To buy or not to buy....Should this Intel convert wait?

I have heard that there is a new processor coming out that will be called the prescott of something. Should I wait until this technology comes out to buy anything or should I just get it now? I have no idea what motherboards are good on the intel side...Any suggestions would be very nice.

The Prescott comes out in October and at retail will cost around $700. Do you feel like waiting for that, or for the price cuts coming the same day? At that time you can buy a 3.0GHz Pentium 4 for probably a mere $250.

If you buy that mobo now there might be a 50% chance that you will not be able to use the new precott cpu. There seems to be a rumor that the prescott will not be compatible with current motherboards, meaning the highest that board will go is the 3.2ghz

In your case, i'd suggest waiting on processors. Upgrading your video card will give you a greater benefit than changing your cpu (1800mhz amd is like 2400+ right?) although im assuming you are playing games or 3d and not wanting to improve your computers ability to analyze prime numbers

Get it now.

I don't think the Prescott should be a factor in deciding on an Intel system today. Remember that only the first generation of Prescott CPU's will be built on the Socket 478 platform. These chips will be built on the 0.09u die and ship with higher default speeds. It's uncertain if these early Prescott's will offer the 1MB of L2 cache or a higher default FSB speed.

The biggest reason to wait for the second-generation Prescott will be the features on its board. DDR-II by itself will be worth upgrading for. PCI-X and SATA-2 are won't offer an immediate increase in performance, but by the end of 2004 both will be firmly established as standards.

Unless you buy a new processor and motherboard every six months, your best bet is to buy a P4-C and 865/875 board today and move to the second-generation Prescott and new board late next spring or early summer.




BHD