Should I be concerned about Vista?

[wgoldfarb]

I am about to build my first system. My goal is to build something that will last at least 2 years, ideally more, without becoming "outdated" (which is a lesser degree of obsolescence than "obsolete" 🙂 ). I do some moderate gaming but nothing that will be too resource-intensive (WoW and Myst is as sophisticated as I get for now). I am an amateur photographer, so the most resource-intensive thing I do is lots of post-processing in Photoshop CS2. I also want something that will let me experiment with my first overclocks.

I want this system to still be able to run "new" software 2 years from now, maybe even more (is 3 years too much to ask?). I have been thinking of a system based on a Core 2 Duo. I wanted to wait until Q1 2007 to allow the C2D motherboard offerings to become more mature and diverse, and to allow the C2D prices to drop a bit. However, I have also been reading all the posts and reviews about Vista. They suggest Vista will be launched early in '07, and at that time XP sales will most likely stop.

If I use Vista, what implications will this have in terms of GPU? Vista seems to rely a lot on the GPU for its GUI, which suggests that what is now considered a solid "mid-tier" GPU might not be sufficient to maintain good performace when it needs to handle the Vista GUI in addition to whatever application or game I might run. This might be reason to get a better GPU than what I am now planning to get (a Radeon X1900 XTX 256MB, for the moment). Even more important, I am concerned about the implications of DX10. This seems to be a big deal with Vista. Should I wait until the DX10 GPUs start to come out to maximize future-proofing? When would that be? If I stick with DX9, how long can I realistically expect for my system to remain more or less "current"?

In the end I may avoid using such an early Windows release and use Win XP instead (buying a copy right now before sales stop). I would then wait to upgrade until Vista reaches SP1 or SP2, which probably will take about a year. But I would still like my hardware to be Vista ready and only do minimal upgrades, if any, at that time. If I choose this path, will I also need to upgrade applications I had installed under Win XP such as Photoshop CS2 and MS Office? That would be a very expensive upgrade :Q. If that is the case I may either go "cold turkey" right now or take the opposite approach and wait and upgrade to Vista in about 3 years, in time for my next build, and just ignore all this for now.

For perspective, my current selections (very much open to change!) are a C2D 6600, a radeon X1900 XTX 256MB, 2GB of DDR2 667 (OR DDR2 800 depending on final budget), and still waiting to decide on the MoBo, but it will probably be a P965 chipset.

Any help/feedback/insights will be greatly appreciated!

PS: I now have two computers at home, one running Win2K and one running XP pro. The new rig will have to network with these 2 machines. Will Vista have any problems networking with its older relatives?

 

[akshayt]

Yes you should be concerned about Vista.

 

[johnos]

i dont think you should be too concerned about windows XP sales stopping straight away, they most definatly wont stop selling for a while yet.
and also the DX9/10 issue shouldnt be too difficult to deal with. you can always upgrade to a DX10 graphics card in a few years and maybe upgrade you ram in a few years as well to keep up with what you are doing. same deal most likely applies to CPU. even if the sockets change in a few years you may be able to pick up a higher model C2D or similar that fits the socket for less than what you payed for the one you have now.
I think the main thing you should worry about is upgradeability. does it have enough RAM slots to keep you satisfied for a few years etc etc.
and unless you want to stay on the 'bleeding edge' (is there such a thing? lol) of case technology then buy a case with plenty of room for expansion. that way you can add too/upgrade components more easily. upgrading usually tends to be cheaper than buying a new computer every 2-3years. instead upgrade your computer whenever you need a performance boost. wait untill the main technologys behind your computer are not widely used and they become expensive to upgrade untill you buy a new computer

 

[wgoldfarb]

johnos:

Thanks for your insight, you helped quite a bit. As a complete noob to building my own systems I still think like I used to think when I bought ready-made systems: buy a good system now, and then get a whole new system every few years once my not-very-expandable box becomes obsolete (which I guess is exactly what companies like Dell want everybody to do!). Your suggestion to upgrade piece-by-piece (which is probably obvious to everybody else reading this board, and in hindsight is obvious to me too 😱) makes perfect sense.

Plus, sticking with XP for now gives me one less thing to worry about: I already know XP relatively well, and I have my plate full enough as it is trying to learn all I can about CPUs, RAM, video cards, etc to have to also worry about a new OS. I can postpone upgrading to Vista until I absolutely need to, perhaps 1-2 years down the line. I will make sure to get a MoBo and case that provide for furture expandability.

Thanks! :thumbsup::beer: