Motherboards Why are Core i7 boards so expensive?

Sorry if this may seem like an ignorant question (I haven't been keeping up like I used to), but why are Core i7 boards so expensive?

I know it's brand new, and hence, supply is sparse and demand is hot, but motherboards used to top off at $250 in the high end, but so far, every i7 board seems to start at around $300.

Why!?

 

because they are brand new....

most higher end boards are between 200-250(usd), but that is a while after they came out.

i7 will drop eventually too.

 

what are the boards for the i7 other than the DX58SO? that board is crossfire olny and i want to put on 2 Gtx260's in Sli mode.

 

Asus P6T, MSI X58 Eclipse, Gigabyte X58, ECS X58, DFI X58, EVGA X58, Foxconn X58..

Most of those will do SLI - you have to check the packaging and/or website

 

ahh well which one outa those brands would u prefer. i am just as happy going with 2 4870's but i think that the GTX 260's might be better

 

They're expensive because:
1) brand new socket
2) brand new architecture
3) brand new chipset
4) intel didn't let nvidia make it's own core i7 chipset
5) core i7 is meant to be a high end, uber performance enthusiast platform, not something for every average Joe ( the average Joe platform will be Socket 1156 next year)

Take your pick

 

because intel has a monopoly over the enthusiast market and can charge whatever the hell they want.

because the economy is in the crapper and they aren't selling so many so economies of scale haven't kicked in yet.

because unlike the previous recent chipset launches (think p35 -> p45), i7 is not a direct replacement. intel is still selling 775 processors, i7 stuff has to command a premium over that.

 

yeah true its new hardware and most people will stay with the 775 sockets for a long time so they have to keep on supplying those while pleasing the smaller group of i7 users. that means that they are gonna focus their more hardcore boards for gamers and other people who demand quality stuff while still supporting the socket 775 users such as gamers. in other words they will work on i7 material but i think it might be awhile before they come out with the skulltrail boards for it and other stuff like that

 

They are so expensive because you have no alternative and they know they can charge high if you want to use your Core i7...

 

Gosh, might it have something to do with the fact that the chipset is more complex and more costly to manufacture, perchance?

 

X58 is no more expensive than X48 when it comes to the price manufacturers pay per chip.

 

IMHO, prices are pretty good considering the platform is about 90% the same as the dual socket server boards.

The next round of Nehalem stuff will be less expensive, but it will be a different socket as well lack a lot of stuff that make the x58 so desirable.

 

the real thing is there's no non-enthusiast board. Every board out currently is either extreme, deluxe, special edition, premium, elite or some other adjective indicating it's higher cos...err quality.

I want an i7 platform but I don't need such foolishness as SLI or crossfire, dual gigabit, or extreme overclocking perks. It's near impossible right now to find a board that doesn't have these features along with fancy big heat sinks and heat pipes and nothing but the best/most expensive caps and board components. I don't even need onboard sound (admitedly that can be cheap). I think right now the manufacturers are just milking the early adopters but i'm surprised there haven't been any feature poor boards out yet.

You simply can't get a board that's skimpy on expensive features. I imagine that will change in the future but until then you're stuck with your extreme-deluxe edition.

 

I always thought part of the reason they were so expensive overall is the 8 layer pcb thats required because of all the extra traces for the tri channel ddr3 memory etc etc

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the 8 layer pcb's cost something like a 20% price premium over the traditional 6 layer boards and that once 8 layer production has ramped up and its become more cost effective then the price premium won't be as much etc

 

Actually I'm being told many are 6 layer. I can only attribute the extra cost to the research and investment in the new platform.

 

That would explain it, i was shocked today to find a Gigabyte i7 board for $369AUD when most boards are closer to $500ish

But if its true most are 6 layer then yeah i'd definitely put it down to a new platform, R&D , profiteering, and the good old practice of bending early adopting enthusiasts over and raping them with the money stick because they know some people will happily pay out of their arse to be one of the 'first' with a new system/platform/technology etc

It's kinda shocking to know that you can build an i7 system (6gb of patriot 1600mhz ddr3 + i7 920 + a TRUE cooler and mobo of your choice) now some of the prices have settled for less than the price of a single QX9770 excluding the board + ram and get better performance :|

 

its just the same reason why the 8800 Ultra and GTX280 were so dam expensive at time of release, because ATI wasn't even worth looking at in terms of performance. If i remember the some models of the 8800 Ultra was knocking on the door near to £500! At the time my 8800GTS 320mb was overclocked to out perform stock 8800GTX's, which wasn't bad for a £200 investment, which is now worth F all! £50 if i am lucky!

I would love a I7 on a DFI X58, just to SLI my GTX280 with another, but im not mad! Might upgrade to the new socket this time next year, where GTX280 are dirt cheap and I7 has matured. TRI SLI! for the peen! lol!

 

I think X58 and i7 [and LGA1366] are meant to be the highest of the high end - iirc LGA1366 processors with Nehalem cores minus the QPI and with dual instead of triple channel DDR3 will take the lower-end spots. Hopefully those will be cheaper, P55 maybe?

 

Dell's XPS Studio Core i7 system's give you a complete Core i7 system for $950.

Not expensive at all. Just need to buy your own GPU since their selection is poor. Everything else is fine.

 

Unfortunately the new i7 (LGA1366) is a bit expensive – when you add up everything [CPU+Mem+MB].
Of course, it depends what you comparing too!

Some of you have noticed that the Gigabyte brand is cheaper, but that is not to say that other motherboard manufactures are ripping people off.
Like some have said above, it’s a new architecture with much improved performance.
At first, everyone brings out they’re top of the range boards to compete on performance – that is what people want to read.
Give it another 2/3 weeks and you will see other cheaper options available.
Competition is tough, so if anyone is making money is Intel

This i7 is definitely Intel’s high-end platform.
I personally think that this is a very good solution and nVidia will gain from this partnership.
For the first time, Intel chipset supports SLI, instead of just CrossFire.
Of course, you can get CrossFire X58 solution only motherboards.

DDR 3 will start to come down next year.
AMD will be releasing the AM3+, which will support DDR3.
This means that soon you will start to see AMD DDR3 motherboards available soon.

Otherwise, don’t worry because LGA775 will still be around for a long time.
Plus it supports both DDR2 and DDR3.