Futureproof?

[lifeblood]

According to the nForce 4 SLI X16 article, Dell does "acknowledge that current games don't see much benefit from the added bandwidth, but stand firmly behind the assertion that future games designed for PCI Express and SLI will take advantage of the increased bandwidth offered."

By the time the new games that take advantage of this technology comes out, won't we require a new CPU/Motherboard anyway because the one we bought today isn't fast enough? I bought my Radeon 9600 XT two years ago and it is already persona-non-grata as far as games are concerned.

I get the impression that most of us upgrade our systems every couple of years to take advantage of the new stuff. To pay extra for tomorrow?s technology seems like a waste of time if were just going to buy again tomorrow anyway.

 

[Valkerie]

x16 and 8x don't make much difference, right now it's a scam, but you'll notice it within a few years, such as when Unreal Engine 3.0 is released.

 

[suszterpatt]

I plan to keep this mobo for quite a few years. As soon as I pick up my Leadtek 6600GT in a day or two, I will have spent most of my spare money on this system and I plan to have quite some dough when I'll need to upgrade again.

 

[grooge]

Computer industry is just that.. to make you buy something you dont need now, but later, ending up later by updating again because your computer wont run software done later at optimum speed..

Why dont just get hardware that will run today's software good???

 

[brikis98]

i think it's BS... its next to impossible to "futureproof" a system if you're a gamer.

examples:

first system:

pentium pro 200Mhz MMX
64MB EDO RAM
on board video

the "MMX" and RAM was supposed to last so long, according to the BS advertising i swallowed back then. of course, after a couple years, it became clear the CPU & vid card were holding me back, making gaming next to impossible. new CPU meant i needed a new mobo, new RAM, etc, so I went to:

p3 733
256MB PC133 RAM
nvidia Riva TNT

this CPU and RAM were supposed to be great... and i was stupid enough to believe i'd be able to upgrade the vid. card if i needed to. of course, then the switch to AGP happened. and guess what? my mobo didn't have an AGP slot! so, i needed a new mobo, which meant a new CPU, new RAM, etc. so i went to:

p4 2.26Ghz
768MB PC1066 RDRAM
g4 ti4400

now i had the AGP slot, a good CPU, plenty RAM, i'm all set, right? yeah, right. in comes AGP 8x, followed now by PCI-E. so, i needed a new mobo, which meant a new CPU, new RAM, etc. I now have:

A64 3000+ Venice core
1024MB PC3200 DDR
x800 XL

What's next? well, i'm HOPING that PCI-E holds out for a while since even AGP 8x isn't near full capacity. and, by the time my CPU holds me back, mabe the FX-57 or X2 cpus will be dirt cheap.

but do i really expect this system to be "futureproof"? hell no. i'm sure the hardware companies will find an excuse to switch to another CPU socket or another video card slot. and once again, we'll all fork over the money for a new system. bleh.

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

all of ur rigs seem quite futureproof to me, do they all work? of course they cant keep up with the systems of the future. futureproof, i still dont know what that really means

 

[Valkerie]

so why would you buy a 32-bit processor right now? you'll find out when x64 computing become more widely known to the public, and by that time if you bought an Intel CPU wihout EM64T, you'd be wondering why 32-bit processors were still being sold as of 2005. Or you want an AMD, you get a Sempron, who said it didn't have 64-bit support like it's cousin, the Athlon 64.

you can attempt to future proof a computer system, but I would personally go with a modern build, that way you don't have any regrets when the next highend line comes out. you want a 7800, but what comes out next, a Radeon which might be twice as fast. which I wouldn't care anyway. I think the X850 Plat. Pro is fast already. at any rate, the more educated you become, the better line of computer system you know to buy that will suit your needs, and actually build it less for future proofing.