P4 still too expensive here

I just got a new job, so im thinking of upgrading my pc, the main upgrade will be the processor. I actually thought about getting an oem 3ghz p4 thinking they would have come down a bit in price. So i go look on the web, i only buy from places that accept my debit card, (would never use a credit card online), and the cheapest price i got was £490!!! Thats something like 750 bucks. Intel could really be mopping up if they lower the oem price a bit but its been this high since release ages ago. Gaming is my priority, but an extra 10-20fps compared to a 2800xp in most games at an extra cost of almost £300 is just insane.

I understand that the P4 is a more general cpu than the AMD XP but still i think the pricing of the higher P4's is going to hurt intel while the main stream public gets an XP that just about performs the same as the top Intel cpu's and saves them $450.

Is the pricing of the P4 this bad in america too???? If things stay like this over 2003 then Intel will lose more and more customers.....surely.

P4s can be good value now, even here in the uk so long as you don't go for the top model.You can get a 2.53 for about £160 now or a 2.4B for about £130 if you go to the right places.The cheapest is <A HREF="http://www.komplett.co.uk" target="_new">komplett.co.uk</A> but they don't accept debit card.<A HREF="http://www.ebuyer.com" target="_new">Ebuyer</A> are only slightly more expensive and they do accept debit card.I have used both of these many times without any problems.
The performance difference between these two and the 3.06 won't be too dramatic (especially if you overclock, which is apparently very easy) and they are much better value.Unless you really want the top model you should go for one of these two or wait for the extension of HT onto the lower rated p4s if it is HT you're after.
For me, i see amd as better value at the moment until you get up to the xp3000, which is worse value than the p4 3.06 in my book, but if it's a p4 you want, then the 2.4B and 2.53 are great value even in the uk.

no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]

Like i said though, komplett is cheaper when it comes to cpus and much cheaper for memory in particular (unfortunately i bought some memory off them about 6 weeks ago and it has fallen in price dramatically since then ).You are probably best getting a 2700 coz i have never seen a tbred 2800 for sale in uk (they are VERY rare) and the 2700 would be much better value anyway and oc way beyond 2800 speed.

no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]

That is good, but komplett has cas 2 Twinmos pc2700 256mb for £27.85 which is damn good too.I have two sticks of this and it is great.Their corsair is cheap too.

no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]

That's good-they never used to.I usually pay by switch but i used to have to use mastercard for komplett.

no matter how hard you try, you can't polish a turd. :]

On a side note..... Your Credit Card is actually a billion times safer to use on-line than your Debit Card .

You can contest Credit Card charges.

By using your debit card online you leave yourself with absolutely no recourse if something goes wrong. By using a credit card you have recourse in case somebody uses your number or rips you off.

Use your credit card.

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That'll work too.

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<A HREF="http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?dhlucke" target="_new">The French are being described as cheese-eating surrender monkeys.</A></font color=red>