimplifies
- Wattage is not performance. BGR says higher wattage improved the CPU's power. A 200W rating describes a thermal and power envelope, not speed or efficiency. Today's chip does far more work per watt than a 90nm dual-core, but TDP alone does not show that.
- Cores are not a performance guarantee. More cores help in well-threaded work such as rendering and compiling. Gaming and everyday tasks depend on software, clocks, architecture and memory. BGR offers no benchmark between these two chips, and neither does this comparison.
- The causes are speculation. BGR points to innovation, manufacturing costs and AI data-center demand for components. It gives no evidence on how much each factor mattered for this price gap. The pairing is also telling: a 2006 chip that was pricey because dual-core was new, against a 2026 chip that is deliberately a halo product.
The useful takeaway
The 9950X3D2 sits at the top of AMD's consumer desktop range. PC Guide noted that $899 is about $200 more than the Ryzen 9 9950X3D at launch. Phoronix put the 9950X3D at around $699. A fairer reading is that AMD's flagship consumer pricing has crept up. Inflation explains much of that, and the premium dual-cache tier explains the rest.
For anyone shopping now:
- Compare list price to list price, and adjust for inflation if you want historical context.
- Match the product tier. A 16-core flagship says little about what mainstream Ryzen parts cost.
- Check cache categories before comparing totals. L1, L2 and L3 are different things.
- Check live retail prices. Street prices and promotions move away from the suggested price.
The 2006 chip's $485 buys nowhere near the same silicon as the 2026 chip's $899. Adjusted for inflation, the gap is small.