Originally posted by: SuperSix
It's not a "game", it's called paying by Intel's rules.
I think it's called NewEgg always keeps the prices up for a few days because they have loyal buyers who don't care that they're paying more to buy from them. This is often the case year-round with them now that they are popular (basically the Amazon.com of online PC hardware... even lots of non-geeks know about NewEgg these days), so they can simply tack a premium on all of their prices and get away with it because most folks won't bother to price-compare and shop around to ZZF or MWave or other vendors.
Meanwhile places like MWave give the deals even starting a day early so folks who are simply looking the best deal from a known e-tailer can shop around and get the best price and availability. Here are MWave's prices and availability as of yesterday:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=28&threadid=2037241&enterthread=y
I guess in a sense you could say both places have their target demographics - MWave knows it'll get the price-conscious deal seekers if it posts great prices and early availability, and NewEgg knows its popularity and size will get it solid sales even if they charge a bit more and may not even post the new products exactly on time.
My last rig I built almost entirely from parts ordered at ZZF because at the time nearly 75% of the parts I was looking at were not only cheaper at ZZF but they included two-day shipping free. NewEgg was often $2-10 more expensive per part and they charged for equivalent shipping. The other items that were cheaper at NewEgg were purchased at NewEgg.
That's just timing though. Other times NewEgg offers better prices on the majority of parts and includes similar free shipping offers and ZZF is up to $5-10 more expensive on the part prices.
This is why you should always be a smart shopper and SHOP AROUND.
Vendor "loyalty" is nonsense when the vendor you're being loyal to is the major e-tailer in the business and frequently not the best deal in town. As any reputable vendor would agree, if it's your money you're spending, the first thing you sohuld be loyal to is your wallet (i.e. cost).
I've had good shopping experiences at NewEgg, ZZF, and MWave, so I will generally check all three before making a purchase. ChiefValue (a NewEgg subsidiary, IIRC) is sometimes handy as well.