Bad time to build?

[Lbgrowl]

Hi everyone. This is my first post so forgive me if it's in the wrong section.

I've never built a computer before, but I'm doing research and I'm starting to get the feeling that I've picked a bad time to build. With USB 3.0 and 6 core CPUs on the near horizon, do you think it's worth waiting until those things hit the market? I feel like once that happens all of the current (quite expensive) stock will have some pretty decent price cuts. What do you all think? Do you think the price of LGA-1366 chipset boards will fall dramatically over the next few months? Is the 1156 poised to become obsolete in the very near future?

Any comments are appreciated!

 

[Pr0d1gy]

If you want the latest and greatest then yeah it's not the best time until the new techs release. If you want bang for the buck then prices should be dropping as these new techs draw near. I remember I got an FX-55 for $150 one year after they initially released for $1k...lol

It's all about your budget and how fiscally irresponsible you want to be.

 

[alent1234]

i've been building on and off since the late 1990's. there is always something new around the corner and the new stuff is always too expensive and not taken advantage of by most software for at least a year or two

 

[Athadeus]

1156 won't become obsolete, 1366 won't drop in price that much. 6 core will be overpriced and unnecessary for practically everyone.

However, I do agree that it is not the best time to build. Mostly I am waiting on specific gaming titles, but a lot will change with hardware by late this year (change doesn't happen too fast). By then, fermi will be out and stable, the radeon 5000 series will be more stable, SSDs will be cheaper/higher capacity and possibly faster, and memory prices may be down again.

I haven't seen CPUs change much in a while, makes me regret not buying an i7 920 when they came out. I don't expect them to change much this year either unless AMD is rolling out something big (I don't keep up with the rumors on them much).

 

[Absolution75]

If there were 32nm quads around the corner and an x58 (x68) refresh, then I'd say it'd be a bad time to build.

In reality though, its probably a pretty good time to build. Intel is only adding on to their super high end with 6core gulftown. nVidia's femi is likely going to be a geforce fx repeat. My HD 4890 still plays everything at max (minus 8xAA) and a 5870 could do a lot better.


SATA 6/USB 3.0 aren't going to be in chipsets till H1 2011. Want to wait a whole year to build? Starting a build in October is probably a bad decision though.

edit: though if you plan on going amd for the cpu, there is a chipset refresh for them soon I believe.

 

[Skott]

You have to ask yourself, 'Do I need USB 3.0 and/or 6 core CPU?' If your answer is yes, and I can't understand why you must have either, then just sit and wait. If the answer is no then start planning that new build.

 

[Jimbo]

Build now and have fun with it.
SATA 6GB and USB3 will take at least a year, and maybe as long as two, before you see a lot of stuff that takes advantage of those new interfaces on a routine basis.

Besides, if I'm completely wrong, and you have some need for those, then just swap out your motherboard when you actually start using those devices. Likely you could also get USB3 and SATA 6GB controller cards and keep your motherboard.

If you have a dated computer already, waiting another year will seem like a very long year.

 

[hans007]

usb 3 i am willing to be will be of no importance for 3-4 years really. 6 cores cpus are not going to be make the prices of normal 2-4 core chips less really .

it is not a terrible time to build, if you are building say a "value" box with $150 cpu it usually doesnt make much of a difference when by a lot.

usually there is more about timing it on a high end build , but yeah a really high end builds are mostly waste of money to begin with.

 

[Atherakhia]

If people are building higher end systems today, what would be the CPUs you would suggest they focus on? The i5, i7, and PhenomII?

 

[Absolution75]

If people are building higher end systems today, what would be the CPUs you would suggest they focus on? The i5, i7, and PhenomII?

How high end?


High end IMO just denotes systems > ~$1200

its quite subjective.


If you plan on building a $5000 system, wait for 6 core gulftown.

If you plan on spending $200 on a CPU, then you can really go with anything. Phenom II x4, or any i7/i5. Depending on how much you want to spend, either one could be better than the other two.

 

[Zap]

Hi everyone. This is my first post so forgive me if it's in the wrong section.

Hello, Lbgrowl, and welcome to Anandtech forums.

Your post discusses motherboard-related subjects so this isn't the worst section to post in, otherwise "General Hardware" would be more appropriate for discussions on entire computer builds.

I feel like once that happens all of the current (quite expensive) stock will have some pretty decent price cuts.

That's not necessarily how it works. Often when something newer comes out, older stuff gets discontinued instead of discounted.

There is always something new coming out, so unless we are at the cusp of something new (as in everyone is expecting it in a few weeks) then if you let this stop you, you'll be waiting forever.

If people are building higher end systems today, what would be the CPUs you would suggest they focus on? The i5, i7, and PhenomII?

Highest end is i7 and lowest end is Phenom II.

 

[trevor0323]

I agree with Zap. There is no point if waiting for something to be released because chances are, it will be delayed or not released when stated anyways. I am currently building another HTPC and would say if anything six months to a year ago was the optimum time to build based hardware life cycle and prices.

I checked my last build receipts on newegg from about 9 months ago and compared them with what I purchased today.

2x2gb DDR2 800 Old=$42 New=$90
1TB Hard Drive Old=$65 New=$90
9600Gt GPU Old=$55 New=$80

You can see a trend here. Obviously I can account some of that on good sales but memory and the gpu have seemed to only increase for some reason.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Zap is right. There is never a 'perfect' time to build. I personally think this is a great time to build, if you want bang for your buck. Prices aren't objectively as cheap for some components as they were last year at this time, but the stuff you'll have is just so brutally fast.

 

[PsiStar]

If you haven't priced out components yet but will in the next week or so, then you will still have a chance to see if there is any i5/i7 CPU price erosion with the introduction of hexa-cores in mid march. It takes me a week or so just to figure out what cases I like; then there is the m/b & deciding if I will OC it, not to mention the socket type.

I have 3 to 5 computers I use routinely & all of varying ages with the most recent build in December & the oldest pushing 5 years. Since I keep systems until they drop, I prefer some future proof-ness ... in other words I spent a little more & got a m/b with USB 3 & SATA 6 G/b.

Some people "part out" a computer that they have built & are seling new-ish parts ... tho slightly used.:\ I wonder if they frequent the auto forums as that is pretty common there. I have been surprised to see that, but people sell a lot of stuff on ebay that I would never have given a 2nd thought to. I think those people like the fun of the build & may not be so much into particular uses ... gaming or whatever.

So, you have to ask yourself what do you want & like to do and go with what floats your boat.

 

[Atherakhia]

I'm much in the same boat with you Psi. I tend to consider upgrades when something goes nuts, or something major happens (like in this case, the release of Windows7).

However, I'm having an incredibly tough time deciding on a CPU and MB. I see several boards offering the new SATA and USB, but have nothing that uses them. The few USB components I do use are like mice and keyboards which I'm not sure I'd need the updated driver for. External HDs would be awesome, but with cheap TB drives I see little reason for them too.

Do you have any suggestions for a person who does heavy gaming, tends to keep their PCs for 3-5 years, and has to also do graphics work (not 3d)?

Don't really want to hijack the thread, but since the conversation kinda lead this way I didn't see the harm in asking etc.

 

[SunnyD]

Looking at the mid-level market right now, I don't think 1 month let alone 6 months is going to do much to market prices.

For starters, look at the i7-920 right now. It's sitting at "around" $200 on what seems to be a perpetual sale at Microcenter. Next closest price is $280, which is a more common retail price. If price erosion from the new parts kicks in, you'll see the 920's common retail price drop by maybe $50 or so, putting it no better than it is now - just slightly less hoops to jump through to get it.

Next look at motherboards (for an i7-920 so we can compare apples here). Current crop of motherboards sits at $150-$400 give or take for an X58 chipset board, depending on features. What is X68 going to give you that X58 doesn't? From what I can tell USB3 and SATA3, not much else. Sure it may have some better features in terms of overclocking and whatnot, but functionally still the same. The important part is that the CPU (and therefore memory performance) isn't going to change much. With that said, X58 motherboards will slide down a bit, but not much since they're still expensive for manufacturers to make - I would say $20 to $80 or so depending on board feature set, and the high end pricing will be supplanted by X68 boards. So is SATA3 and USB3 actually worth the investment? I don't know - do you have any peripherals that require USB3 or could benefit significantly from the bandwidth? How about SATA3? Last I knew even SSDs were still having a hard time saturating SATA2.

With that said, unless you're planning on going all out to begin with, where the prices of high end product will significantly change when new parts become available, the lower end prices won't.

Summary:
I think that now is a fine time to build unless you're looking for bleeding edge, in which case it's never a good time to build.

 

[MrCrispy]

Lets not forget Light Peak. If all goes to plan, its the next big thing thats supposed to take over. The last ~6mo has been a strange time in tech as prices haven't really fluctuated much. Prices for core i7, SSD's and hard disks are pretty much stagnant. RAM has not gone down and shows no signs of doing so. P65 is still at least a year away, X58 is only for gamers and those who want to future proof (against what I ask? by the time I can afford Gulftown, I might as well pick up a new mobo with a better chipset and improvements), so LGA1156 is a great investment IMO.