I Have The Money....But...

[budd_wm]

Well, I have 2000 dollars saved up over a year and want to use it to build my new computer system. However, I have a dilema. I am wondering if I should start building right now, or if I should wait for the next gen of technologies due out soon like SATA, the new nVidia card (either to drop price of 9700, or if interested I might actually purchase it), AMD's Hammer line up of CPUs, etc. This would mean waiting until probably spring if I were to wait. I am also a gamer and have been looking at the progress of video cards and DX. It seems DX9.1 will be out around spring time and that future games will be using DX9.1 (which is to include PS 3.0, right?) and probably skip DX9 altogether. I know that games using DX9.1 is probably more than a year on down the road, but I am buiding this comp for long term use and will not be upgrading for another 3 years afterwards. So I guess the question is, should I wait for next gen, or just say to hell with it and begin right now? Thanks for any help.

[thcdru2k]

either way i would check out NEWEGG.com!!

the unbelievable cheap and most complete source of computer parts on the internet! hahahaha.

yeah, seriously though, you could probably make a very decent system for under $1000 that easily hits 12,000 3dmarks.

yes 3dmark is not everything, just using it as a comparative for system performance. you could use the rest of the money, to upgrade as newer products come out, and just sell your old ones when you do upgrade.

[budd_wm]

Well, I am definately going for at least a 9700. I have a friend who tests beta versions of PC games and he always lends me a copy, so I want to run the latest games and all, and I'd hate to have whatever video card I get to be limited by the CPU, so it needs to be up in the 2.4 above GHz range. I'll probably go with AMD since they are cheaper. I'm trying to find a mobo that supports SATA so I'll have at least an option to get a SATA HD in the future. I haven't had much luck, though there are a few. And I will also be overclocking, both CPU and video card. I am up for any more suggestions and appreciate the help.

[thcdru2k]

well than if your going for a good sata amd mb, asus has the a7v8x based off the via kt400 chipset. its actually quite an impressive motherboard, has firewall, usb2.0, and a 1000mbs lan. never know when your gonna find a 1gig network lol.

than you have the msi kt4 ultra-sr. which is alittle bit more reasonable. no firewall, and defiantely no 1000mbs lan. however its abut $60 cheaper.

they both have 6-channel integrated audios, both are defiantely good, really no need to get a soundcard unless your a sound enthusiast. the asus has the realtek 6-channel, and the msi has the c-media 6-channel.

at newegg, the asus is $189 and the msi is only $128. pretty good price. they also have a deal on the athlon xp 1.4ghz for a little over $50. definately a very overclockable cpu when unlocked.

[Smokey]

If I was in your shoes, I would wait until at least January. You see by then you should be able to or very close to bieng able to buy the latest tech from, Nvidia and AMD. I think the AthlonXP2600+ is the last of that chip? There will be NForce2 motherboards that support serial ATA? And Nvidias next video card. I would say wait, as there are some big changes coming in the next few months, its not like just a refresh for the cpu and video cards, but a big change.

[thcdru2k]

hmm, your right, might as well wait, that and you can always buy sata controllers.

[thcdru2k]

since you did say you were going to overclock i definately go with a pos 1k system. when your short on money NEVER ever buy technology, at the height of its price. don't buy a 2600+ right when it comes out, just get something cheap but fast, and just upgrade along with your extra money as prices fall.

[SavagePaladin]

There is indeed always new tech around the corner, but new STANDARDS (such as serial ATA, ddr2, x86-64) really don't come around all that often. I'd wait for the Hammer myself, if you want it to be long term.

[[Corporal Dan]]

I would:

WAIT.

:D

[budd_wm]

Originally posted by SavagePaladin
There is indeed always new tech around the corner, but new STANDARDS (such as serial ATA, ddr2, x86-64) really don't come around all that often. I'd wait for the Hammer myself, if you want it to be long term.

You are saying exactly what I was trying to say. New standards are coming, but they won't be out fullstream until Spring. If I build right now, I will miss out on those new standards, and upgrading would mean pretty much building a whole other comp since everything is going next gen soon. But then there is cost to consider. But I'm spending 1700 dollars on this thing (that excludes monitor and speakers, I've got those covered), so taking that into consideration, should I just wait and buy the latest greatest when it is released in Spring?? Oh the never ending questions....

[thcdru2k]

the situation is it really is your money. so its your decision. computers will always get better, but what is necesary for you? you don't always have to have that top of the line system. but one that runs good for you. with that money i'm assuming you have an r9700 and a really fast processor. will last you for a long time.

[budd_wm]

Well, that might be what I get. I'll let you guys know what I'll do. I do need the upgrade as my current comp is a Pentium II 366Mhz with an ATI Rage Pro card (8mb VRAM). It doesn't hold up too well to today's games. :(

[thcdru2k]

owie that doesn't hold to well to last years games either..or the year before, err :)

[SavagePaladin]

Originally posted by madthumbs
The Hammer may be another K-6 for AMD, who knows this soon? SATA is certainly addable if not already implemented. DDR wasn't so impressive on early boards, so what makes you think ddr2 would be? Is x86-64 really gonna be an improvement right away?

ddr2 certainly won't hurt anything, and its lower voltage for a bonus

x86-64s may not help everything DIRECTLY...yet, but the processor its on certainly will. MUCH improved architecture.

And that K6 thing, I kind of object to. every processor arch AMD has made has been a significant improvement over the last one. I expect no less now. Especially since I've read just about everything about it.

Serial ATA will be great. If only someone besides Seagate would have a true SATA HD soon....but hell, I buy Seagate anyway so thats all good.

[LORD-eX-Bu]

Build a cheap system for now and do whatever later. My system that I am building(just waiting for some parts to come in this week) only cost me $835. It is a decent price for a system like mines.:D

[SavagePaladin]

I rather agree with that theory really. Budget stuff really isn't too bad right now. If you could keep some of your old parts, it'd be even better.

But if you buy high end now, you're bound to be annoyed soon imo.

[Smokey]

Originally posted by thcdru2k
the situation is it really is your money. so its your decision. computers will always get better, but what is necesary for you? you don't always have to have that top of the line system. but one that runs good for you. with that money i'm assuming you have an r9700 and a really fast processor. will last you for a long time.

Have you seen peoples UT2003 benchmarks? Most important are the bot match scores. Even people with a P4@2.4+ with ATI9700 only get 5-10fps more than me!! Athlon1800+ with GF3(non Ti) My point is UT2003 is limited with todays CPUs, and there are other games coming out soon using the new UT engine, Unreal2, RavenShield, DeusX2 to name a few. Arent the new Athlons(Barton?) moving to a 166MHz FSB? The other thing is you can do what alot of people will be doing, and thats upgrading when Doom3 comes out :D

[budd_wm]

Heh, Doom 3 won't be out for quite awhile, though it would be smart to wait on it since its engine will probably be used in a lot of future games. Problem is my laptop is beginning to drive me nuts. I dunno how long I'll be able to last. I am at least waiting for the NV30 to either get it or drive prices for the 9700 down. I'm still at a loss on how much longer I should wait after that...

I guess I'll know more when it comes around.

[Essense]

With a 366 Mhz system, I'd build a new rig RIGHT NOW. hehe

Just build somthing like an Athlon Xp 1800, Geforce 4 ti 4200, 40 gig hard drive, 384 mb ram, 16 dvd, 42x cdr. Somthing you can put together for 800$

You will see a massive differnce now. And then Next year around june, build a new system with the 1200$ that incorperates all the new stuff. I Definatly would not buy high-end right now. As even "Low end" or Mid-range is more then capable of playing current, and heck, even alot of future games.

My system gets very playable frame rates on Ureal 2003. Im guessing in the mid 40-50's at 1024x768. And all im runing is a 1.4 Ghz Athlon @1533, and a Geforce 3 Ti 500.

I guess it comes down to how bad you want a new system. Your current system is pretty damn slow, so anything is going to be a massive differnce.

You could buy a motherboard now with Sieral ATA and AGP 8x.
That would pretty much future-proof you. Then just put mid-range Sound/video/processor, etc and upgrade later.

Regards,
Mike