Likelyhood of a price drop in the near future?

[chouchou]

So my bud wants to buy a new rig - but would wait if prices drop by a significant amount. That's what happens to a 18 y/o student without a job!
What are the chances come Christmas that we will see drops in prices. I can already expect a quick drop in the prices of core216's as new ones come out, but what about other things? What are your takes on the situation given our current economy?

Will we see an even further drop in Intel Quads? What about cases (1200's, HAF 932s?) What about RAM sticks, and power supplies? (An HX620W Retail is a great example).

I think its fairly safe to say that the general amount of items may see a interesting door crasher here and there, but what about the big price items?

What you think!

[MpG]

Upcoming Budget, Mainstream Intel Processors (DailyTech)

The date given is January 18th, so if this is true, I don't know that I'd be getting my hopes up before then. Even still, there are specific price cuts on existing models mentioned in that article, just new varieties/binnings of existing chips. Right now, the entry price for Core i7 is high enough that the current generation of chips are still quite attractive for people looking to upgrade, and the budget and mainstream Nehalem components haven't hit the scenes yet. Hence, little incentive for Intel to cut prices any earlier.

Beyond that, the reason for the sudden rise in prices is the dropping Canadian dollar. If past occurances are any indication, the dollar is going to have to 1) improve and 2) stay improved for an extended period of time before our prices begin to improve. Personally, I'm not getting my hopes up. I am, however, paying more attention U.S. online sites, since the potentail now exists to save money that way, even after factoring in the shipping and exchange rates.

[bojangles]

I think there could also be price cuts coming in Q1 2009 when the Phenom II's come out. Someone mentioned that they would be competing with the Penryn chips from Intel.

[icodeit]

Watch for sales leading into Xmas and just after. With retailers starting to struggle could be some great deals to be had. Might be hard to find a deal on all the 'ideal' parts that some want to make up a machine, however my expection (read guess) is that we will see high end prepackaged solutions take a large hit at Xmas and after. Dell, IBM, HP etc have inventory they need to clear out, they were building up for a great Xmas season then OCT hit. These systems will be cleared out at just above cost prices.
Reason: Because by the time the market recovers these machines will be 'out dated' for new sale so might as well sell them while they price still covers costs.

[magictorch]

Its difficult to predict sales. I would buy parts as good deals come up and do it that way, you can always save by buying some things second hand too.

As for the current 216 dropping- that is likely.....

But it is also possible that Nvidia will phase the 45nm in slowly with no change in price-A bit like the way the EO or GO intel steppings were phased in to replace the older stepping. What this means is when you order the card you might not know what you'll get could be 65 or 45nm. I hope this is not the case but they have inventory to move.

Originally Posted by chouchou

So my bud wants to buy a new rig - but would wait if prices drop by a significant amount. That's what happens to a 18 y/o student without a job!
What are the chances come Christmas that we will see drops in prices. I can already expect a quick drop in the prices of core216's as new ones come out, but what about other things? What are your takes on the situation given our current economy?

Will we see an even further drop in Intel Quads? What about cases (1200's, HAF 932s?) What about RAM sticks, and power supplies? (An HX620W Retail is a great example).

I think its fairly safe to say that the general amount of items may see a interesting door crasher here and there, but what about the big price items?

What you think!