Is this a good time to build a pc of this type?

[HondaF1]

Hi. I am planning on building a new computer. I have been out of touch with the computer world for some time now because of a little lack of interests (out of touch for 1 year I think). Anyways, my question:

I will soon need a PC that is basically a high performance (very value minded) value PC that is going to be used mainly for slightly above average games, and will be used extensively for video out and video in (looking at ati radeon 9600 all in wonder).

I do not know the current situation on PCI Express, the future of 64 bit computing and all that. If I am not in a hurry, should I wait or is now a good time to build because I have to decide between 32 and 64 bit processors?

Are new "to-be-minstream" technologies emerging in the market right now and will become mainsrteam in teh future (i.e. pci express, agp gone?, 64 bit computing)

And most of all, sorry for such a silly topic, but I do need some opinions.

Thankyou

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

things are going through a lot of transitions now. this is a tough question and depends on if/how soon you plan to upgrade any components or the whole system.

i'd go with athlon 64 either way, but especially for the 64 bit computing if you plan on having this for another 2-3 years if you upgrade before that, 64 won't matter, but they are still better chips for your money

pci express will be supported by the next round of A64 chipsets, and agp cards will probly stop being made in a year. If you want to upgrade the video card keeping the same system after a year or two then waiting for pci express would make sense

ddr 2 will probly be supported on amd systems in about 6 months to a year, but at this point it is definatly not woth waiting for ddr2

 

[epsilon9090]

Manufacturers will NOT stop making AGP cards in a year, it would be stupid of them. ATI may not make the card an agp version, but the actual manufacturer probably will since it will be identical performance since pciexpress adds virtually nothing right now.

 

[HondaF1]

Oh, and another question. What is the choice (I mean in numbers) of legacy free boards. I know that there is little advanatage at this moment, but how many legacy free boards are there in the market right now?

 

[HondaF1]

TIger Direct Canada
NCIX

Does anyone else know any other Canadian websites that sell stuff for good prices?

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

Originally posted by: epsilon9090
Manufacturers will NOT stop making AGP cards in a year, it would be stupid of them. ATI may not make the card an agp version, but the actual manufacturer probably will since it will be identical performance since pciexpress adds virtually nothing right now.

yeah come to think of it you're right. but after a while manufacturers will stop cause anybody buying a brand new top o the line video card will probly have a mobo made fairly recently. so iguess it really depends on how well spported agp is on mainstream boards of the furure. if you can only get agp slots on more expensive/underperforming boards then the transition aught to be fiarly fast, but manufacturers of boards and vid cards will probly swing both ways for 2-3 years less if new cards perform significantly better on pcix