Has there ever been a better time to buy Hardware?

[Zak33]

I know the Pound is screwed vs other countries, but none the less, Hardware is CHEAP... and the best thing is that, this year over any other year I can think of, last generation stuff is waaay up to the job of playing the latest games.

A 22" monitor is now quite common, with 24" screens easily available at sub £200 brand new.

The original Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad cpu's still rip through most games with ease, the relevent mobo's are cheap and DDR2 is so cheap as to make it a virtual steal.

Last years video cards are SO CHEAP as to make those 22" screens easily and stunningly filled with the latest eye candy, and it matters not one jot how big the games are, cos SATA drives are CHEAP!!

PSU's are now sensible money, cases are the only thing that's still quite expensive, but they last a long long time so it's money worth spending.

It's a remarkable time, a recession.

[kalniel]

I don't really agree - PSU and case prices are way up compared to where they were a year ago. The only thing that's really good at the moment is that the 'old' technology is more relevant than it's ever been - caused both by the relative power of core 2 and the lack of any need for something more powerful (ie, development of things pushing the hardware has slowed).

[peterb]

I agree that some previously high end stuff is now cheaper than it was (some HDD controller cards, and SSD for example) but ads Kalniel says, PSUs are more expensive (particularly those that are US sourced - even though they may be made in China or Taiwan) as are cases. Low to mid range mobos seem extremely good value, but high end stuff is still quite expensive. However some pre-built systems (branded and own brand) seems to be falling slightly - especially laptops - perhaps because the margins on these were high anyway.

Some software is more expensive too, particularly that sourced for Europe/US - but that really is an exchange rate issue.

[Hicks12]

It could be getting even better with the GPU side of things when you think about it... AMD 40nm design means=cheaper+better performance, bests games for longer(less crap ports?) and cheaper in the first place and the 4770 is a prime example.

I still think PSU's are really expensive when its like £70 for a 600w version, cases have gone up and havent really gone down cause i remember getting a coolermaster 690 for only £40 from scan, now its like £65 .

[0iD]

The best time to buy is when you actually have the money & can afford to

[pipTheGeek]

Hasn't it always been the case that last years tech was cheap, and as kalniel says, PSU's and cases are expensive. Although my first PC had a £40 case which included a PSU, now I have a £60 PSU and a £100 case. That is more me learning that it is worth spending the extra, especially on the PSU.
I agree with the OP though that RAM, especially DDR2 800 and drive space are stupidly cheap though. Its a shame really that I need CPU and motherboard

[moogle]

Yes there has, last summer. Everything I bought went up in price afterwards

[matty-hodgson]

Hasn't it always been the case that last years tech was cheap

yes it has, but Zak was saying that last year's tech is still easily capable of playing todays games.

[Zak33]

Ref PSU's:

I think the quality and power ratings have gone up massively, and THATS why the look more dough. The exchange rate HAS effected them, but not as much as it could have.

24 months ago, no one would be looking at 1000W PSU's at all, let alone at under £120

650 W PSU's weren't under £70 like they are now. Not nice strong ones.

And most people can NOW run a PSU of under 500W if it's good quality, with a quad, 3 hard drives, and a quick card. I do.

[Main]

Looks like the prices for PSUs haven't dropped so much as the entire range has been compressed together into a big mess. The prices for the lower wattages don't look all that different from when I bought aroud 2 years ago, £80 seems to get you 500W to 700W depending on make, model and shop, while there are some 650W at £100.

The low end hasn't changed so much while the top end prices have come down too, so everything is much closer together than it was.

Overall doesn't really feel to me like it's a better time to buy than usual. Also I'm skint.

[LuckyNV]

some things are cheap to buy or at least very good value (like GFX cards), RAM has remained low for a very long time, screens have become very good buys

otherwise CPUs have gone up (at least Intels) and definitely PSUs have been are more expensive too (bought a VX550 for about £52 about a year ago, its at least £70.

TX650 was seen as low as £60 (now £80 or so)

[pipTheGeek]

yes it has, but Zak was saying that last year's tech is still easily capable of playing todays games.

I agree this is a new situation for the CPU market, specifically the core 2 is still an awsome CPU and the duo version with a decent mobo is available at attractive prices. But I think this has been the case for graphics for a while. Certainly since the 7000 series replaces the 6000's.

Having said all that... Maybe the ridiculous price of the new (gtx 260 or 280 and core i7) means more people are looking at the previous generation. My younger brother recently built a PC around an athlon 6000 x2. Simply because the faster processors were just too expensive for the performance they offered. (and of course, because he has no money )

[aidanjt]

About the only thing that's come down in price over the last 8 years is memory and displays. For which I'm glad. But everything else has gone bat**** crazy.

[GSte]

Last year's CPUs are more expensive though than they were last year in many cases..... E8400/E8500/E8600s are about £20-£30 more now from what I can see.... good that the Q9550/Q9650s have dropped though. Mobos have increased a bit in these last few months too, the DFI P45s and ASUS P5Q high-end boards have all gone up by around £20....

[kalniel]

Ref PSU's:

I think the quality and power ratings have gone up massively, and THATS why the look more dough.

Unnecessarily though. My PSU was £28 when I bought it a few years ago, and it runs an OC'd X2 4400, a 4870, 2 hard drives, sound card and wi-fi card absolutely great - because it's a solid CWT unit and I made sure the specs were right when I bought it. But you can't buy any decent PSU at that price these days.

My case was something like £34 and again it's been fantastic.

[GoNz0]

i imported a load of hardware this year, saved a few quid buing from the USA, thats with £50 DHL charge and import tax+duty and a poor £-$