Is it just me...or is there really nothing "new and exciting" out?

[Mellman]

I've been on my 2500+ barton and A7N8X-Deluxe for almost 2 years now, my barton runs dandy at 3200+ speeds and even higher if I feel like it, I've got 1GB of ram a radeon 9600Pro AIW, 2TB of storage on my server, a 74GB raptor in my main rig, and dual 19" CRT's. I'm even running watercooling...

In the past, I used to upgrade components monthly, I had nearly every type of Athlon from the 500Mhz and up to the 1.2Ghz was my final slot chip. I just don't see anything new out lately that will severly boost my performance. I used to feel it when i'd jump from a 500Mhz to an 800Mhz or something, but now I don't even feel a need to goto a 64 bit system, because there are no 64 bit apps I realize yes they would be faster then my current setup...but I dont think it'd be fast enough to do anything with.

I see SLI is coming into more mainstream now, but my 9600pro plays pretty much anything I throw at it. I love getting new computer equipment, all boys like their new toys, I just don't see a substantial benefit of getting rid of my current setup, when the things on the horizon don't seem much better.

Am I missing something? Does anyone else feel the same way?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Its just you

 

[Regs]

No. I need more power. As Tim Allen would say.

 

[Regs]

I think its because you play all your games at 800x600 or 1024x768.

 

[dullard]

Lots of people feel that way.

Once we reached ~500 MHz, people could do typical office things without any noticible delay (Word, internet, email, etc). Thus having a faster computer cannot speed up things any more for those people. Heck even for those who need the speed, CPU boosts just aren't coming very fast anymore. Nov 14, 2002 the 3.06 GHz P4 was released. Nov 14, 2004 the 3.8 GHz P4. Two years for virtually no MHz gain (yes there were other improvements which may or may not boost speed depending on application).

Now that video cards are prevalent, a video card upgrade is much more important than a CPU for gamers. Spending $200 on a video card can have a huge benefit while spending $200 on a new CPU will likely give a gamer nothing noticible. Thus, your previous covetted CPU upgrade (often accompanied with a motherboard upgrade) are no longer as beneficial.

Computers used to be severely memory limited. Hard drive swapping was commonplace. Once we hit 128 MB, that practically ended for most users even with Windows XP and several programs running at the same time. No more 10000% improvement by plugging in one $75 piece of hardware.

Moving from a 1x CDRW to a 4x CDRW was huge. Moving from 24x to 48x is a minimal boost.

I could go on and on. But in many cases, we are at the point of diminishing returns. Two year old technology can still run virtually everything new just fine (with the exception of a video card upgrade if you want to run a couple of games at high graphics settings). Thus, yes many people feel the same way.

 

[Mellman]

Originally posted by: Regs
I think its because you play all your games at 800x600 or 1024x768.

1280x1024 thank you

I've never spent more then $100 on a graphics card, maybe thats my problem...yes I paid $100 for my 9600p AIW about 8 months to one year ago. I always just watch the GPU market drop in price so fast I feel like my money is better invested elsewhere. Aside from that, I think the games look fine at 1280x1024.

I guess what i've wanted for a while is dual 20" LCD's, now that the 2005FP's are out and dropping in price, im just waiting on a dual DVI video card to come out, that doesnt cost $500 and will last me a while. and dullard makes some good points. I used to spend the $100 to get my 10000% improvements...while in order for me to get a dual DVI card and dual 20" LCD's i'll be spending roughly $1300-1500...and hell, thats enough to buy a new computer.

The other dillema I have is i browse the FS/FT forums too much, and the dual 3.33Ghz xeon's are looking mighty tempting, but i come back to my dillema, they'll be faster...but I'm not going to notice any major differences even though i do a helluva lot of multitasking.

 

[semo]

something "new and exciting" is lightscribe imo. does not improve pc performance but it still is "new and exciting" and just like all "new and exciting" things.... you have to wait for it. i should stop saying "new and exciting" now

 

[sic wil]

A 6600 GT is a nice cheap card and has dual DVI (I believe). I just bought one for my system and it's a BIG jump from my 5900XT. You should try it!

 

[imported_waldo]

I am running dual xeons, and I felt a huge performance increase in my work (but I don't do a lot of gaming.) The whole machine is just smooth!

 

[ed21x]

Macintoshes have made leaps and bounds on the last couple years, and have their own refined appeal, if you find that "new and exciting."

 

[Sunner]

I agree.
Dullard has it right, we used to get speedbumps in all areas all the time at one point, 200 MHz faster CPU's this month, new graphics cards the next, the gen HD's the one after that, etc etc.
Now we're not getting much, CPU's are crawling(in terms of progress of course), video cards are paper launched, and when they show up they're insanely expensive, HD's are getting bigger, but that's not quite as exciting, a move to 10K RPM for "regular" HD's would be nice.

Most people are waiting for dual core CPU's, but I'd say most people who are excited about that probably are because they think it'll double the speed of their computers, without realizing that there's virtually no consumer grade software that will make use it.

In the end, I agree, the hardware business isn't as exciting as it was 2-3 years ago, and before that.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
Its just you

 

[thirdlegstump]

I'm in the same boat man. My 2800+ rig does plenty for me. Hell I haven't even added new hardware to this thing in almost a year cept for the 9700pro.

 

[peter7921]

Originally posted by: deathkoba
I'm in the same boat man. My 2800+ rig does plenty for me. Hell I haven't even added new hardware to this thing in almost a year cept for the 9700pro.

Same thing ive had P4 3.0 (c) wit a 9700 pro for a year and a half and there is nothing that compels me to upgrade

 

[imverygifted]

when your looking for something new and exciting monitor upgrades are always key, if my 2005fpw come in good condition i think i'll be excited for quite some time- if your just looking for something cheap to take lots of your time get a nice new case and mod it or something if you want a new toy and you'll notice a huge difference in newer games if you get a better video card

 

[Comp625]

I personally think it's the software that needs to catch up. Hardware progress has always been faster than the progress seen in software. EX: Gaming wise, the only game that recently has been able to put modern PCs on its knees was Doom 3 (IMHO).

 

[GfW]

Why not have a look at the new "headless" Mac Mini ... $500 ... to be available in about 10 days from today.

 

[Budmantom]

Crank up the AA/AF and see what you've been missing.

Buy some newer games.



Tom

 

[Mellman]

Originally posted by: Budmantom
Crank up the AA/AF and see what you've been missing.

Buy some newer games.



Tom

what are "newer" games? HL2 D3 don't count? Warhammer doesn't really tax my system,


I agree with imverygifted in that upgrading your display can be huge! But the problem is, forking out $1100 for two 2005FP's right now isn't exactly an option, and since my video card probably won't handle 16x12 very well, i'd have to upgrade it too, which is another $350-500 and thats just so much money, for not near the gains we used to get back in the day for spending that much!

I do have a case I am working on modding, its for my server, but its going to be a fun project, maybe i should just spend more time working on that instead. *sigh*

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: Mellman
I've been on my 2500+ barton and A7N8X-Deluxe for almost 2 years now, my barton runs dandy at 3200+ speeds and even higher if I feel like it

If you haven't noticed, the AXP 3200+ "Barton" isn't even in new benchmark lineups. The A64 chips are a huge jump from a Barton, even in 32bit mode.

That's when I decide a new CPU is worth looking into, when they don't even bother putting my current CPU in the lineup, because it would just be bringing up the rear by a large margin.

 

[Budmantom]

What about AA/AF?


Tom

 

[bendixG15]

You guys don't want to admit it....

You are getting OLD.....Welcome to the club........

And Intel says the Speed Race is Over....
The ship has sailed on the PC Industry.....
Nothing great on the horizon.....

Time to move on.......
Hey, there's always ....?????

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: bendixG15
You guys don't want to admit it....

You are getting OLD.....Welcome to the club........

And Intel says the Speed Race is Over....
The ship has sailed on the PC Industry.....
Nothing great on the horizon.....

Time to move on.......
Hey, there's always ....?????

Yeah, Idon't feel 20 anymore.

I really don't care what Intel says, 90% is marketing BS. However, I agree that the speed race is over, for a while...

 

[Amaroque]

Heh, I was just thinking about it... The speed race is over, until Intel has a chip that outperforms what AMD is offering at the time.

They can't outperform AMD at the moment, so they proclaim the speed race dead. Marketing at its finest.

 

[Antoneo]

I think the advances that are being made are more subtle and peripheral. Digital cameras, digital flash/hard drive based music players, DVD burning, and new displays are setting in now whereas the internals have been pretty much the same for the past years. DDR RAM, processing power has increased not by means of MHz (even Intel is admitting a strange sort of defeat), hard drives size increasing slowly, but there has been very little change in the past two years. We've reached a nice gentle hill where the people's wants will dictate where the PC will go. Computer enthusiasts, while an ever growing population, remain in the shadows in the eyes of major companies.