I was thinking of getting a laptop probably far in the future (1 year) as the one I have right now is doing just fine, but generally how much can you expect prices to drop/ performance to increase on computers every year?
Prices will generally stay the same if you're looking to get better specs
Previous generation hardware laptops, like if you want an i5 a year from now, will probably be at around $400-$500? I'm no economist though, but that's generally thecase
[QUOTE=Protocol7;31944351]Prices will generally stay the same if you're looking to get better specs
Previous generation hardware laptops, like if you want an i5 a year from now, will probably be at around $400-$500? I'm no economist though, but that's generally thecase[/QUOTE]
you're pulling numbers out of your ass
[editline]26th August 2011[/editline]
generally, prices don't drop but performance increases
last-generation hardware always gets cheaper but generally not by that much, and the new generation ofhardware is always better by a reasonable enough margin to make buying the previous generation of hardware for chumps
[editline]26th August 2011[/editline]
not to mention that new general-usage technology either becomes cheap enough for your price point or pops into existance altogether, light peak might show up on laptops within a year and SSDs will become a hell of a lot cheaper in that timeframe.
[QUOTE=Cheesemonkey;31944403]you're pulling numbers out of your ass
[editline]26th August 2011[/editline]
generally, prices don't drop but performance increases
last-generation hardware always gets cheaper but generally not by that much, and the new generation ofhardware is always better by a reasonable enough margin to make buying the previous generation of hardware for chumps
[editline]26th August 2011[/editline]
not to mention that new general-usage technology either becomes cheap enough for your price point or pops into existance altogether, light peak might show up on laptops within a year and SSDs will become a hell of a lot cheaper in that timeframe.[/QUOTE]
i said probably around, i have no fucking idea
i'm saying current gen hardware is going to get cheaper and the newest shit price will continue to stay what it's at, about
you could interpret it as the same post i made, but you wrote so poorly and vaguely that when comparing your post to mine you could say we made the same points but it's p clear that you didn't actually do it on purpose
also it was misleading
Here's how the economy of computer hardware works.
For every generation, there are generally three price points: High, Medium and Low.
The way these are split up is important, because it determines the price of the product once it moves off the mainstream market. Manufacturers are always looking to push the envelope and make things faster and better.
High end parts (the i7-990X for example) is very expensive and difficult to produce (they basically have to be cherry picked to ensure they'll run at the highest spec.) Intel knows that this processor is mostly for show, so they won't produce them in quantity, and consumers don't buy them en masse due to their high price. So as this CPU is moved off the market, it will be unlinked from the cost of production (like oil) and be at the mercy of supply and demand market forces, which usually drive the prices up past what they cost new due to scarcity.
On the other hand, the midrange is where manufacturers make all of their money, so parts for this range are produced in quantity. Some specific parts usually sell extremely well (example would be like the E6600, Q6600, E8400 and i5-750.) Manufacturers usually catch on to this trend and will start producing more of a popular product, and less of a more expensive part. This makes more of the popular CPUs available at a cheaper price as they fade off the market. So like with the i7-990X, the higher tier CPUs will generally have less aftermarket stock available, but more than the high end parts, so they'll stay moderately priced.
The low end hardware varies based on the market you're in. For example, many places in Asia have a thriving low end computer parts business, so older things may be readily available for cheaper prices. However, in most markets where average income is relatively high, low end parts are generally scarce and can fetch high prices for those people that were unfortunate enough to build some critical machine based on those parts and fall to S&D again.
that's correct but you didn't address the prices of parts over time
[editline]26th August 2011[/editline]
which is kind of what he asked
So is it better to purchase a mid-range GPU from the current generation, or a high-end GPU from the last generation, if most horsepower for the money is desired?
Heres what you can expect: This costs $400, it's a laptop.
Acer Aspire
Intel Pentium P6100
15.6 inch HD LED LCD screen
Intel HD Graphics
4 GB DDR3 RAM
500GB hard drive
6 cell battery (lasts about 3 hrs)
So it's basically shit, runs borderlands on high settings, medium-ish resolution. And it's still $400.
Come to think of it, the only bad part really is the GPU and the battery, but my laptop is usually plugged in anyway.
Mid-range GPU from the current generation for the most part, even if you get a great deal
on a high end from the last generation it will lack features, will use more energy, probably be second hand and the performance
would be negligible in most cases too and it makes upgrading in the future more complicated and expensive.
Flagship components seldom drop in price because as soon as the next flagship rolls around the previous one becomes fairly rare and more
of a collectors item.
For example, look at the "8800 ultra" which was the flagship card of around 2008, you won't be able to find it for less than $500 yet it's out-performed
by the $100 5770.
I do know that the performance per watt increases each generation. Like DT said, you can possibly pick up a last gen high-end card for a decent price, but it'll consume a higher amount of energy, output more heat, and be less efficient overall in comparison to a similar current-gen card.
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