is now just a horrible time to build a PC?

ares350 · Dec 2, 2006

the rig in my sig is growing long in the tooth.

but the more I research the more fustrated I get.

seems there are 2 options, 1 is these 2 new quadcore offerings. both ungodly expensive, and neither too great from what I see. both are just halfassed attempts at the native quad cores in 6 months.

the other option, a conroe duo rig. a solid PC, but it seems like its "old" knowing what unbelievable performance is in store for the native quadcore in 6 months. specially when vista comes out.

whats a gamer to do? I cant really string my current PC along, its AGP graphics and a socket A, 2 dead end chipsets.

am I expecting too much too soon from the native quad core? will it be substantially longer than 6 months before we see home use PCs? will the performance gain not be as massive as Im thinking it will?

SeasonalEclipse · Dec 2, 2006

Iv all ready seen the core 2 quad against the core 2 duo.. anddd the benchs show no real performance gain but if you have the ram you could burn 4 DVDs at once! XD but other wise.. id wait till next year before getting anything new.. In Jan cheap core 2 duo is supposed to come out.

Karbon · Dec 2, 2006

I could be wrong, but I don't see what difference a quad core will make for gaming. Games are just starting to be created with dual cores in mid, it will take be a while before quad cores are readily accessible for more people.

ares350 · Dec 2, 2006

yeah, just one of the many reasons the quad cores arent doing it for me right now. ignoring that they are 1000$ for intel, and 1000$ for amd when you factor in the 400$ mobo.

but from what Im seeing the native quad core chips wont have the FSB issues that the current ones have, or the cost. and vista will utilize them better.

I want to build a PC in about 9 months. but I need to build a PC now... how do I bridge that 9 month gap effectively. I cant think of a way unfortunatly.

mcoleg · Dec 2, 2006

how about asus or asrock lga 775 board that supports agp and ddr, to re-use the parts you already have? and whatever the cheapest c2d you can find. the overclock will be modest but you'll get your speed bump.

same applies to going temporarily with a s939 build. CPUs are very cheap right now and there's a nice asrock board that supports ddr, agp and pci-e and overclocks pretty well.

Rattle · Dec 3, 2006

quad core is useless right now unless you really like 3dmark06

grab a 630o or 6600 some nice ram that will hit 400-500 a good mobo and call it a day, most of the mobos now are kenstfield ready anyway which wont even be worth condsidering for a year. Unless my new favorite game comes out and uses 1 core for physics... oh wait i can handle that with my current dual core

ares350 · Dec 3, 2006

I need to upgrade video card because Im trying to run dual 22" monitors. the 9800 struggles greatly; aside from only doing it in VGA mode.

guess I should just do an E6600, 7800 graphics and maybe even run the ram I have if thats even possible, it may not be.

Rattle · Dec 3, 2006

i would recommend x18/x19 products over 78/79 I had them both and prefer the ATI counterparts for that gen.

mcoleg · Dec 3, 2006

well, if you are upgrading vid. card might as well go the whole distance. don't get 7800 though - they run too hot. 7950 or 1950 might be better? prices did kind of dropped already.

Molester · Dec 3, 2006

Sapphire X1950pro AGP, 512mb 256bit GDDR3

greenmaji · Dec 5, 2006

Valve is updating there engine right now for multi-core, after reading the long artical about it uhhhh it will take advantage of any number of cores you happen to have

I would defenatly wait untill Intel comes out with the lower clocked Kentfeilds before going non-native quad core. But if your sticking to your AGP rig for now, I would wait for K8L or Intels Youkie

C2D rig now then lower clocked Kentfeild untill native quad cores would also be a decent plan (you could go PCIe sooner and not invest in a big AGP card)

ps2cho · Dec 5, 2006

Dont spend money on a new graphics card!! You will be putting $200 for new GPU and RAM just to have it go to waste in a month !!

Just hold on til january! You will be happy when it comes around and thank yourself for not wasting money now.

4od · Dec 8, 2006

I just purchased an ASROCK 775-Dual VSTA with the exact same plan, bridge me over until i can afford a better gfx/ram, then buy a good mobo and stick with it till cheap quads

Mr.Guvernment · Dec 8, 2006

Rattle said:
quad core is useless right now unless you really like 3dmark06

grab a 630o or 6600 some nice ram that will hit 400-500 a good mobo and call it a day, most of the mobos now are kenstfield ready anyway which wont even be worth condsidering for a year. Unless my new favorite game comes out and uses 1 core for physics... oh wait i can handle that with my current dual core

Or you do graphics / multimedia work it is a dream come true.

greenmaji · Dec 8, 2006

ps2cho said:
Dont spend money on a new graphics card!! You will be putting $200 for new GPU and RAM just to have it go to waste in a month !!

Just hold on til january! You will be happy when it comes around and thank yourself for not wasting money now.

What would you suggest the OP get in January?
E4300?

is now just a horrible time to build a PC?

ares350

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