Intel i5-4690K now just $179.99 on Microcenter!

[VirtualLarry]

Whether MC losing money on loss-leader items? Maybe.

I was just at my local Walmart at like 7:15 in the morning, and the associates were having a meeting in electronics. I overheard some numbers, like they made $30K profit, and were expecting to LOSE $218K during BF sales, but that they stressed trying to sell other items at full price to make up for the losses, and that sales would resume in Dec. too.

So I don't know if the mgr is un-informed, but it seems as though these stores actually DO lose money on cheap electronics on BF.

If MC is taking a loss on their everyday loss-leader CPUs, to get customers into the store, that wouldn't surprise me in the least.

 

[SithSolo1]

Around this time last year the 4770K dropped to $200, I don't know if the 4790K will drop that low but @ $250 its a no-brainer over the 4690K imo.

 

[XavierMace]

I was just at my local Walmart at like 7:15 in the morning, and the associates were having a meeting in electronics. I overheard some numbers, like they made $30K profit, and were expecting to LOSE $218K during BF sales, but that they stressed trying to sell other items at full price to make up for the losses, and that sales would resume in Dec. too.

That's retail sales 101. Sell a few things under cost to get people in the doors.

 

[DJK6]

The 4690K is now $179

 

[meloz]

The 4690K is now $179

At this price point it makes sense to buy one even if you don't need it yourself. You can always flip it on ebay or elsewhere and make profit.

 

[Ryanrenesis]

Holy shiskabab!

I needs to take a roadtrip down to the US asap.

 

[PG]

At this price point it makes sense to buy one even if you don't need it yourself. You can always flip it on ebay or elsewhere and make profit.

I don't think you would make a profit on a cpu by itself. I live near Chicago where there are two stores. At one store the total for a cpu only would be about $193 and it's $196 at the other. The difference is because they have different tax rates.
I checked recent ebay auctions and it seems like a new 4690k is selling for $210 to $220. Then ebay hits you with fees on the selling price so you may actually lose money.
Now, if you get this cpu and motherboard bundle and sell it, then that would probably be different story since you get a $30 to $40 bundle discount. I say always get a bundle at Micro Center even if you don't need the board. You should be able to sell it for a profit easy.

 

[railven]

Current price really made me think about it.

Rocking i7 2600k @ 4.2ghz stable (could probably get more but not upping volts beyond the 0.05 or so I already did).

Worth it to drop for an i5 4690k or i7 4970k or just keep holding my ground and wait for Broadwell/Skylake or DDR4 prices to stop eclipsing CPU+MOBO costs.

 

[Ryanrenesis]

Current price really made me think about it.

Rocking i7 2600k @ 4.2ghz stable (could probably get more but not upping volts beyond the 0.05 or so I already did).

Worth it to drop for an i5 4690k or i7 4970k or just keep holding my ground and wait for Broadwell/Skylake or DDR4 prices to stop eclipsing CPU+MOBO costs.

I really think you should keep your i7-2600K, as it drives your 780 perfectly fine!

 

[railven]

I really think you should keep your i7-2600K, as it drives your 780 perfectly fine!

I know you're right.

But I've had this processor for so long it feels older than me. Haha.

 

[chrisjames61]

The pricing of i7-4790K is just as delicious: $280. To give some idea about how good this deal is: newegg has this CPU listed for $330 at the moment.

Why would a retailer cut price so drastically? It is not as if Intel are rolling out Skylake next month or anything. Is this type of pricing a desperate measure to drive some foot traffic into dying brick-and-mortar stores?

Also, does this give us an idea of the kind of margin retailers and/or distributors enjoy on Intel CPUs, or is microcenter possibly taking a small hit by selling some SKUs below cost (to them)?

Microcenter has these prices all the time. If you haven't ever been to one I can tell you it is awesome.You never know what you are going to find. Open box stuff is unreal. My daughter has Macbook Pro. She needed to run a specific Windows only program for school. I saw a Dell laptop at Best Buy for $343. Looked online and saw Microcenter in Brooklyn, NY had it in stock for $199. Got there bought it. Also picked up an AMD A10-7850K for $90 open box.

 

[chrisjames61]

That's retail sales 101. Sell a few things under cost to get people in the doors.

Yup. They want to get you to walk thru the doors. And a few impulse purchases later...... To be fair they have good prices on lots of stuff. They also have a crap ton of enthusiast stuff. Watercooling. Case fans. Cases. You could spend all day looking at stuff.

 

[tential]

Yup. They want to get you to walk thru the doors. And a few impulse purchases later......

Yup. They tried to get me to purchase a LOT of other things when I went to my Microcenter.
I felt bad for the sales guy because I certainly wasn't purchasing anything else there unless it was also the cheapest price humanly possible to pay.

 

[tential]

Whether MC losing money on loss-leader items? Maybe.

I was just at my local Walmart at like 7:15 in the morning, and the associates were having a meeting in electronics. I overheard some numbers, like they made $30K profit, and were expecting to LOSE $218K during BF sales, but that they stressed trying to sell other items at full price to make up for the losses, and that sales would resume in Dec. too.

So I don't know if the mgr is un-informed, but it seems as though these stores actually DO lose money on cheap electronics on BF.

If MC is taking a loss on their everyday loss-leader CPUs, to get customers into the store, that wouldn't surprise me in the least.

I know when I worked at Macy's Black Friday (and holiday's like it) we'd work all night to reticket items. Yes, some items are cheaper, but a lot of items that normally are on sale are marked back up full price with a store wide % off sale that puts it above what the price normally is.

Most of the time, the loss leader's are sold out (put like 5-10 on the shelves), then people jus tpurchase something else since they're already there.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Man, if the 4790k gets much cheaper I'm gonna have to convince my friend to pick up two (I don't live near MC. ) and then I'll pay him back. I do some rendering and that 4.4Ghz turbo at stock is yummy.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Holy sh*t! Price on the 4790K just dropped to $249 at MC

This is all very interesting, because -- as a near-duopolist or dominant firm in desktop processors -- Intel had always maintained control of pricing. You had to be an "Intel reseller" and register with them. I did so at one time, thinking I'd have a foot in the door for building several computers at once. So prices never dropped much on earlier processors, once they were released.

Has anyone here at the forums ever ventured to suggest that the Devils Canyon was a bit disappointing? I wouldn't be able to say myself -- I don't have one. But there seemed to be "issues" of a thermal nature and clock-speed limitations.

You can tell me that I don't know a hilla-beans, though. I won't take it too hard.

Still -- that's a helluva good price on those. . . .

 

[deanx0r]

I picked up a 4790K on Monday. You can also get $40 on any compatible motherboard. I didnt want to pass on the deal and picked up an Asus Z97i on the spot, only to realize it isnt what I was looking for. I returned the motherboard (unopened) only 30 minutes later after rechecking the specs in the parking lot and it was later listed as an open item.

Those prices and such generous return policy make me wonder how they make money, but I rather go to them than order items on Amazon or Newegg (when I can), and I see myself buying most of my electronics items from them.

 

[railven]

I picked up a 4790K on Monday. You can also get $40 on any compatible motherboard. I didnt want to pass on the deal and picked up an Asus Z97i on the spot, only to realize it isnt what I was looking for. I returned the motherboard (unopened) only 30 minutes later after rechecking the specs in the parking lot and it was later listed as an open item.

Those prices and such generous return policy make me wonder how they make money, but I rather go to them than order items on Amazon or Newegg (when I can), and I see myself buying most of my electronics items from them.

Another friendly thumbs up Microcenter, my local shop I bought a open box GPU (one in my sig) sales guy still gave me two vouchers:
Batman Arkham Origins (old Nvidia bundle deal, but from what I saw in his little folder he still had a bunch left) and the current bundle at the time which was Watch Dogs.