The release of Intel’s Ivy Bridge CPU line (we gave an overview of the spec differences here) brings the question of ‘where’s the best place to buy an Ivy Bridge CPU?’ We’ve scoured the Interwebz all morning and, luckily, have found a handful of retailers that are offering extremely competitive prices. Here’s a listing of all the major retailers (online and physical) and their corresponding Intel Ivy Bridge prices:
Intel Ivy Bridge Price Chart
MicroCenter’s gained notoriety for having some of the best hardware pricing out there, but with the caveat that – quite often, anyway – purchasers must be local for pick-up; that's not the case this time around. You can order online at excellent priecs, and in some cases, they're even giving $50 off motherboard purchases with the purchase of a new CPU. Let's look at all the competition (note: please double-check all links before any purchases are made):
| Price | |||||||
| i5-3450 | i5-3450S | i5-3550 | i5-3570k | i7-3770 | i7-3770S | i7-3770k | |
| Amazon | $204.99 | $222.12 | $219.99 | $249.99 | $319.99 | $342.17 | $349.99 |
| Newegg | $199.99 | $199.99 | $219.99 | $249.99 | $319.99 | $319.99 | $349.99 |
| Microcenter | $159.99 | not listed | not listed | $189.99 | $259.99 | not listed | $289.99 |
| TigerDirect | $199.99 | not listed | not listed | $209.99 | not listed | $319.99 | $319.99 |
| CompUSA | $199.99 | not listed | not listed | not listed | not listed | $319.99 | not listed |
| Fry's | not listed | not listed | not listed | $249.99 | not listed | not listed | not listed |
| NCIX | $220.12 | not listed | $224.28 | $233.65 | $299.55 | not listed | $382.01 |
Need help deciding what to buy? Comment below and ask us if you even need an Ivy Bridge CPU -- in most cases, the answer is no. Enthusiasts will enjoy them, but they're not 'required' by any means (for gaming, anyway). Let us know your situation and we'll get you an answer!
-Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.