Why aren't Sandy Bridge CPUs discounted?

[RobDickinson]

You discout stuff to sell more units to make more profit via volume.

Please tell me, do you think Intel will sell more SB chips if they were cheaper?

The only people who would buy more of them if they were cheaper are people who would buy them next month with a working board anyhow.

 

[endlessmike133]

If i didn't have a 2600K i'd pick up a 970 for 599.99 in a heartbeat

spend 300 dollars more for less performance; smart move

 

[Zim]

I'd like to put a few things straight:

First, I don't want to buy a faulty motherboard.
Second, the Phenom II X6 is in the same performance ballpark for multi-threaded video encoding as a similarly priced i5... unless all the reviews are lying.
Third, price is important. I have $300ish for CPU + mobo. i7's are $300ish alone.
Forth, I don't want to overclock. It's a HTPC. It needs to be cool and quiet.
Fifth,... aw dammit!

 

[RussianSensation]

Second, the Phenom II X6 is in the same performance ballpark for multi-threaded video encoding as a similarly priced i5... unless all the reviews are lying.

2500k > X6

X6 still lost in Windows Movie maker encoding.
X6 also lost in Handbrake video encoding.

^_^

 

[lamedude]

Its too expensive to let a go fab idle so Intel is going have a months worth of CPUs sitting in a warehouse. Intel is probably going to do something to empty it.

 

[Nemesis 1]

I think ATs article has caused more problems than it solved . Like AT saying april for new mother boards a pure case of BS.

ASUS to begin shipping updated B3 rev Intel 6 series chipset based motherboards
Based on new information from Intel, ASUS is happy to announce that updated Intel 6 series-based motherboards will begin shipping this week, immediately after the revised design is released by Intel. This fast response aims to prevent any further inconvenience and interruption to customers.....

Above its still Feb . April is along way off.

At article does show a consistancy tho . I think most the Web hardware sites have gone for the advertizement $$$ . and hung the consumers out to dry.

Read ATs article on the AMD hp laptop . and his conclusions. Than really look at the results.
Ya they sold out.

 

[jtisgeek]

I kinda wonder why since SB chips are here . Why aren't any of the first Gen I 7 chips going down right now there not reason when looking at I7's to not get a 2600k.

So am just going to wait a couple of months before I think about upgrading any of my system's.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Not useless to us who currently have the boards.

Amen to that! :thumbsup:

I'm looking for a new cpu/motherboard combo for a HTPC that will do a lot of video transcoding. Looking at all the reviews I decided I wanted an i5 2500K CPU, and of course I can get one. What I can't get is a motherboard (for reasons we should all know by now). So I started to look at Phenom II X6, and then I wondered how many people are being pushed in exactly the same direction? Wouldn't it make sense for Intel to drop the price of retail SBs while motherboards are not available to try and entice people to hold out for the next month or so while new boards come to market? If I end up going with AMD it will be at least a couple of years before I come back to look at Intel again.

The P8P67/P8P67 Pro boards are not that expensive. (When they are available again. Some places in fact are still selling them!) Not only that, but with the Phenom/Thuban boards you might spend $20-$30 less but you are giving away a lot of performance vs. Sandy Bridge. If you want the discounts, get the CPU from Micro Center for $169. That's the best bang-for-buck proposition I have ever seen in my life (and I thought their $199 i7-950 was incredible!) and my experience, I believe, bears this out. I think you need to look at what is going to benefit you in the long run and not worry quite so much about that extra $20 for the motherboard. You'll spend more for the Thuban than for the 2500K anyway.

 

[3DVagabond]

OP, retail seems to escape a lot of people.

I understand what you are saying. There's going to be a lot of inventory that people are sitting on. Sitting on inventory can remove any profit from it real fast. All I can figure is Intel is compensating retailers and/or wholesalers for sitting on these stocks.

As far as 1156/1366 as an alternative, as some have suggested. In heavily threaded apps the Thuban is often a better value. Not games, which is what an overwhelming majority here gauge CPU performance solely on.

I'd just use that Q6600 you've got now though for a few more months and see what the next gen AMD will bring. Or possibly a 2600K when the fixed MoBo's come available. I sure as hell wouldn't knowingly buy a defective board now though.

 

[BoomerD]

OP, retail seems to escape a lot of people.

I understand what you are saying. There's going to be a lot of inventory that people are sitting on. Sitting on inventory can remove any profit from it real fast. All I can figure is Intel is compensating retailers and/or wholesalers for sitting on these stocks.

As far as 1156/1366 as an alternative, as some have suggested. In heavily threaded apps the Thuban is often a better value. Not games, which is what an overwhelming majority here gauge CPU performance solely on.

I'd just use that Q6600 you've got now though for a few more months and see what the next gen AMD will bring. Or possibly a 2600K when the fixed MoBo's come available. I sure as hell wouldn't knowingly buy a defective board now though.

Really? Why not? Unless you're running multiple hard drives and have ALL your SATA ports filled, the relatively minor "bug" won't affect you in the slightest...just don't use the Intel 3 Gb SATA ports. Once they get new boards in production, RMA the "buggy" one if you choose. I don't know about the other manufacturers, but ASUS is offering advance RMA for their P67 boards once the replacements are ready.

Swapping motherboards isn't a big deal...and as long as you stay with the same basic board, you SHOULDN'T have to reinstall the OS...just install the board drivers at the worst.

 

[3DVagabond]

Really? Why not? Unless you're running multiple hard drives and have ALL your SATA ports filled, the relatively minor "bug" won't affect you in the slightest...just don't use the Intel 3 Gb SATA ports. Once they get new boards in production, RMA the "buggy" one if you choose. I don't know about the other manufacturers, but ASUS is offering advance RMA for their P67 boards once the replacements are ready.

Swapping motherboards isn't a big deal...and as long as you stay with the same basic board, you SHOULDN'T have to reinstall the OS...just install the board drivers at the worst.

Because I'd rather wait a few weeks and buy one I wasn't going to have to RMA.

 

[Hogan773]

I kinda wonder why since SB chips are here . Why aren't any of the first Gen I 7 chips going down right now there not reason when looking at I7's to not get a 2600k.

So am just going to wait a couple of months before I think about upgrading any of my system's.

I don't think Intel has "PRESIDENT'S DAY FINAL SALE - EVERYTHING MUST GO" type sales like furniture stores do. They just keep selling the old chips for nearly the same price, maybe cut the price a bit, but they've already got so much profit out of these little things that it hurts them more to cut prices like crazy and confuse their customer and tarnish their image. Better to just silently transition to the new stuff and close down the old stuff without all kinds of big selling promotions.

 

[kevykay]

ASUS is supposed to start shipping the revised motherboards this week.

 

[BoomerD]

Because I'd rather wait a few weeks and buy one I wasn't going to have to RMA.

I guess I can't argue that...but I'd certainly go with a board with the "buggy" chipset rather than take a walk on the mild side...and go with an AMD platform...

 

[Gunbuster]

Gigabyte is shipping B3 boards as of today. (on the website main page)

 

[Hogan773]

http://www.asrock.com/news/events/201102ex/warranty.html

ASRock too

 

[Krynj]

Gigabyte is shipping B3 boards as of today. (on the website main page)

What page?

 

[MrTransistorm]

What page?

Well it's not directly on the main page. I found this through the motherboard products page.

I'm glad that they are making it obvious. This will be important when people start buying used boards so that they know which stepping they are getting.

 

[douglasb]

As long as people are paying what Intel is asking for Sandy Bridge, prices won't drop. I'm willing to bet that if everyone stopped buying them, prices would go down.

 

[jimhsu]

I think ATs article has caused more problems than it solved . Like AT saying april for new mother boards a pure case of BS.

ASUS to begin shipping updated B3 rev Intel 6 series chipset based motherboards
Based on new information from Intel, ASUS is happy to announce that updated Intel 6 series-based motherboards will begin shipping this week, immediately after the revised design is released by Intel. This fast response aims to prevent any further inconvenience and interruption to customers.....

Above its still Feb . April is along way off.

At article does show a consistancy tho . I think most the Web hardware sites have gone for the advertizement $$$ . and hung the consumers out to dry.

Read ATs article on the AMD hp laptop . and his conclusions. Than really look at the results.
Ya they sold out.

It was mentioned that boards would begin shipping in late February with full volume recovery only in April. So, your argument is not valid.

 

[BladeVenom]

Intel increases marketing subsidies for motherboard players.

Intel plans to increase its marketing subsidy budget hoping to comfort its motherboard partners as well as boost consumer demand for PCs in the second quarter,

They could have just cut Sandy Bridge prices during this period. Every CPU sale would have just about guaranteed a future motherboard sale.

 

[Zim]

Intel increases marketing subsidies for motherboard players.

They could have just cut Sandy Bridge prices during this period. Every CPU sale would have just about guaranteed a future motherboard sale.

Exactly!

 

[Zim]

If you want the discounts, get the CPU from Micro Center for $169.

I don't see an i5 2500K at MC for $169. http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354590

The i5 760 is $169.99, but that's sooooo 2010.

 

[3DVagabond]

OP, retail seems to escape a lot of people.

I understand what you are saying. There's going to be a lot of inventory that people are sitting on. Sitting on inventory can remove any profit from it real fast. All I can figure is Intel is compensating retailers and/or wholesalers for sitting on these stocks.

Intel increases marketing subsidies for motherboard players.

They could have just cut Sandy Bridge prices during this period. Every CPU sale would have just about guaranteed a future motherboard sale.

This is what I was talking about. Intel is subsidizing people to make up for the loss of business. They're subsidizing MoBo partners. They, in turn, will subsidize their customers. I'll wager there's something else being done to compensate those sitting on CPU inventory, as well.

 

[Dadofamunky]

I don't see an i5 2500K at MC for $169. http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0354590

The i5 760 is $169.99, but that's sooooo 2010.

That makes me feel even better about my purchase. Look for them to go down again after the re-release. (I got mine 2 days after they came out - two weeks later the bug was reported.)

OP, retail seems to escape a lot of people.

I understand what you are saying. There's going to be a lot of inventory that people are sitting on. Sitting on inventory can remove any profit from it real fast. All I can figure is Intel is compensating retailers and/or wholesalers for sitting on these stocks.

As far as 1156/1366 as an alternative, as some have suggested. In heavily threaded apps the Thuban is often a better value. Not games, which is what an overwhelming majority here gauge CPU performance solely on.

I'd just use that Q6600 you've got now though for a few more months and see what the next gen AMD will bring. Or possibly a 2600K when the fixed MoBo's come available. I sure as hell wouldn't knowingly buy a defective board now though.

I also agree with this. However, I'll mention that the P8P67 does have four SATA-3 ports, all of which are working fine and dandy for me. If it wasn't for that, I would have decommissioned and sent the board back (with a great deal of annoyance).