New Rig Now or Should I Wait?

Slacker7

Slacker7

Member
Hey all. I joined this site because it appears like there are many here that can give good, sound advice. I am in a quandry as to either jump in and build a new system now or wait until some of the dust clears (yeah, as if that will really ever happen!). I am well aware that nothing ever sits still in the computer world.

I need a new PC system. I have an old but very reliable, rock solid, P3 1.2 Ghz with an Asus motherboard, 512 RAM, OS XP Professional and Office 2003. At the moment it does everything I need, even the games I play. But I fully realize that I will very soon need a new system to meet both hardware and software demands. In addition my children need to use it for school as well as my wife who is a teacher. Not only is it a family PC it is also my office PC. So a second PC is definitly more of need than a want.

Anyway, I have $1,200 to $1,500 to spend on a new system. But it seems I am smack in the middle of major transitions: AGP fading away to PCI Express, 32 Bit CPUs to 64 Bit enabled CPUs -- and no motherboard as far as I know is ready for 64 aps; Vista OS with high end demand for hardware and Direct X10 -- and, again, as far as I know there are no new video cards that have future enablement for Direct X10, etc.

Seriously, should I bank the money and bid my time? Or should I dive in now? Many of you are vastly more aware of what is coming down the pike than I am. I just don't want to spend serious cash now that if I waited it would have been the wiser choice. Your advice and experience is much appreciated. Thanks.
 
It will never become easier, there wil always be choices like this, technology is always driving on, if you wait for something to arrive then by the time it does the next thing will be on the way.

Just decide if you need one, are you unable to do what you want to do on your current rig? If not then this discussion is a bit pointless:)
 
It will never become easier, there wil always be choices like this
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I agree, technology is always on the move, some parts get cheaper but at the same time, newer and more powerful hardware is released into the wild making this a tricky decision to make for a lot of people.
 
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Well. Vista shouldn't be a very fast transition at all. I think you should forget about it until your next new PC (after this). No windows system will EVER be comparable to a Mac, no PCie Card will ever work in an AGP slot, no program will use 64-bit to its advantage for 10 years, i can see why its such a problem.
 
I appreciate the replies. I am not so much concerned about prices for hardware per se, it is the whole 64 bit application and Vista's hardware demands especially with the new Office that is to come out. From everything I have read, and I could be wrong, the new Office will NOT be backwards compatible. And Microsoft is to have 2 versions: DX9 and DX10. The latter is a major hardware hog. Yeah, and like gaming companies and video card manufactures aren't going to jump on the DX 10 thing. That has serious issues.

But you have all convinced me and so if you wouldn't mind, what do you suggest for a good, solid machine where I can play games, do Office work, video and picture editing, etc. I want to build this from the ground up, i.e., from the case and power supply all the way to CPU, burners, # of fans needed, motherboard, etc. I am not an OC'er so I don't have to have the latest and greatest (I am far from being computer savvy as most of you are), but I also don't want to be spending money on a new build and sorry I spent my money the way I did. I'll look at other postings as well because I see others have asked the same questions.
 
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Okay here is a great setup that will play any game and be perfect for editing videos and pictures.

Case: Your choice, lian li is the best, but most expensive.
CPU: AMD athlon 64 x2 3800+ (dual core so will accel in editing, and also this is going to a be next wave things with games, as games are going to start enabling dual core at some point)
Motherboard:Asus A8n sli premium
Power Supply:Antec NeoHE 550W
Ram:Definatley go with 1GB atleast. OCZ and Corsair are very good(2x512mb)
Video Card:Geforce 7800 GTX(GT is $200 cheaper and just as good at 1280x1024 as the GTX)
 
No way he needs a 7800GTX, and for his tasks a Pentium D would probably be better and cheaper. Your giving him advice for a rig that fully uses his buget, and is great for gaming... Bu he doesnt need a lian li case, or that pricey motherboard, definetly not that video card, and maybe not even a gig of RAM.

@ Slacker7, your needs can easily be met for under $1000. Are you planning to build it?

Another thing to keep in mind is that he's upgrading from an old computer, he wont be able to notice the diff between a 2.8 gigahertz processor and a 3 gigahertz processor.
 
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@ Slacker7, your needs can easily be met for under $1000. Are you planning to build it?

Yes, I am planning to build it. Actually a friend of mine will show me how to build it. I am looking forward to learning how. When I built my P3 I took as much time as I needed to research all the components. I could weigh out the information back then and make a wise choice. As I said it is rock solid.

But now that I need a new one (the old one my kids will use) the information is overwhelming. So many choices, so many opinions, so many disagreements. That is why I ask for advice here from size of fans to RAM to motherboards to CPUs and monitors, etc.
 
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