Been out of the loop, what's going on with the prices?

[DerelictDev]

Hey guys

I've been out of the loop for a bit more than half a year now and for no particular reason, I've started frequenting these forums again and reading up on new tech and prices.

What strikes me as odd is the prices I'm seeing for different components.
For example why does a e6600 cost so much more than an e7200? Is it just due to supply/ demand, has it been discontinued or is that 1mb cache really the factor? I thought the e7200 beats the e6600 in most if not all benchmarks regardless of cache.

My next question, the "new" video cards such as the HD 4850, I'm seeing prices around $150 - $200. From my limited knowledge this card can wipe the floor with my 1900xt (twice the performance) but it wasn't even that long ago that I bought the x1900xt for something like $220+.

Has technology just sped up and left me behind. I do realize other cards like the 4870? are going for $400 (which is ridiculous) but isn't the 4850 just a step down? If so, $200 sounds like an unbelievable deal that I'm tempted on getting but really have no use.

 

[Quiksilver]

Originally posted by: DerelictDev
Hey guys

I've been out of the loop for a bit more than half a year now and for no particular reason, I've started frequenting these forums again and reading up on new tech and prices.

What strikes me as odd is the prices I'm seeing for different components.
For example why does a e6600 cost so much more than an e7200? Is it just due to supply/ demand, has it been discontinued or is that 1mb cache really the factor? I thought the e7200 beats the e6600 in most if not all benchmarks regardless of cache.

My next question, the "new" video cards such as the HD 4850, I'm seeing prices around $150 - $200. From my limited knowledge this card can wipe the floor with my 1900xt (twice the performance) but it wasn't even that long ago that I bought the x1900xt for something like $220+.

Has technology just sped up and left me behind. I do realize other cards like the 4870? are going for $400 (which is ridiculous) but isn't the 4850 just a step down? If so, $200 sounds like an unbelievable deal that I'm tempted on getting but really have no use.

E6600 was discontinued and IIRC e7200 is a die shrink so it's cheaper to make.

Second was is mainly due to price wars between ATI/Nvida. ATI jumped into the competitive market real quick, caught Nvidia off guard. Thus nvidia cut prices to be competitive. Then ATI followed suit. The 4850 originally launched at like $200 though.

IDK where you seen the $400 price tag though, 4870's can be had for ~$300, it's faster than the 4850 and comes with newer tech(GDDR5 VS GDDR3) and dual-slot cooler.

Other than that, you pretty summed it up yourself. Technology is always moving forward, so what was top of the line 4 years ago is a drop in the bucket compared to now. Hell, I spent $330 on my single-core 4000+ 5 years ago, now their like $50 (if you can find one) and everything now wipes it.

 

[Roguestar]

Inexorable march of technology, lower costs, newer chips etc etc

 

[TidusZ]

For processors your best bets for value currently from cheapest to priciest are E5200 (doesn't overclock especially well), e7200, e8400. For videocard(s) imo you'd be best going with 1 or 2 ati 4850's ($150 each) or a 4870 ($250ish).

I bought my 8800gt for $300 last november, and now you can get it for low 100's or 100 used. That's how she goes.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: TidusZ
E5200 (doesn't overclock especially well)

http://en.hardspell.com/doc/showcont.asp?news_id=3687
I think 4GHz is pretty good. Even if you'll probably only get 3GHz~ or so out of it with most setups, that's not half bad.