Price fluctuations

julianhj · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:45

I've been eyeing up a new system for the last month, and I'm amazed at how frequently prices seem to yo-yo on various components. I have this system in mind (with today's prices):

i5 2500K - £168
Asus P8P67 DULUXE - £185
Corsair Vengence 6GB (3x2GB) PC3-12800C9 £95
Sony DRU-880s 24x DVD - £20
Arctic Silver 5 paste - £7
Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced £75
Coolermaster Silent Pro Modular 500W £68
Corsair A50 CPU Cooler £30
Akasa internal card reader - £10
Fractal Designs silent fans £47

I did have 8GB of the same RAM lined up for £90 last week, but it's disappeared from OCUK's lists. The Sony drive seems to be constantly out of stock, mobo availability is patchy of course (last week I had the PRO at £150 in mind, but it's gone up £10 and is out of stock). The case and CPU are also bouncing around like mad.

I of course understand why there are offers and variations (market conditions, supply and demand etc).

I did want to buy the lot together, but it's looking increasingly expensive to do it that way. I could save a fair amout just by picking up the odd components as and when they come up on offer, but that's very frustrating...

TerryH · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:56

I've been window shopping OCuk for months, I tend to agree, daily deals and Wednesday's *1 week only* prices are what you need to out for; Out of interest the lowest I've seen the i5 2500K is £159.99 and the highest was £185.

Only OCuk can cut prices like they do only the daily offers, I really don't see any competition in that respect. combine this with the potential of free deliver (being Forums members) its a win win for us.

Play the waiting game, never compromise.

R088ieS86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 20:58

OcUk's weekly offers run from Wed -> Wed, and also have daily items on sale (9am -> 9am).
But yeah, prices do vary even between morning and afternoon on the same day.

The triple channel RAM you have chosen is actually meant for the 1366 socket boards, rather than the 1155. It will run in your chosen board, but it might force it all to run in single channel mode. (only might, it might run one set in dual, the single stick in single...)
save £15 with 8Gb: G.Skill RipJawsX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
or with 8Gb of:
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (which will go back up as of 9am tomorrow)

You could save more by not getting that motherboard, is there a specific feature you need on it?

Without a graphics card your not going to be getting output to a monitor either! If you don't need one then have a look at the H67 boards. Ah no HDD either, you bringing both from your old system?

Big fan of that case! it was on offer last week which is a shame!

julianhj · 5 Apr 2011 at 21:11

That Corsair 8GB was the one I was after.

I have an X1950 in my current system which will do until I can work out what GFX I need/want (I'm at a total loss as to what I might need there).

I have a bunch of HDDs including a new F4 1TB, and W7HP Retail, which will be transferred over.

I'm just trying to work out what my old system might fetch (will do a Price Check in a second) and whether it's worth the hassle of buying bits over a period of weeks. I can't really order anything for a week now, as there will be no-one in to receive the delivery.

As for the case, yep, saw it on offer, wasn't sure whether I was taking the plunge or not so didn't buy. D'oh! This and many other missed offers prompted this post.

R088ieS86 · 5 Apr 2011 at 21:23

And new offers start tomorrow. So often find myself hovering over the buy button.... its dangerous! I prefer buying all at once, that way you know you can build it straight away. I'd hate to see components in their boxes, sat in my room just wating to be built...

GFX will be down to what resolution / how many screens you game on!

julianhj · 5 Apr 2011 at 21:41

I don't have time to game, but I do have 2 screens for photo work (Dell 2408 and an old Dell 1704). I'm not going to worry too much about GFX now, as my budget is stretched to breaking point anyway...

Snykch · 5 Apr 2011 at 22:08

Tried to purchase a £1500 build the other day and was a bit disappointed that you can't get any of the promotional stuff if you want to use a finance option. Won't be able to buy from OCUK now

Surveyor · 5 Apr 2011 at 22:11

Snykch said:
Tried to purchase a £1500 build the other day and was a bit disappointed that you can't get any of the promotional stuff if you want to use a finance option. Won't be able to buy from OCUK now

Presumably the promotion will have finished by the time your finance is approved.

Snykch · 5 Apr 2011 at 22:21

I was told you can't get any "today only" or "this week only" offers on finance. Dunno the reason, but the finance is sorted pretty fast, so it can't be that. I don't have a problem with it really, they must have a decent reason, but it does mean I can't support OCUK with my purchase, unfortunately.

julianhj · 6 Apr 2011 at 06:04

Finance isn't an issue for my build, I have the cash waiting. Sadly it makes more sense to buy bits from a variety of sources as I can't get everything I want from OCUK because the offers are never on at the same time.