Is there a predictable time of year that PC hardware companies release new products? For example, new models of automobiles are released in September, and AAA PC games tend to be released between October and December. Or does it vary from year to year, depending on lengths of upgrade cycles?
I’m primarily interested in graphic cards, with some interest in CPUs.
Thanks in advance!
I predict that at some point during the year in one of the seasons that some piece of hardware will be released, but I may be wrong on my prediction.
Otherwise I’m not entirely sure, from what I remember new video cards tend to be announced or released in March/April and in November/December, and price drops for CPUs are usually in the summer time it seems. But that’s just from a hazy memory, I don’t actually watch what happens closely.
The three-month rule has held steady around here for CPUs. Motherboards are
replaced by new models so often there’s never a price-cut. GPUs don’t drop as
fast as they used to. RAM is suddenly crazy cheap again, and will fluctuate wildly.
So I’d say you can’t always predict it. But a year from now, the current top CPUs will be cheaper :)
Typically it’s spring and fall for new product releases & announcements, summer and winter for price drops & product refreshes / variants. But that’s a rule of thumb, not writ in stone. You basically have to pay attention to tech news sites to really know what’s coming down the pike.
By the end of the year, Intel and AMD should introduce their new CPUs, the Penryn and Phenom, respectively. Penryn will be Intel’s first 45nm CPU.