Price Drop.

[JBG123]

So I built my PC a year ago it was quite expensive (as is everything in New Zealand) now there are PC Parts coming out that are 3x better and half the price of the ones I have currently. For example I brought the R9 390 for around $600 only a year later it is $300 (NZD). I am new to the tech scene and was wondering if this commonly happens or is this year just special? Also are there anyways to predict the price drop?

 

[Jetster]

THis is normal. PC parts market is one of the most volatile market in the world

Sometimes its the other way too. Like ram prices have gone up rapidly in the past before

But for brand new tech. Price is half in one year normally

 

[Silas Woodruff]

I think it's normal, as for ways to predict it yes, when new better-faster tech is released, older ones get price decrease, the older the hardware, the higher the price reduction.

 

[GreiverBlade]

well most of the time it's normal .... predictable ? nope ...

Sometimes its the other way too. Like ram prices have gone up rapidly in the past before

i.e.: some pieces of hardware i bought, motherboard GPU(specially nvidia even in 2nd hands ... thanks dreamers) and CPU, did rather increase in price with months passing (talking about 3 to 6 months) logic? nope .... intel/nvidia? yep ...
2nd hand is even funnier ... paid a 1070 ~531$ seeing Titan X (who is beaten by the previous) going for 700$ 2nd hand because it's a bargain over the previous Swiss pricing of 1500$~ (and that was the lowest)... same goes for 980Ti, tho you can get real bargain with the 390/390X sometime Fury ... because what people think of AMD (which is technically wrong and proven with Vulkan and DX12, and i suspect the future will be even more interesting, altho i don't regret my 1070 for now )

So I built my PC a year ago it was quite expensive (as is everything in New Zealand) now there are PC Parts coming out that are 3x better and half the price of the ones I have currently. For example I brought the R9 390 for around $600 only a year later it is $300 (NZD). I am new to the tech scene and was wondering if this commonly happens or is this year just special? Also are there anyways to predict the price drop?

well that's sad around year ago i had a R9 290 (well ... not a 390 but same hardware soooo ... ) for 150$ (and irrc 390 were 350$ were i live oh wait ... that make them close to 500nzd yep ... right pricing ~ )

 

[basco]

and that is why i try to only buy used stuff(especially graphiccards) from the early adopters.

 

[GreiverBlade]

and that is why i try to only buy used stuff(especially graphiccards) from the early adopters.

want a 1070 2nd hand less than 1 week use ... well because it's nvidia and because it beat a Titan X i do it for .... lemmesee .... 1500$? (joking obviously ... but most 2nd hands seller act like that where i live )

but i concur ..... i did mostly 2nd hands bargain (mostly for friends build to keep the price down, and for some time for me until i got a bit more ... financially healthy )

 

[dorsetknob]

One of the few used Pc parts that does seem to hold its value or in some cases increase in Value is the X58 motherboard
second hand they seem to go for Stupid unreasonable money
For those people needing to replace or obtain one getting a good example for a reasonable price is hard work and luck is needed

 

[GreiverBlade]

One of the few used Pc parts that does seem to hold its value or in some cases increase in Value is the X58 motherboard
second hand they seem to go for Stupid unreasonable money
For those people needing to replace or obtain one getting a good example for a reasonable price is hard work and luck is needed

OOHHHH THAT'S SO RIGHT! i had a 2nd hand X58 system, firstly a ASUS P6T SE and then a Rampage III Extreme, to keep the price low i had to take a 920 (tho it OC'ed like a champ) ... instead of a 950 and above (or even a Xeon) altho it was a step up at the time ... my previous rig was based of a ASRock 970 Ex3+PHIIX4-955 BE (that did crunch for the anniversary back in the days) resell value? well i could get my initial investment back (plus a bonus .... but shhhhh i didn't intended to get it like that ... crazy bidders did it ... )

altho now ... i could get a 990X + a RIIIE for less than 280$ ... times change (or it was a really lucky finding ... )

 

[dorsetknob]

guy in germany was selling referbs for 79 euro i bought one ( as did @CAPSLOCKSTUCK ) SIX MONTHS LATER before he sold out he was selling them for 180 euros
was Glad i bought at the 79 euro price point as its been a rock solid reliable investment

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

guy in germany was selling referbs for 79 euro i bought one ( as did @CAPSLOCKSTUCK ) SIX MONTHS LATER before he sold out he was selling them for 180 euros
was Glad i bought at the 79 euro price point as its been a rock solid reliable investment

I passed it on at cost to my pal @arfa who runs it with E 5620 @3.95ghz 12gb xms3 and R9 380


i did find another one which arrived with a missing capacitor. My money was refunded and i was told to keep the board.

Its on my "to do" list.

 

[basco]

X58 motherboard
second hand they seem to go for Stupid unreasonable money
or you have to find sellers like me that are no ass

i had good prices at the place i was working for so i give that to others

 

[dorsetknob]

basco

Have heard good things said about you

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Big ups for @basco for the epic boards he has sold me in the past. ( and hopefully in the not too distant future)

ASUS ROG ii extreme
which i paired with X5650 @ 4.0ghz and R9 280 and is in daily use gaming.

ASUS P6T
which i paired with E 5620 @3.9ghz and GTX 680 and is awaiting a PSU and should be in use from tomorrow.


My gaming friends benefit from "at cost" pcs and i get to build, bench and test them.

 

[dorsetknob]

Wuck me i just found a non working board for £179.99
This is really taking the piss
you want a laugh/groan view it here
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/read-Desc...006626?hash=item2eefa42122:g:r90AAOSwGotWhqUx

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

Xeon E 5640 has to be one of the best value price drops ever

on release

$ 777.00
http://ark.intel.com/products/47923/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E5640-12M-Cache-2_66-GHz-5_86-GTs-Intel-QPI


today
$ 6.47
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intel-CPU...826215?hash=item3605a35ce7:g:K10AAOSwjXRXYa-8


for a CPU that will do this 4c/ 8th

http://hwbot.org/submission/3063152_capslockstuck_cinebench___r15_xeon_e5640_656_cb/

 

[Bill_Bright]

now there are PC Parts coming out that are 3x better and half the price of the ones I have currently.

Welcome to the real world! This is how it has been with consumer electronics forever. I first experienced this way back in the early 70's with audio reproduction equipment. It seemed the day after you brought home your brand new amplifier, speakers, or phono cartridge, the state-of-the-art took another leap forward and new and improved versions were released suddenly turning your barely out of the box, superseded stuff nearly obsolete.

Prices for brand new upper tier items are normally high until production ramps up and the "newness" wears off, then they start to drop. This is pretty predictable. This is normal as companies want to recoup their R&D and retooling investments now, if not sooner.

Sometimes its the other way too. Like ram prices have gone up rapidly in the past before

But this is rare and typically there is some logical reason. For example, new types RAM are always more expensive until more widely adapted. We saw this when DDR3 was released supplanting DDR2 as the dominant type RAM, and now again with the new DDR4. This is pretty predictable too.

Natural disasters can greatly impact supply. For example, about 5 years ago there was a giant tsunami that took out several major hard drive factories in Thailand creating a shortage that raised prices for a couple years until the industry could recover. If you can predict natural disasters, patent your idea and become a billionaire.

Shortages in raw materials to make the products will cause prices to rise temporarily too. These sometimes are predictable and sometimes not. A mining accident, major fire, or government take-over can affect global supply chains, not just local communities.