PC Purchase Advice

Winchester70

Sometime between now and next summer I plan on purchasing a new system. I was wondering what the benefits of waiting until next summer (2006) would be.

I am talking in terms of the prices of components going down and/or the possibility of components being outdated by newer products. SLI is out, Nforce 4 is out....from what I understand Intel and AMD will be releasing better chips - is there anything worth waiting around for?

For example, if I got a computer with the specs below, is there any chance of it being outdated by better hardware before next summer? If so, would I be able to upgrade easily later?

Thanks!

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 4000+
MoBo: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI
Memory: 1024MB PC-3200 DDR 400MHz Memory (2 X 512 MB Modules)
Hard-Drive 1: 200GB S-ATA 150 7200RPM Hard Drive
Hard-Drive 2: 200GB S-ATA 150 7200RPM Hard Drive
Raid Setting: RAID 0 Striped Drives - For Performance Purposes
Video Cards: Nvidia Geforce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3 w/PCI Express (x2)
CD/DVD Drive: 16X Dual Layer DVD+/- RW + 24X CDRW
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 Retail Edition

Vikingod

it will always get outdated, and fast, that is the nature of the industry. Dual core chips and that sort of cutting edge (god i hate that term) stuff are going to be expensive, but when they start coming out, the other components are going to drop in price of course. The system you listed above is going to be good for a long time (in computer time don't forget). If you need a new system, get one. If you are the type who buys new systems every year, get one, cause you are apparently made of money (lol). I wish I could build a system like that above. SLI has not yet proved itself, so that might be a risk. I hear the 939 mobos can support a dual core ship, so that would be the route to go if you need that. If SLI proves worthy, two 6800gt's would work great. hell, one 6800 will be good for a long while. hell I can play most the new game (be it on low setting) with my r9000, and that is an old card. Its really your call. Look at your current system and see if it suits your needs, if not, then upgrade.

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Winchester70

When I buy something like a computer, I buy big. I am not made of money, it's just that I have saved up for it and I never spend any money on myself. I am not real tech-savy with computers so having to upgrade is something I like to stay away from. It's just easier for me to get good parts to begin with....

So in a nutshell, the system I listed will be upgrade ready, but will be a lot cheaper in a year?

Vikingod

in a year, yes. A year is a long time in computer land though. The fact is, is you want the "best" parts, you have to buy them expensive, you can't really wait. The industry moves so fast that the best changes in a matter of months. The comp you listed is a kick ass machine though, and for gaming, it will be fine in a year, for bragging, someone will certainly have better.
YOu sound like me, I don't get to buy stuff that often, so when I do, it has to last. Buy that system, if you want, hopefully it (socket 939) will support dual core processors (something you might want to research), in a couple of years, you can buy one of those. The video card is good for a while as well, eventually you can up that and get a performance boost (SLI will help too, if it takes off). That system is great, I you have the money, get it.
I would maybe hold off on buying two 6800's, one suits all the games out now just fine, next year, it will be half the price and you can upgrade then or get a better one.

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The_Neon_Cowboy

In 1 word, Massive

all kinds of fast new stuff out this fall, It's called fall refesh
(I'd wait and save up if you can...me I can't wait)

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Winchester70

So if I was to buy it at the earliest, you're saying this fall? I wasn't planning on buying it right away, I just wanted a general idea on when the best time to get it would be with the time span I stated. Btw, what new technology is coming out this fall? Just curious....

DarkFoss

Duel-core cpu's are supposedly to appear this fall for one. Don't know for sure but I'd be betting that it will be a new socket designation not s939.

Your proposed system would rock for quite a while though. However I'd like to point out that the new round of A64 cpu's designated Venice and San Diego are right around the corner for the s939 socket, with an improved memory controller and most of the newer motherboards should support them like the one your thinking of buying with a bios update . Can read about them here

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Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety,deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Ben Franklin, 1755

The_Neon_Cowboy

NVIDIA SLI boards for Intel
ATI dual Card solutions for Intel and later AMD
ATI and NV's fall refresh, R520, NV70?? Probably start of whole new line up for value/main/high-end
Dual core AMD and Intel
Full DDR2 higher speed support for AMD and Intel
AMD64’s with SSE3 and new revision with several changes
Intel Celeron 64bit
XP 64bit, better driver support, 64bit games and APP’s
thats just the few off hand... that should show up

This fall should be pretty wikkid sick! Prices should change too!

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HawgsHead

For what it's worth,the current issue of Maximum PC is saying"a good source" has told them that the AMD duel core CPU's WILL be sockett 939.And those guys have an almost a 100% batting average.

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Rig specs to the left in the boxes....X-Box 360 w/Hitachi 42" HDTV....If Darwins theory of evolution is true then why are monkeys still monkeys?It takes much more faith to believe in Darwin's theory over the Genesis account of creation.

pr0digal jenius

i'd wait till after christmas if you can.

dual core will mature by then, and any new sockets and possible supply issues will fill out by then.

CDsDontBurn

buy now, or buy later, the stuff you will be buying will end up about the same price you've calculated thus far. All of today's high end parts will be cheaper 6 months from now because newer and better performing parts will be the new flagships replacing today's flagship parts.

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MitchRapp

i'm planning on building a dual core 939 next fall ....
something like a DFI nForce motherboard with corsair memory, an ocz or antec power supply, an msi or gigabyte radeon x800/x850 ... buuuuut then again there might be some crazy s**t i haven't even thought of that'll come out by then

MitchRapp

you know what's weird though .... my current PSU, hard drives, sound card and video card have not gone down in price since i bought them ... (PSU = 1 year, hard drives = 1 and 2 years, sound card = 6 months and video card = 6 months)

CDsDontBurn

it will go down eventually. You gotta remember though that even when products do go down in price, they will never be free . The 9800xt is already a generation old and it still goes for around $200 on eBay and $350 or so on newegg.

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Zelig

I beg to differ. I picked up a pentium 166 for free to run Coyote linux on.

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Vikingod

I read today that the intel dual core chips are going to debut at about $1200 US. May not be completely accurate, but, they are still going to be VERY expensive, something you might want to think about.

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CDsDontBurn

do you have a link to that? That is VERY expensive for a dual core chip. The p4 EEs i wouldn't be surprised to see them in that price range, but a standard p4 to be in the $1200 price range.......that's insane !

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CDsDontBurn

well, it doesn't count if somebody just gives something to you. I'm talking about buying something online or at a retail store .

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Vikingod

you are right, I think it was the Extreme Editions that the article mentioned. i saw it somewhere in google news. I'll try to find it, but there are like 100 results to the inquirey on googlenews.

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nitrousoxide52

www.dumpinggoods.com they have free cpu's and scanners tehre right now lol

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XFX Geforce 7800GT
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HawgsHead

Thats only $200.00 more than the current P4EE's.Hey,you gotta make hay while the sun shines.If I was CEO of Intel I would charge out the Yeng-Yang for the 1st duel core CPU's too.

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Rig specs to the left in the boxes....X-Box 360 w/Hitachi 42" HDTV....If Darwins theory of evolution is true then why are monkeys still monkeys?It takes much more faith to believe in Darwin's theory over the Genesis account of creation.

CDsDontBurn

ok, so i stand corrected .

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Winchester70

Thanks for all the help....