How quickly do prices drop?

robinson09 · 11 Jun 2009 at 15:59

Hey Guys,
Im a complete noob, decided im going to build myself a decent ish computer for uni (Since im doing computer science i thought it might be nice to know how to put a computer together).
I will have an £800 budget, so am just wondering if i should get everything now or wait until the end of the summer and see if i can get any deals, will there be any significant changes in price over that time?

Thanks

karl01 · 11 Jun 2009 at 16:08

There is never a good time to build a computer us new technology is always round the corner and you would always be waiting bite the bullet m8 and start now.

despotofmidnor · 11 Jun 2009 at 16:24

I would say buy it later, just because prices always go down, so its bound to be cheaper if anything. Also you will be buying after/on the 3rd quarter so likly to be a lot more deals for making room for new stock.

Flare · 11 Jun 2009 at 16:30

prices drop stupidly quick...
when i bought my pc (see sig) it all cost me about £1100, it can now be bought for about the 3rd of the price. At the time of my buying my pc anything i7 was stupidly expensive ( cheapest RAM at £100+) but now you can get an i7 full system for about the same amount i shelled out on my rig

Sharlaw · 11 Jun 2009 at 16:32

It's a bit of a catch 22 situation, because new releases of hardware etc are always just around the corner which always mean a price drop for the current models. So you can wait and get cheaper, or wait and buy better. Or just keep waiting lol

orangeman2003 · 11 Jun 2009 at 16:35

prices go up prices go down, its just how its goes really

robinson09 · 11 Jun 2009 at 16:36

hmm yeah i see theres no good answer is there really. Think ill wait, so that at least when i go to uni it will the best at the time. Cheers guys

Badfish · 11 Jun 2009 at 16:50

Wait until a couple of weeks before you need it as prices do constantly drop due to new and improved things coming out. Prices rarely go up on computer parts

Geckovich · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:25

I'd say wait, for no other reason than the fact that no young man (or possibly lady) should spend the summer before they go to Uni sat playing about on a computer.

MorningView · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:27

Another thing worth bearing in mind when you get round to spec'ing the machine up is that you won't need one THAT amazing to be honest. It was a pretty popular misconception when I started my course 3 years ago but I've got by the entire time with an Athlon XP 2500+, 1GB ram desktop, and a 1.6Ghz Centrino Duo, 1GB RAM laptop, which have dealt well with everything I've thrown at it.

Taking this into consideration, if you get round to spec'ing the system and want to do some gaming on the machine, I wouldn't feel to guilty spending a decent amount on a card. Most important thing is getting quality parts so it doesn't fall to bits a week before your dissertation's in.

Where are you studying by the way?

chuck990 · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:30

the recessions supposed to hit worst in late summer (or so i have been told) so there may be lower prices then

chuck990 · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:31

Badfish said:
Wait until a couple of weeks before you need it as prices do constantly drop due to new and improved things coming out. Prices rarely go up on computer parts

you say this but some of the parts i bought at xmas are now more exoensive!

robinson09 · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:32

Another thing worth bearing in mind when you get round to spec'ing the machine up is that you won't need one THAT amazing to be honest. It was a pretty popular misconception when I started my course 3 years ago but I've got by the entire time with an Athlon XP 2500+, 1GB ram desktop, and a 1.6Ghz Centrino Duo, 1GB RAM laptop, which have dealt well with everything I've thrown at it.

Taking this into consideration, if you get round to spec'ing the system and want to do some gaming on the machine, I wouldn't feel to guilty spending a decent amount on a card. Most important thing is getting quality parts so it doesn't fall to bits a week before your dissertation's in.

Where are you studying by the way?

yeah thats a good point, i wasn't sure if i needed to run any demanding software for my course but apparently not so thats good, ill work through summer and see what budget i can pull together.
University of Reading hopefully, where did you study?

something daft already!! · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:35

In a vacuum, the same speed as anything else.

NickK · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:44

I did my SE degree with an Acorn Archimedes (ARM710, 4MB) - in short you won't need anything seriously powerful for the work they set. If you do then you should be able to use the uni's high end kit for it but they're not going to give undergrads that sort of exercise.

You can do all that you need with a decent laptop to be honest. Then use student Office and you'll be fine. Remember when you're a student - use the student discounts. If the company doesn't discount for students look around then phone them up with "I'm a student, this is the discount I've been offered elsewhere - do you want my business or not".
You could go with a MacBook

If you want gaming - that's a different matter but it may be better to go console.

MorningView · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:49

robinson09 said:
yeah thats a good point, i wasn't sure if i needed to run any demanding software for my course but apparently not so thats good, ill work through summer and see what budget i can pull together.
University of Reading hopefully, where did you study?

The most demanding stuff you'd have to run would be if you took any of the gaming modules but even then stuff should run pretty nippily on a new system.

I was about to throw a spanner in the works and suggest the option of getting a notebook like the 13" MacBook with separate keyboard, mouse and display for working at home. However over the 3 years I don't think I took mine in more than a few dozen times so you'd do just fine with a desktop. Something to consider but you really don't need a laptop in lectures so there's no pressure there.

Another thing worth looking at would be a screen with a decent resolution. I started out on 1280x1024 which was fine to begin with but you'll find when you start developing in bigger IDE's there's no such thing as too much screen space. Now I'm on a 24" @ 1920x1200 and that's more like it (although I still sometimes have command line output going through the old 17").

I studied at Newcastle, rate it pretty highly. Just finished a few weeks ago but it looks like I'll be back for an MSc in September.

robinson09 · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:52

NickK said:
I did my SE degree with an Acorn Archimedes (ARM710, 4MB) - in short you won't need anything seriously powerful for the work they set. If you do then you should be able to use the uni's high end kit for it but they're not going to give undergrads that sort of exercise.

You can do all that you need with a decent laptop to be honest. Then use student Office and you'll be fine. Remember when you're a student - use the student discounts. If the company doesn't discount for students look around then phone them up with "I'm a student, this is the discount I've been offered elsewhere - do you want my business or not".
You could go with a MacBook

If you want gaming - that's a different matter but it may be better to go console.

Hmm i just cant bring myself to buy a macbook, but maybe i should give it a go. Cheers for the student tips though, ill definitely take that into account. Already got an xbox, but was going to sell it. There too noisy and mine has broken twice.

robinson09 · 11 Jun 2009 at 17:56

MatthewForshaw said:
The most demanding stuff you'd have to run would be if you took any of the gaming modules but even then stuff should run pretty nippily on a new system.

I was about to throw a spanner in the works and suggest the option of getting a notebook like the 13" MacBook with separate keyboard, mouse and display for working at home. However over the 3 years I don't think I took mine in more than a few dozen times so you'd do just fine with a desktop. Something to consider but you really don't need a laptop in lectures so there's no pressure there.

Another thing worth looking at would be a screen with a decent resolution. I started out on 1280x1024 which was fine to begin with but you'll find when you start developing in bigger IDE's there's no such thing as too much screen space. Now I'm on a 24" @ 1920x1200 and that's more like it (although I still sometimes have command line output going through the old 17").

I studied at Newcastle, rate it pretty highly. Just finished a few weeks ago but it looks like I'll be back for an MSc in September.

I might just build a nice mid price system, because i doubt ill be doing much hardcore gaming and then at least i know im definitely covered for the course.
Have got myself a 22" at the moment, i was going to use that and a 19" as secondary but we'll see.
Really looking forward to my course, its for 4 years, as im taking a year out in industry. Thanks for the feedback guys.

NickK · 11 Jun 2009 at 18:09

Usually the tutors will ask for your work to be submitting in a certain form - it's a good guess this will be Microsoft Office (Word) so whatever you choose just make sure it can be submitted in a compatible form.

You'll probably not use a laptop specifically in lectures etc, however it makes it easier for breaks back to parents, or if doing team course work - for meeting around their place or in the library.

Mine was a 4 year course with a year out in industry

Just remember work hard and play hard - I spent my time doing non-academic studies

in the final year but did turn up for Z and formal methods.. those were the days..