Price Difference Between 3570K and FX-8350

[ronch]

Hey gerbils. I usually check Tigerdirect.com for prices on different PC parts (I always monitor prices for the most popular toys in PC land). And, I was kinda taken aback when I saw the Intel Core i5-3570K selling for $240. I think it used to be $220 or $230, but $240 seems like either Intel is getting rowdier by the minute or TD isn't getting the best prices from its suppliers. The AMD FX-8350, which a lot of people consider to be AMD's answer to the 3570K, is being sold by this same vendor for $180 (after the coupon code). That makes the FX-8350 25% cheaper. Factor in cheaper 990FX motherboards and you've got yourself a pretty good deal. Of course, the 3570K still beats the FX-8350 in single-threaded benchmarks but I've seen videos talking about how the FX-8350 can beat the 3570K in gaming, something the FX-8350 isn't famous for. To put it clearly, I'm not telling you guys that the FX-8350 is the CPU to get because you know your own needs and you know what you want.

I then went to Microcenter.com, which is also selling the 3570K for $190, a far cry from TD's $240 asking price. MC is also selling the FX-8350 for $170. If you live near a Microcenter then only $20 separates these two CPUs. But I don't think that's the case for everyone and I don't live in the U.S. so I really can't talk about these things based on actual experience.

Considering a lot of folks head over to Newegg.com for their toys, I checked them out too. They're selling the 3570K for $220 and the FX-8350 for $200. Again, a $20 difference.

Of course, if you're out to get either of these CPUs you'll want to get the best deal out there and not limit yourself to just one vendor. The lowest price for the 3570K is $190 (MC), while you can get the FX-8350 for $170 from MC as well. MC usually has the reputation of offering some of the cheapest prices out there but they sometimes require you to get the product from one of their branches, something not everyone has the luxury or time of doing.

Just some thoughts as I scour the Internet for CPU prices.

[FubbHead]

Just bought an i5-3550 for ~$75 second hand. Sometimes you're in luck.

[flip-mode]

Cincinnati has a few fantastic things. Most of them have to do with beer. And then there's that Micro Center.

[NovusBogus]

Microcenter has been undercutting everyone on Intel's high-end quad i5 for about a year now, first with the 2500k and then 3570k. It's a loss leader to get you in the door and pick up a new board, RAM, video card, etc.

$220-240 is about right for the street value, Newegg probably just has it on sale. By contrast, TD's price on an EVGA OC'd 660 Ti is $299 and Newegg sells it for $10 more. Retailers just have slightly different prices for stuff.

My personal thought on Intel vs. AMD is that while AMD is cheaper up front, whatever you get will last a very long time and Intel's significantly lower power draw will ultimately make it the better value. Hopefully Steamroller will either get the TDP under control or include an onboard GPU capable of actually running games.

[sschaem]

lower TDP? that makes no sense for desktop CPUs.

The platform is pretty much rated for 150watt + dissipation.

What do you want ? a 4ghz 4 core haswell with 65watt TDP or an 8 core 4ghz haswell with 120watt TDP?

I will take the higher TDP part anyday, as iddle power will be identical, but when I need compute performance the higher TDP part will be twice faster.

So what you want is not lower TDP, is more performance per watt.

TDP is a thermal rating used for building cooling system in PCs...

BTW, the stock cooler on aMD/intel are design for the rated TDP.

[DPete27]

I've rarely found the best PC component prices at TigerDirect, but perhaps this is a result of Intel's recent inventory cutbacks. I see it's back down to $220 today, same as newegg.

[PixelArmy]

Micro Center = no brainer for the 3570K over the FX-8350. Recently they've only been offering some lower and mid-level processors with a $40 motherboard bundle. Given the processors position in their respective company's product lines (the 8350 being high end and the 3570K being mid range), you'd have to find a crazy good deal on the motherboard to beat the Intel platform pricing there.

The FX 4100/4130/6100/6300 have the $40 motherboard bundle discount on the AMD side. The i3-3225/i5-3570K have the bundle on the Intel side. But no 8350 bundle discount. The price of an AM3+ mobo would have to be $20 cheaper just to break even with the bundle (and going out on a limb, breaking even in price would push most to the 3570K). Of course, since you're not getting a bundle discount, this frees you to shop around for the mobo...

[just brew it!]

I've rarely found the best PC component prices at TigerDirect, but perhaps this is a result of Intel's recent inventory cutbacks. I see it's back down to $220 today, same as newegg.

They seem to be more competitive than they used to be. Not sure if this is because they've lowered their prices, or if others have raised theirs.

[Pville_Piper]

I bought my combo at Micro Center, the best prices on motherboards and CPUs. I don't live near one but I often get to Atlanta/Houston/Dallas and I have always loved their prices on these item. They also have decent prices on ram. I got a 3570k, ASRock Extreme 4 and 8 gig Kingston DDR 3 ram for around $340 earlier this year.
Now if I could only get tme to have great pricing on GPUs...