noob question on cpu price...

[ZenMonkey]

I'm soon to upgrade and I noticed these two prices at mwave.com:

INTEL PENTIUM 4 2.53 GHZ (BX80532PE2533D) W/512K CACHE 533MHZ 478-PIN RETAILED (3 YEARS WARRANTY) for 267.50
INTEL PENTIUM 4 2.5 GHZ (BX80532PC2500D) W/512K CACHE 400FSB 478-PIN RETAILED (3 YEARS WARRANTY) for 280

Why would you pay more for less? Is 400 fsb better than 533? I wouldn't think so. On the detail specs...well I can't exactly see any difference.

ZM

 

[murphy55d]

While I don't know why they're priced like that, I can tell you the top one is definitely better.

Weird.

 

[DeschutesCore]

Our distributors are offering the 2.533 (533 FSB) chips for less than the 2.4 (400 FSB) as well. It's based on the price drop, that's for sure.

DC

 

[ahartman]

P4 2.53 (533) is available from Googlegear for $242 and that's a retail box.

 

[dullard]

Why would you pay more for less? Is 400 fsb better than 533? I wouldn't think so. On the detail specs...well I can't exactly see any difference.

Mostly the answer is supply and demand. At default speeds the 2.53 GHz on a 533 MHz fsb will run slightly faster - in some cases significantly faster. This is since it has a faster fsb (533 is better to answer your question). According to Intel's official pricelist, both chips cost $243 in lots of 1000 chips. So if you were to buy a whole new computer, and each cost the same, which would you choose? Obviously most people would get the faster chip - thus it puts great demand on the 2.53 GHz chip. Unfortunately Intel's pricelist only gives the 1000 lot price- what if you are a store and you order 2000? Or 10,000? Or just 100? In those cases, Intel negotiates individual prices with each reseller. So if Mwave decided to buy 1000 of the 2.5 GHz chip and 5000 of the 2.53 GHz chip, Intel would likely give Mwave a better price on the 2.53 GHz chip. Thus the extra demand for the 2.53 chip, causes Mwave to buy more, which results in a slightly lower price.

You can see this evidence on Pricewatch.com. Intel sells the 2.53 GHz chip for $243 like I said above but some stores on pricewatch are selling it for as low as $236 (meaning that store got a discount for buying more than 1000 chips).

There are reasons to buy the 2.5 GHz chip instead if you want to overclock - but that is another story.