Do you think this setup can last me for the next 4 years?

[cchen]

Ok, this is what I plan to use during college:

(stuff from my current comp)
60gb hd
20 gb hd
1.4 ghz athlon
512mb ram
TB Santa Cruz
Pioneer DVD
48x Liteon CDRW

new stuff I will get:
geforce4 ti4400
80gb hd
17" lcd
logitech z560 speakers

Will this setup be sufficient to last me 4 years?

 

[cmdrdredd]

hrm...maybe if you don't run the latest gam,es at highest res and texture etc (DOOM3 and UT2k3)

 

[BD2003]

A p300 will last you for 4 years, if all youre doing is surfing the web. I'd say you could pretty much give up on playing games on it after about 2 or 3 years.

And I guarantee you the z560s wont last that long.

But dont worry, youll crack and upgrade when you realize that everything you bought 3 years ago is worth about $100 combined.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

For school and casual multimedia stuff it'll be plenty.

 

[mrlayance]

If you burn alot of CDs your burner won't last that long.

 

[Alienwho]

Your computer is allready 2 years behind, in another 4 years that's going to look like a p2 400 by todays standards

 

[cchen]

Ummm how is my setup 2 years behind? The only thing that I've haven't upgraded is my processor... ?

 

[Sniper82]

You will find the urge to upgrade way before then. Unless you can control that kind of thing. I upgrade my video about ever 6 months, CPU about ever 6-8 months and my mobo about 1 once a year. Sound cards can be upgraded once ever 2 years because we might see a new sound card maybe once a year if that(it seems to me anyway).

 

[wfbberzerker]

Originally posted by: cchen
Ummm how is my setup 2 years behind? The only thing that I've haven't upgraded is my processor... ?

well thats the thing that changes the most, and a major component in your system

 

[kami]

I'd say that setup will be fine for 12-18 months. After that it will start to show its age....quite noticably, too.

 

[grrl]

It all depends on what he wants to do. If he's just surfing, listening to music and using Office he's got plenty of power. But, yes, if he's a gamer, then that's a different matter.

I do a fair amount with Photoshop, burn CDs and a lot of word processing. I have a 1 gig Athlon right now and don't plan to upgrade for at least 3 years. I'm waiting for the FSB speeds to really improve.

If you burn alot of CDs your burner won't last that long.

mrlayance, how long should a burner last?

 

[heat23]

Im still running my celeron 566@700 with Voodoo3. I dont play games anymore, but I played CS, quake 3, UT, all that stuff just perfectly...
I'm pretty happy with it but sometimes i feel like upgrading just for a change.... of course there is a cash flow problem

 

[cmdrdredd]

why wouldn't the Z560's last long? That's a damn fine and high end gamer's sound system. i don't see anything comming close to if in the future. Even klipsch is unk for gaming and pure sound compared (i've heard both). Please tell me where your logic says Z560 will not last long...with all the crappy 2.1 systems still being sold!

And don't tell me speakers wear out...i've had 2 sets of JBL Studio Monitors since 1974 and they sound and look like they were bought yesterday and I play them LOUD!

 

[kami]

Please tell me where your logic says Z560 will not last long

I think he's talking about the failure rate of z560s...a lot of them seem to crap out after a matter of months, chances are they won't last 4 years.

 

[cmdrdredd]

hrm...maybe someone needs to turn the volume down a bit? ;-p

 

[TNTrulez]

Nope

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: TNTrulez
Nope

wow dude did you spend all night thinking about that one? Di you stay up for days thinking of the best way to express that to us?

 

[CrazySaint]

I got my current system (PII-350, 11GB HD, 96MB of RAM, Intel i740 8MB Graphics) about 4 and 1/2 years ago. In that time, all I've done to it is upgrade the RAM to 256MB and the video card to a Radeon 32MB DDR. This thing still has plenty of power for surfing, MS Office and general applications like light multimedia, productivity apps, etc. But gaming is getting pretty hard. I can forget playing anything even approaching recent. Even my Radeon 32MB is being held back by my CPU. So if you're going to use your computer for is surfing, Office, and general apps, then your system should easily last you 5 years, but you can forget doing any serious gaming after 2 years (3 years max), even if you upgrade your card. Also, you didn't mention whether you had a DDR or SDR setup, which will have an effect on how long that system lasts.

 

[xpr8]

If you are a true computer gamer, *nothing* would ever last for 4 years. Maybe 2, but 4? 4 years ago the P2s were around, and that is considered to be a dog-slow computer by today's standards.

Just the nature of the beast. Kind of makes your wish you picked stamp collecting as a hobby huh? Stamps get more expensive as they get older. Computers get junked after a couple years and are worth barely as much as the silicon they were produced with.

 

[BD2003]

Yeah, it really depends what youre doing. Nowadays, pretty much the only reason you need a fast computer is to play games. If youre not going to play games, dont bother with the GF4. If you are, youre going to have to accept the fact that you need to upgrade in 2 years.

And regardless, in 2 years, DVD burners will be pretty cheap.

And yes, I am speaking of the failure rate of the z560s. Mine blew out after 3 months, many people have not lasted longer. Those of you who's hasnt blown out on them can say what you want to pat yourself on the back, but it has nothing to do with playing them loud sometimes, and Ill be shocked if they can last 4 years, let alone 2. I have a suspicious feeling once warranties start running out (they havent been out long enough for anyone's warranty to run out), we're going to see a lot of blown speakers.

 

[gf4200isdabest]

that system will last you as long as you don't crave Doom3/Unreal2 based games at high resolutions. In 4 years I'll still be playing Counterstrike so my "Goliath" Rig will last me quite a while...

Why the 17inch LCD? They're bad for gaming! Get a 19'' Samsung 955DF for 225 (newegg) and then use the 350 bucks you saved into getting a top of the line CPU and Mobo...I have nothing against LCD's conceptually but I don't think they are ready for the average gamer's system...

That burner will last you fine...they don't even have 48x CD's where I am!! Most cd's sold are a maximum of 16x anyway...Unless you plan on running a buisness which burns cd's, your burner will suit you fine...

 

[cchen]

Ok, let me clarify. I do a lot of programming, graphics, video editing, Matlab. Regarding video editing, it's currently fast enough to process whatever I need to. I know as time goes on the vdeio editing may get slow. I don't play games THAT much, but being in college, I'm sure I'll do some light gaming. I'm by no means a hardcore gamer.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: cchen
Ok, let me clarify. I do a lot of programming, graphics, video editing, Matlab. Regarding video editing, it's currently fast enough to process whatever I need to. I know as time goes on the vdeio editing may get slow. I don't play games THAT much, but being in college, I'm sure I'll do some light gaming. I'm by no means a hardcore gamer.

if it were me it would have been upgraded a long time ago


cruising along at 2.4 Ghz and still not fast enough for me though i dont plan on getting a new comp to hammer or prescott make their debuts

i guess a video card upgrade is in order because i dont know if i can hold off till NV30 or .13 Radeon 10000

maybe i should go the SCSI route but i just bought 2x1200jbs