Buy RAM now or wait for system build in early August?

[taisingera]

I'm planning on building a system with a 1333 C2D when they come out, but I see that RAM prices are started to climb. I'd like to get 2GB G Skill DDR2-800 for $115 at Newegg. Of course I wouldn't be able to test them until I get the rest of the hardware. Should I buy the RAM now and then wait until then OR get everything now but go with a C2D E6600?

 

[brencat]

RAM has climbed in price slightly over the last 1 - 2 weeks but for no apparent reason other than typical withholding supply from the channel games (my opinion) that the manufacturers play every time prices drop too fast. They built up all this supply in anticipation of a huge upgrade cycle when Vista launched...which didn't happen of course...and now are trying to pare down the inventory. I personally believe there will be another tick down in prices but we're soon going to start running into the "back to school" PC purchase season.

Therefore I'd buy the RAM now, and get the CPU you want later. But pass on the GSkill, and go for the Crucial Ballistix PC2-6400 for $70 after MIR instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820146565

 

[taisingera]

The Crucial looks good, but I am probably getting a Gigabyte G33M board that only does 2.2V max. It should be able to run 4-4-4-12 at 800, but I may want to OC a little once everything is settled in. Some on Newegg have the Crucial running at 800 with 4-4-4-12 at 2.0V.

 

[brencat]

You won't need more than 2.2v with the Ballistix unless you're pushing 450 FSB or higher. Although the spec is 400 FSB @ 4-4-4-12 with 2.2v, the RAM is so good it will boot at 1.8v with looser 5-5-5-15 timings. Not to worry.

 

[MarcVenice]

yeah get the ram, just yesterday I read about ram prices that will most likely climb in q3 and q4. The expected amount of ram in an avg pc is supposed to go up from 800 to 1300mb, due to vista. There wil also be an increase in mobo/pc sales, which of course also pushes up the amount of ram needed. Ram manufacturers also went to 70nm fabrication, which has made delivery times longer for ram, balancing out supply and demand. Prices probably won't go up as high as last year, but will rise for sure.

 

[gorka]

yep. get the RAM now. DDR2 667 hs gone up $10 in a week.

 

[taisingera]

I ordered two parts today that I'm sure I'll be using,

2 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 for $70 after MIR and a Sapphire X1650XT card for $84 after MIR. I'm not a gamer so I don't need anything too expensive, but I don't want to use onboard video with a G33 motherboard. Now I am just waiting for the CPU price drops to get the CPU, mobo, another OS (probably XP MCE) and I need to figure out what I want to do for a case. I could put the new system in my Antec NSK4400, then either put my old system in a big spare Antec case or get a mATX board and case that supports that hardware, ie. an Asrock S478 865G mobo.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

I've been following the prices since Feb. and they're still down from where they were. I just compared the May prices and all are still lower than that time period but maybe not as low as the once were.