Building a new computer: NOW or wait until APRIL?

Ozkar · Post by **Ozkar** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 1:58 pm

Any reason why I should wait until April to build a fast new computer?

saipoob · Post by **saipoob** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 2:39 pm

1a. Availability of 45nm Intel CPUs
1b. Motherboards that fully support AMD's split power planes.
2a. Actual availability of 8800GTs and/or the other higher powered G92 derivatives.
2b. Availability of new, higher powered derivatives of the 3870.
3. Availability of 1/2 platter Samsung F1's (If you care about that)

Although I'm chomping at the bit to get a new one myself I think I'm waiting til Spring as well

Michael Sandstrom · Post by **Michael Sandstrom** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 2:53 pm

I am waiting for USB 3.0. I can afford to wait because I am not dissatisfied with my current setup.

Conroy · Post by **Conroy** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 3:08 pm

I'm waiting for 45nm dual cores.. Jan 20

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 3:09 pm

When did you hear something about USB3? Last I heard, it wasn't supposed to see the light of day until at least 2009...

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:40 pm

USB 3.0 is supposed to come out in H1 2008, but who knows how long it will take them to integrate them into motherboard chipsets.

ghettojiggalo · Post by **ghettojiggalo** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 5:36 pm

when will SATA 3.0 make an appearance?

i am waiting for 45nm core2quads

Ozkar · Post by **Ozkar** » Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:35 pm

Wow, it looks like it's time to play The Waiting Game....

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 2:41 am

In four to five months, it'll be "Building a new computer: NOW or wait until SEPTEMBER"?

USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 aren't needed.

AMD is out, apart from the very, very low end.

Intel might wait a bit more with 45nm processors, as they don't have to worry about AMD, and can work more on getting good yields. When seriously upgrading, go for a quad-core... It's not the time for those yet, unless you do video stuff. It'll take a year or two for games to be able to use them properly.

New graphics cards probably aren't going to consume less power, but more instead. OK, maybe Nvidia will do stuff with their power-saving technology, though it'll just put the GT(S) at the 3870's level.

You can always play the waiting game when it comes to computers. There is always something new and exciting on the horizon.

Why not take the middle ground, then? Get a motherboard that will be able to support the new 45nm processors, and go with the cheapest E4300 or E4400 you can find. Get a cheap X1950 and skip the current generation of graphics cards (the X1950 isn't THAT bad, and can run practically everything in 1024x768 on high detail with some AA and AF). Do you need three quarters of a terabyte of storage? What's better, 1x750 GB then, or 2x320 GB in a safe mirror now?

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:25 am

I know I'm playing the waiting game, in a major way.
I call my current computer "computer 2", since it is my second computer (just barely though - you know the theory that every seven years every single atom in your body is replaced by a new one - my computer is like that too), and since it has USB2.0, a 2-core processor with 2GHz, 2GB of dual data rate memory and 2-link DVI attaching a 24" Monitor -

Since this thing can run anything I throw at it, and I imagine will continue to for a while, I'm going to wait on spending big money on a "computer 3" until I can get the following:
- core 3 quad with 3GHz
- DDR3 Memory
- Dual-link DisplayPort to support a 3x" Monitor with 3xxx*xxxx resolution
- USB3.0

So you can tell I'm reluctant to upgrade, since the only thing out of date on my (mostly) several year old computer is the not even a year old video card, so I don't want to waste all my money on new video cards or a new computer.

qviri · Post by **qviri** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:14 am

ghettojiggalo wrote:when will SATA 3.0 make an appearance?

That doesn't actually matter considering hard drives have yet to saturate 150 Mbit/s ("SATA 1"), let alone 300 Mbit/s ("SATA II").

sjoukew · Post by **sjoukew** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 10:48 am

You can always wait on new hardware, the longer you wait, the better it gets. But all the time you wait you don't have a nice computer to work with. Just buying a sensible system now with upgrade options for later can also be a nice option. I have read somewhere that intel didn't want to release it's new quad-cores until q2 this year, because they also had some issues with it. And now without hurry, why should they make any haste at all?
Also Vista is out, you know what you need for it, and in the next five years there won't be a heavier, more resource-eating monster than that.

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:45 am

sjoukew wrote:You can always wait on new hardware, the longer you wait, the better it gets. But all the time you wait you don't have a nice computer to work with. Just buying a sensible system now with upgrade options for later can also be a nice option. I have read somewhere that intel didn't want to release it's new quad-cores until q2 this year, because they also had some issues with it. And now without hurry, why should they make any haste at all?
Also Vista is out, you know what you need for it, and in the next five years there won't be a heavier, more resource-eating monster than that.

I'm with sjoukew on this one. I remember back in the Northwood days I kept on saying, "I'll wait for Conroe"...Conroe's time came and passed and then I was waiting for the next great video card. I ended up biting the bullet and just building the computer because there is always something down the pipes.

I've been building computers nowadays when the value is amazing. I bought a relatively inexpensive MB and an E4400 when it was really cheap a few months ago. Just now I bit on a G92 vid card. So I guess I'd build now if the price/performance is really good, not so much caring about if the stuff supports all the newest features.

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:44 pm

hmmmm, on topic of waiting. does anyone know what and when the first video card with displayPort will be? now that Dell is soon to release the new FPW3008 monitor with displayPort, I'm curious.

But honestly I don't see how anyone with a dual-core and 2 gigs of ram would need to upgrade these days, they're pretty much enough for just about anything you throw at them. and for gaming a good card is more important.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:09 am

there's also Vista SP1 and XP SP3 you can wait for