What sort of price drop can we expect ...

[Shagga]

Hi all.

Need to upgrade my existing PC. I was going to do this about a year ago, but alas my circumstances changed and keeping my existing set up made sense at the time.

I'm currently looking for either a...

Sandy Bridge / Z68 or indeed the pending Ivy Bridge / Z77 combination. I "think" I will go for the IB/Z77 option ultimately but do you think the SB/Z68 will reduce in price significantly when the AB/Z77 are readily available.

Thanks, as always.

 

[Ken g6]

Intel never drops their CPU prices after a new release.

Hard to say on mobos, but I think the Intel chipset makes up a large part of the price of most of the cheap ones. So I don't expect much of a price drop there either - but I could be wrong.

 

[Shagga]

That's a fair comment. I guess it's down to retailers to a degree. Possibly better off waiting a month for the IB/Z77 to manifest itself. Mind you, the price of the IB i7 3770 might turn out to be too expensive for this upgrade in any case.

 

[greenhawk]

none are expected. initla prices for the new gear is generally higher due to demand / supply, but the older stuff has little reason to drop in price. There might be some deals on offer as retails look to sell off stock (as they have been doing for the last month) but eventually the new stuff will replace the older gear at the same price points.

 

[Shagga]

Again, makes sense.

Right, can't do much about it until IB/Z77 makes their debut, so now got to work out which SSD to go for which is rock solid reliable (and as fast as hell The two don't usually go hand in hand I know).

Ram and GPU to look at also. Can I ask, is Quad channel DDR3 the way to go? This is all far too complicated...

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I got a Sandy Bridge 2600k and motherboard used for $300 a few months ago. Check the for sale/trade forum here on Anandtech around the time ivy bridge drops.

 

[Shagga]

Sounds like a cracking deal.

 

[mfenn]

Again, makes sense.

Right, can't do much about it until IB/Z77 makes their debut, so now got to work out which SSD to go for which is rock solid reliable (and as fast as hell The two don't usually go hand in hand I know).

Ram and GPU to look at also. Can I ask, is Quad channel DDR3 the way to go? This is all far too complicated...

The Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 are your best bets for a combination of price, performance, and reliability. Ivy Bridge is dual-channel just like Sandy Bridge, so I expect 2x4GB to be the standard memory recommendation.

 

[Shagga]

The Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 are your best bets for a combination of price, performance, and reliability. Ivy Bridge is dual-channel just like Sandy Bridge, so I expect 2x4GB to be the standard memory recommendation.

Just goes to show I have not got a clue any more. lol I need to look into that then and try and familiarise myself with the whole dual/quad DDR thing