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Good time to buy Hardware?

M

mikable

Senior member
I'm looking to get a Athlon 2200, a liteon 40x, a Nvidia 4600, and a white box Audigy.

Does anyone see a BIG drop in the next few weeks, not a dollar or two but tens of dollars drop.


Thanks!
 
Hrm, I may see a pricedrop for the AthlonXP 2200+, as the 2400+ and 2600+'s are coming out soon.

As far as for the rest, I am unsure.
 
I should wait till christmas then? My budget was orginially £1000 but it came to £1300 after seeing a nice expensive monitor...
 
the best time to buy is always now(IMO), because prices are always going down, and you'll be stuck wondering "hmm should I buy that 2200+ now..or wait..." then it'll be "hmm should I buy that 2600+ now..or wait..."... then "hmm should i buy that clawhammer..or wait...".

it's an endless cycle. Prices are always dropping.
 
I would say that the Athlons will take another drop in about a month or so and then the GF4's will be dropping a bit more too when Nvidia starts putting more info about the NV30 out cause I wouldn't doubt to see something new around Xmas or possibly early January. It just depends on how their .13 process is doing now. The XP 2200+ has become pretty cheap lately. I think I saw it for $144 on pricewatch this morning so it will go down a bit more when the new XP's come out(plus you can be sure to get a better Tbred core on the new XP revisions now too as time goes on).
 
Originally posted by: murphy55d
the best time to buy is always now(IMO), because prices are always going down, and you'll be stuck wondering "hmm should I buy that 2200+ now..or wait..." then it'll be "hmm should I buy that 2600+ now..or wait..."... then "hmm should i buy that clawhammer..or wait...".

it's an endless cycle. Prices are always dropping.
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thats true but sometimes you get really screwed with the technology releases. More so than you would otherwise. Like if you had bought a 2.53B northwood a month a half ago only to see a 50% pricedrop now.
 
thats true but sometimes you get really screwed with the technology releases. More so than you would otherwise. Like if you had bought a 2.53B northwood a month a half ago only to see a 50% pricedrop now.

Anyone who buys top-of-the-line and is surprised by quick, fast price drops is an idiot.

It's not the technology releases that screw people, it's people screwing themselves when they equate computer hardware with phallus size and pay huge premiums for "the best"

 
Originally posted by: grant2
Anyone who buys top-of-the-line and is surprised by quick, fast price drops is an idiot.
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That misses the point. Suppose you had a program that requires a 2.53 GHz P4 or faster for reasonable performance (trust me they exist and I use one). Suppose you were going to buy a computer to run this program. On August 25th you could have paid $500 for the chip. On August 27th it cost $250. A price drop like that really makes people that bought it on August 25th feel bad since the dates of price drops are usually public knowledge. Wanting to know if there is another sudden price drop in the next week has nothing to do with phallus size. Of course the price will drop - it drops on ALL electronic equipment, but wise consumers will hold off 1 week if they know a huge price drop is occuring that week.

To answer the original question: both AMD and Intel have major price drops roughly every 3 months. AMD's last major cut was in the beginning of August. The exact date of the next cut hasn't yet been anounced as far as I know - so the best estimate is 3 months later. That would put it around the beginning of November. Sure there might be a few dollars dropped when the 2400+ and 2600+ are finally available, but nothing major is coming in the next month or so.
 
Suppose you were going to buy a computer to run this program. On August 25th you could have paid $500 for the chip. On August 27th it cost $250. A price drop like that really makes people that bought it on August 25th feel bad since the dates of price drops are usually public knowledge.

In the grandness of life, does it really matter if the price drops in 2 days or 2 months? Either way, it's a small fraction of the computer's life. I don't know how anyone could be upset when their hardware drops in price...

I guess i'm biased- i know so many people who bought "top of the line" hoping to "protect their investment" with a computer that "won't need to be upgraded for a long, long time"... and now they're kicking themselves.

For example... does it matter if you bought a $4000 486 system or a $2000 486 system? Sure, the $4000 system is 40% faster, but it's still a worthless piece of junk these days. At least if you got the cheap system you have $2000 left over to blow on a p4/k7 that'll kick any 486's ass around the block...

Wanting to know if there is another sudden price drop in the next week has nothing to do with phallus size.

Ya but buying the fastest hardware, just because it's the fastest (at the moment) .. DOES. It just seems to mesmerize people, when they see benchmarks and think about how they can be in the big leagues if they just buy more and more expensive... (i speak from shameful experience)
 
In the grandness of life, does it really matter if the price drops in 2 days or 2 months? Either way, it's a small fraction of the computer's life. I don't know how anyone could be upset when their hardware drops in price...
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It would upset me if I buy something today (anything) and find out the price is cut by 50% tomorrow. No one wants to know that waiting a day would have saved them hundreds of dollars.

I guess i'm biased- i know so many people who bought "top of the line" hoping to "protect their investment" with a computer that "won't need to be upgraded for a long, long time"... and now they're kicking themselves.
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There is no such thing as a computer that won't feel slow in the long run. So yes paying $407 for a 2.66 GHz P4 is stupid (for most people) when the 2.53 GHz P4 is just $237. However there are two exceptions that you are ignoring. 1) Suppose your program is too slow on the cheaper chip and you need all the speed you can get - in that case the "investment" in the slower chip is wasted since you cannot use the program you need making that slow chip useless and you wasted $237. 2) Suppose you know tomorrow the price of the faster chip will be cut significantly, then just wait one day and buy the fast chip for the same price that you can buy the slow chip today.

For example... does it matter if you bought a $4000 486 system or a $2000 486 system? Sure, the $4000 system is 40% faster, but it's still a worthless piece of junk these days. At least if you got the cheap system you have $2000 left over to blow on a p4/k7 that'll kick any 486's ass around the block...
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See point #1 above. If you needed that $4000 system to get the job done, then blowing $2000 on the cheaper system would be a complete waste since you cannot run your programs. A $4000 computer that does what you need is a better value than a $2000 computer that you can't use and it sits on a desk wasting away. I admit that this doesn't occur to that many people, but it does happen.

Ya but buying the fastest hardware, just because it's the fastest (at the moment) .. DOES. It just seems to mesmerize people, when they see benchmarks and think about how they can be in the big leagues if they just buy more and more expensive... (i speak from shameful experience)
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Here I agree with you. It is stupid to spend all that money for the sole reason of being the fastest. Its a horrible part of our culture. Some people spend $15,000 on a car stereo that sounds the same as a $1000 system (my father-in-law sells them and loves it, but they are still stupid). However this topic is for another thread. Mikable just wanted to know if there is a big price cut soon so he can save money. You point would be quite nice if instead he asked: "what is the fastest chip available since I want the fastest computer to be cool".

I always determine the chip speed I need. Then I wait until the price is affordable and buy it. I think that makes a lot of sense. Mikable did the same thing - he isn't after a 2400+ or 2600+, instead just a lowly 2200+ and wants to make sure it is affordable.
 
To sum up everyones arguments:



Buy a step or two below top of the line, at any time. You will be fine. Just NEVER buy top of the line, waste of money.
 
hey... if you are one of those lucky people with the AMEX gold card that offers BVG (Best Value Guarantee), you can just buy the stuff, and you can actually pricematch it with any lower price that comes out in 30(?) days... so you are kinda secure...
 
However this topic is for another thread. Mikable just wanted to know if there is a big price cut soon so he can save money.

agreed

Mikable did the same thing - he isn't after a 2400+ or 2600+, instead just a lowly 2200+ and wants to make sure it is affordable.

And good for him! 🙂

 
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