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Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1021
Weekly Hardware Price Guides - Motherboards & Memory: October 2002 4th Edition
by Kristopher Kubicki on October 25, 2002 10:24 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
Introduction
For this weeks price guides we have compiled a list of prices for motherboards and memory for today's processors. For those of you not familiar with the guides here is a brief overview on how we construct them:
We select vendors to appear in our Price Guides based on two requirements: solid consumer feedback and having the lowest possible pricing. You'll notice that these vendors aren't paying us to be listed here; we do not accept requests to be listed here. We have tried to eliminate vendors with low feedback rating, but we do encourage you to do your own research before purchasing from any of these vendors.
With the new and improved Price Guides we have not only increased our standards when evaluating online vendors, but we have also partnered up with our friends at CNet to offer yet another service to you all. Using CNet's Shopper.com search engine we can provide you with an additional pool of vendors to search from that are checked up on by CNet. You can wade through those results by clicking on the CNet Pricing link in the second to last column on the right.
If there are any problems with the guide or a vendor's pricing changes dramatically then be sure to email the author listed at the top of the page and we'll take appropriate action. Remember that although some vendors may be cheaper, we only list those with generally positive feedback from a decent number of consumers. As usual, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to email us or post in the AnandTech Forums.
Also be sure to check out AnandTech's Hot Deals Forum for even more great Motherboards, Memory and other technology buys.
Disclaimer
AnandTech does not endorse any vendor listed in the following
price guide. AnandTech does not sell positions on the Price Guide. AnandTech
nor any of the vendors listed in this guide guarantee the prices presented in
the following pages.
This Week
As usual, if you have any reports of incorrect prices please
feel free to email us with the name of the vendor and the product/price that
appears incorrectly on their website. This will help us produce a more useful
guide in the future.
AMD Chipset Prices
Chipset |
Editors Choice |
Current Price (10/25/2002) |
Old Price (10/11/2002) |
Change |
Vendor |
Shipping |
CNet Pricing |
Notes |
VIA KT400 |
||||||||
Abit KD7 |
$101.99 |
$118.00 |
-$16.01 |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
Asus A7V8X |
PICK |
$121.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
$0.50 |
RTL |
||
$114.00 |
$94.00 |
$20.00 |
$0.50 |
RTL |
||||
$149.00 |
$160.00 |
-$11.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
||||
BRONZE |
$130.00 |
$130.00 |
$0.00 |
$8.00 |
RTL |
|||
SILVER |
$111.00 |
$95.00 |
$16.00 |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
Albatron KX400 Pro |
$75.00 |
$88.95 |
-$13.95 |
$4.00 |
RTL |
|||
BRONZE |
$72.00 |
$75.00 |
-$3.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
BRONZE |
$106.00 |
$103.00 |
$3.00 |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
SILVER |
$81.00 |
$85.00 |
-$4.00 |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
BRONZE |
$143.00 |
$136.00 |
$7.00 |
$11.00 |
RTL |
|||
RTL |
||||||||
GOLD |
$77.00 |
$85.00 |
-$8.00 |
$4.00 |
RTL |
|||
SILVER |
$80.95 |
$85.00 |
-$4.05 |
$12.00 |
RTL |
|||
BRONZE |
$74.00 |
$74.00 |
$0.00 |
$8.00 |
RTL |
|||
SiS 735/745 |
||||||||
ASUS A7S333 (SiS 745) |
VALUE PICK |
$65.72 |
$69.00 |
-$3.28 |
$9.00 |
RTL |
||
MSI MS-6561 (SiS 745) |
$70.00 |
$64.00 |
$6.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
AsusTek A7N266-VM nForce 220 |
$70.99 |
$72.99 |
-$2.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Abit NV7-133R nForce 415-D |
$96.00 |
$92.00 |
$4.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
AsusTek A7N266-C nForce 415-D |
$105.00 |
$115.00 |
-$10.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
MSI K7N415 Pro nForce 415 |
$100.00 |
$104.00 |
-$4.00 |
$9.00 |
RTL |
|||
MSI K7N420 nForce 420-D |
$135.00 |
$118.00 |
$17.00 |
$8.00 |
RTL |
We have been using some new custom software for our Price Guides, hence the wide array of resellers this month. As you can see, there was a fair amount of stabilizing in the hardware prices this week. We take in to account the shipping and the current price now, so a motherboard that may look like it has gone up in price may have just become available with free shipping and a slightly higher price. This month we recommend the Asus A7V8X for a moderately priced AMD based board with potential for lots of upgrading. If money is tight or you are holding off for an upcoming chipset, we recommend the Asus A7S333, which is based on the SiS 745 chipset.
Intel Chipset Prices
Chipset |
Editors Choice |
Current Price (10/25/2002) |
Old Price (10/11/2002) |
Change |
Vendor |
Shipping |
CNet Pricing |
Notes |
Abit BG7 i845G |
$97.00 |
$97.00 |
$0.00 |
$4.00 |
RTL |
|||
Abit IT7 MAX i845E |
||||||||
SILVER |
$127.00 |
$133.99 |
-$6.99 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
GOLD / PICK |
$123.00 |
$138.95 |
-$15.95 |
$11.00 |
RTL |
|||
$180.00 |
$180.00 |
$0.00 |
$11.00 |
RTL |
||||
VALUE PICK |
$93.00 |
$90.95 |
$2.05 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Asus P4PE i845PE |
$129.00 |
$132.00 |
-$3.00 |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
$135.00 |
$146.00 |
-$11.00 |
$10.00 |
RTL |
||||
$158.00 |
$145.00 |
$13.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
||||
Intel 850E |
||||||||
ASUS P4T533 |
HIGH END PICK |
$166.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
$0.50 |
RTL |
||
Gigabyte GA-8IHXP2 i850E |
$160.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
MSI 850E MAX i850E |
$149.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
VIA P4X400 |
||||||||
Soltek 85ERV |
$100.00 |
$100.00 |
$0.00 |
$11.00 |
RTL |
|||
Soyo P4X400 |
$154.00 |
$158.95 |
-$4.95 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
VIA P4PB P4X400 |
$125.00 |
$125.00 |
$0.00 |
$8.00 |
RTL |
|||
$90.00 |
$94.00 |
-$4.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
||||
Asus P4S8X |
$138.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
$87.75 |
$95.00 |
-$7.25 |
$8.00 |
RTL |
||||
$110.00 |
$110.00 |
$0.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
||||
$121.00 |
$121.00 |
$0.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
We saw a little bit more stabilization in the Intel CPU motherboards this week. This week we recommend the Albatron PX845PEV Pro for a no frills, but still well rounded 845PE board for under 100USD. On the other end of the spectrum, the Asus P4T533 looks to be this months high end pick of the week. Get ready for the next guides as we will probably have several more motherboards to add!
Memory Prices
Memory |
Editors Choice |
Current Price (10/25/2002) |
Old Price (10/11/2002) |
Change |
Vendor |
Shipping |
CNet Pricing |
Notes |
DDR 3200 |
||||||||
Corsair XMS C2 PC-3200 512MB |
$181.00 |
$177.00 |
$4.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
GeIL C2.5 PC-3200 512MB |
$164.00 |
$165.00 |
-$1.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Corsair XMS C2 PC-3200 256MB |
$99.00 |
$97.00 |
$2.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
GeIL C2 PC-3200 256MB |
$74.00 |
$83.00 |
-$9.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Samsung C3 PC-3200 256MB |
$87.00 |
$98.00 |
-$11.00 |
FREE |
OEM |
|||
DDR 2700 |
||||||||
Corsair C2.5 PC-2700 512MB |
$160.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
GeIL C2 PC-2700 512MB |
PICK |
$160.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
FREE |
RTL |
||
Kingston KVR333 PC-2700 512MB |
$143.00 |
$125.00 |
$18.00 |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
Corsair C2.5 PC-2700 256MB |
$85.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
$2.00 |
RTL |
|||
Kingston KVR333 PC-2700 256MB |
$74.00 |
$66.00 |
$8.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Samsung C2.5 PC-2700 256MB |
$75.00 |
$67.00 |
$8.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
DDR 2100 |
||||||||
Corsair C2.5 PC-2100 512MB |
$159.00 |
$139.00 |
$20.00 |
$2.00 |
RTL |
|||
Kingston KVR266 C2.5 PC-2100 512MB |
$132.00 |
$116.00 |
$16.00 |
$0.50 |
RTL |
|||
Mushkin C2.5 PC-2100 512MB |
$138.00 |
$131.00 |
$7.00 |
$2.00 |
RTL |
|||
Crucial C2.5 PC-2100 256MB |
$71.00 |
$82.00 |
-$11.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Kingston C2.5 PC-2100 256MB |
$71.00 |
$63.00 |
$8.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Mushkin C2.5 PC-2100 256MB |
$71.00 |
$69.00 |
$2.00 |
$2.00 |
RTL |
|||
SDRAM 133 |
||||||||
Corsair Value C2.5 512MB |
VALUE PICK |
$58.00 |
$69.00 |
-$11.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
||
Kingston KVR133 ValueRAM 512MB |
$49.00 |
$49.00 |
$0.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Mushkin C3 512MB |
$59.00 |
$58.00 |
$1.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Corsair C3 256MB |
$38.00 |
$39.00 |
-$1.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Kingston KVR133 ValueRAM 256MB |
$30.00 |
$28.00 |
$2.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
RDRAM 1066 (32-bit) |
||||||||
Kingston KVR1066 256MB |
$164.00 |
$164.00 |
$0.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Samsung 32Bit 256MB |
PICK |
$112.00 |
N/A |
N/A |
$2.00 |
RTL |
||
RDRAM 800 (16-bit) |
||||||||
Kingston 800MHz 512MB |
$243.00 |
$246.00 |
-$3.00 |
$1.00 |
RTL |
|||
Samsung 800MHz 512MB |
$245.00 |
$249.00 |
-$4.00 |
$1.00 |
RTL |
|||
Corsair 800MHz 256MB |
$121.00 |
$116.00 |
$5.00 |
FREE |
RTL |
|||
Kingston KVR800 256MB |
$97.00 |
$95.00 |
$2.00 |
$1.00 |
RTL |
It appears as if this week was all over the boards for memory. Most of the high-end ram went up in price, while the low end SDRAM continued to drop into an abysmal spiral in price. If you haven’t upgraded to DDR for whatever reason, you can buy the same amount of PC133 for half the price. For whatever reason, DDR is not showing us that “marginal increase in cost” promised to us years ago! For those of you out to build a new rig, we suggest the GeIL PC-2700 512MB. Its costly at 160USD, but still a worthy investment. Stay tuned next week as we bring to you most CPU / Video Card prices!