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AMD's Ryzen 5000 CPUs Get Major Price Cuts, Up to 25 Percent:
AMD's Ryzen 5000 (Vermeer) processors are two years old, but the Zen 3 chips are still among some of the best CPUs on the market. If you're looking for your next upgrade, U.S. retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, Micro Center, and Newegg, are currently selling the Ryzen 5000 lineup at reduced prices.
The Ryzen 5000 price cuts are probably an answer to the recently released Intel 12th Generation Alder Lake product stack that has helped Intel recover market share in the Japanese and German markets. While Ryzen 5000 still dominates the list of best-selling processors on Amazon and Newegg, Alder Lake has been creeping up to the Zen 3 parts. For example, the Core i7-12700KF is the seventh best-selling chip on Amazon, whereas the Core i7-12700K is in the third spot on Newegg's charts. Moreover, it's that time of the year when retailers start making space for the next wave of processors.
AMD has already confirmed that Ryzen 7000 (Raphael), Ryzen 5000's successor, will hit the market in the second half of the year, so retailers have likely started to offload Ryzen 5000 parts. Ryzen 7000 lives on the completely new AM5 platform with PCIe 5.0 and DDR5 support. The transition to the AM5 socket means consumers will have to invest in a new motherboard, although the topic of the memory remains in the air. Intel's Alder Lake supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory modules, but AMD hasn't confirmed if Ryzen 7000 will also have hybrid memory support.
The story continues with a chart of prices for various models and has links to vendors, too.
Random question: Is your primary computer a desktop or a laptop? I've been laptop-only for the last 15-20 years -- my computing needs have been relatively modest.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 04 2022, @12:18AM (4 children)
Desktop 4eva here. Where /I can change the keyboard/.
I have laptops around, of course. The latest acquisition was a Acer Swift 3-- no-hassle Devuan Linux install, upgradeable SSD, fanless ..but a crap keyboard that slows my typing down by ~50%.
The problem I'm having with Desktops though, and has me stuck on is 6-year-old 6-core box with a mere 1080 display, is the FOSS (at the source, no blobs level; I use NetBSD) lack of support in videocards-- onboard chipset support like Intel i915 is there, but the latest actual cards I can use are HD5450 based-- they stopped making motherboards for that vintage like 5 years ago. The keyboard problem however is the simplest thing to solve.
(No, I'm not interested in suggestions from Mr Internet Superhelpfuls-- I just want to make the point that upgrading Desktops is a much bigger PITA now (although worth it in the long run), while laptops are relatively easy to solve the issue with--just shop around. Although laptop keyboards are shit at the level of keeping me using a 6-year old desktop.)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by stretch611 on Friday March 04 2022, @02:47AM (3 children)
You mention using a 6 year old desktop due to crap keyboards. I agree... a laptop keyboard just sucks. There are a few decent keyboards on laptops once you break the $1,000 and up range, but even these fail to compare against a real good (and IMHO mechanical,) keyboard.
However, If you really like laptops, there is no reason why you can't just add a good keyboard... The past 6 years, nearly all laptops have a bunch of USB ports and hubs are generally easy to get if you need more. Just add a decent USB keyboard.
That being said, I prefer Desktops.
- They are usually cheaper than an equivalent laptop
- Thermal control is easier (i.e. they don't overheat as quick as a laptop)
- Components are generally cheaper, non-proprietary, and easier to replace
- similar to my last point, upgrades are easier and more available.
- unlike a laptop, you don't have to worry about a single point of failure that causes the whole thing to be trashed like a crappy hinge thats a weak point and turns it into an expensive paperweight. (FSCK YOU ASUS)
IMHO, the only benefit of a laptop is its portability.
That being said, I do use both, the desktop a lot more, and generally the laptop while on the road. And while I just deal with the laptop keyboard, I personally can't stand those damn track pads. I always disable mine and bring a USB connected thumb style trackball.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday March 04 2022, @06:50AM (2 children)
I find both have their points. I tried nettops first, such as the Asus EEE, but they were underpowered, had poor battery life, and the keyboards on them are too small. A full sized laptop is a lot better.
One of the worst things about laptops is overly sensitive touchpads. Every time one of my thumbs brushed against the touchpad, it'd warp my keyboard cursor away from wherever I was typing. It's a good thing tap to click can be turned off.
An old trick with the desktop is "monitor not included", to make it seem less expensive. Laptops can't do that. The nice thing about the laptop is it includes not only a monitor, but also a camera, microphone, and speakers. Sure, the speakers are low quality, but I don't use them for audiophile stuff. Laptops are much better for video conferencing.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Friday March 04 2022, @03:28PM (1 child)
Nice thing about Desktop is that you can buy a cheap $130 32" TV as your monitor and it's good enough. Then, you have a decent monitor for the next 5+ years.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Friday March 04 2022, @06:04PM
Most laptops nowadays come with HMDI or DVI out so the choice of a TV as a monitor is quite available.