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Should I buy or wait...

UglyCasanova

UglyCasanova

Lifer
This will be my first system to build, and I've been saving up a while for it. I am only a 16yr old bag-boy making $5.75/hr, 20 hrs a week, but I want to make it the best possible so I won't have to do much upgrading to it, for a while at least. Here is what I have so far:

ATHLON (TBird) 1.4GHz $225
Asus A7A266 $132
Antec Full Tower (SX1030) $ 92
512mb Crucial PC2100 $131
IBM Deskstar 60GXP $ 90
ACER 56X CD-ROM $ 27
Toshiba 16X DVD $ 53
Teac 1.44MB Floppy $ 8
Visiontek - Geforce3 $345
Hercules Game Theater XP $137
Samsung 955DF 19" $269

I am looking at around $2,000 for the whole thing including Win 2K. There are supposed to be some new things coming out late summer or fall like the nForce, the Athlon 4, WinXP. Also I'm hoping the GF3 will go down some. I can last for a little while on my system now (PII 400Mhz), but I am kinda impatient. Would it be worth it for me to wait to get the new stuff, or will this be alright.

ALso will the Athlon 4 work in mobos now, or will they have to have a special one. Can you upgrade from Win 2K to XP?
 
Go for a cheaper video card. Current games do not need a GF3, and it will be quite a while before a game even comes close to needing one.

Go for a GF2, or a Kyro or something. That will last you a year or two.

By the time DOom3 comes out, a GF3 will hardly run it anyway. That will be the time for your next card upgrade.
 
I'm in a similar situation as you-- in fact, I'm looking at almost the same sys specs. I need to upgrade by August for school, so I don't have as many options.

I think there's nothing wrong with upgrading now, but if you do, I recommend a couple of changes to your specs:

First-- You do not need a GF3. Games that really use it are at least a year away. With that processor, a GF2/GF2 Pro will save you $200 and run everything like butter for at least a year and a half. By then there should be a card that's TWO generations ahead of the GF3.

Second-- You can upgrade Win2K to XP, but you'd end up dropping a huge wad of cash. All ver of XP (both home and pro) will be as stable as Win2K, so you would save a lot by buying (or downoading--*evil grin*) WinME, then buying the XP Home upgrade in October. Trust me, WinME is not that bad.

I also recommend two hard drives (big one for data, little one for the OS), but that's just a personal preference. It makes it a lot easier for the occasional reformat. 😉


 
I agree with Dufusyte plus I wouldn't get both a CD-ROM and DVD-ROM. The Toshiba DVD drive should be more than enough.

Also, DDR SDRAM is very cheap, but if you wanna cut corners for now, I'm sure 256MB will be more than enough and it's a very simple upgrade whenever you need more.
 
If your trying to save a few dollars, get 256mb of ram and a more resonable video card. That video card is overpriced and over valued compared at what you can get at a lower price. There is no reason for 512meg right now either unless you got money to burn.
 
where are you going to get your case because that a not bad price for it can you tell me please thanks!
 
If you have the money Get the Ge-Force 3 you will love it if you play games and you said you were 16 so I would guess you play games. The frame rates alone are worth the price of the G-3 plus you said you did not want to have to upgrade for a while.
 
I got it a 3Dcool.com it is overpriced but a great case, the best case I have ever had... I painted black they only come in white. They do have a tornado 3000 that is black and has a hydraulic front door I ordered it and sent it right back it SUCKED very cheap case..
 
How much are the GF2 Ultra's and would that be sufficient until at least next spring? Also, what about the Athlon 4 and the nForce. I have heard bad things about the chipsets for DDR out now, should I wait for the nForce or are the chipsets out now adequate?
 
You're better off buying cheap now and upgrading later if you need to.

Trust me, I've been there, I was young, making minimum wage, got sucked into wanting the ABSOLUTE FASTEST, SNAZZIEST computer I could build... I blew all my money on it and then within 3 months i felt like an idiot cuz i had only a mediocre computer and no cash.

Price is a big issue for you young man like yourself. If some fatcat executive blows a wad on some dell p4 beast, what does it matter to him, it's only a day's work. But for you, every $5 of that computer is an hour's labour. Do you really want stuff that's going to depreciate almost as fast as you can earn the money to buy it?

Lucky for you, we're no longer in the age of the $1,000 processors but the same principles still apply-
a) components will be cheaper tomorrow
b) what you NEED is a lot less than what you WANT

Obviously you are computer savvy enough to upgrade your parts when you need to. So why not use just 1 hour upgrading something when it's $50 cheaper, rather than working 10 hours to buy it when it's expensive?

Now that I've had a few years to reflect on what i *REALLY* need from my computer, I'm happy using older hardware (currently pentium-75 w/ 40mb ram) even though I now earn 9x as much money. Maybe you really *DO* need a super fast computer, but at least give yourself the chance to try a slower one and save some $$ while you are at it.

Consider the following ideas:

Athlon 1.4ghz? Get a $30 (or $50, or $90) processor for now, and then buy the 1.4ghz later after they've dropped $100 in price if you're compiling programs too slowly.

Geforce 3? Spend $20 extra on an nforce mobo when they hit the shelves, and if you're really hurting for frame rates, get the geforce 3 once they've dropped by $100

512mb ram? Save $50 and get 256mb ... if your resource meter ever tops out you can always add the other stick later.

CD rom? drop it and save $27 cuz you can use your DVDrom. Better yet, drop your DVDrom instead and save $57 (unless you plan to connect it to your TV)

Antec case? What's wrong with a generic $30 case that you have to sink SIXTY DOLLARS extra into this one? Who cares if it's butt ugly, it's not like some chick is gonna jump yer bones cuz you have some jet black case

Game theatre XP? I'm not sure if that's sound card or speaker system, but either way it's a luxury item that can only get cheaper in the future. In my case, i hooked up my home stereo to the computer.

Samsung 955 19"? This i totally agree with. Monitors have the largest impact on the usability of a computer, and they are useful for SO much longer than any other component, that it's worth it to put a lot of $$ into them. (and the 955 has suuuuch good reviews & a nice price, you cannot go wrong!)




 
Blow your wad on the Ge-force 3 your only young once things are allways cheaper next month so what, next month there will be something better so what. You worked hard for that money so dont sell yourself short and get the cheap stuff... You buy the cheap stuff now and its not worth anything when you need to upgrade you buy the best now and you will get a good resale onit. So like I said buy the Ge-Force 3
 
The computer I'm on now is my family's and we all use it. My parents don't want me messing around in thier machine, so I'm just getting one of my own and putting it in my room (I will be able to use it whenever I want). The reason I want it fast is for alot of games, alot of paintshop, alot of Office (though I wish I didn't have to🙁 ), and I'm learning Visual C++ 6.0, so I hope alot of that. I think I'll hold off on the GF3, only get 256mb RAM, and hope I can get a good deal on Win2k using my student ID (still in high school but I am taking classes up at the college).
The reason I want the case is because it comes with a good 350 watt PS. It also looks good and I may overclock it and you can supposedly get good cooling in an antec.

Do you think I wait for the nForce, Athlon 4, and Win XP? I'm not going to use '98, I've made my mind up on that. We use '98 and I am always seeing the blue screen.
 
Alright, well here are my suggestions. If you get your computer now, get:

ATHLON (TBird) 1.0GHz w/266 FSB: $124 - 1 GHz is ALL you need, and it produces significantly less heat too 🙂
Asus A7V133: $114 - This uses a MUCH more stable chipset, and uses regular PC133 RAM. Honestly, I'd recommend this over any ALi chipset
Antec Full Tower (SX1030): $92 - nice case
512mb Crucial PC133 CL=2: $126 - with 90% of the speed of DDR, you won't notice the difference.
IBM Deskstar 60GXP $ 90 - nice drive
No CD-ROM, it's not really necessary when you have a DVD drive
Toshiba 16X DVD $ 53 - nice drive
Teac 1.44MB Floppy $ 8 - heh, no comment
Visiontek GeForce2 GTS 64mb DDR: $258
Hercules Game Theater XP $137 - this is a great soundcard, and I do recommend you splurge and get it.
Samsung 955DF 19" $269 - fine with me

I know you want the latest, but honestly, at a certain point, you won't notice the difference. A GF3 is pointless right now, especially on a budget. And your motherboard should NOT use an ALi chipset - you like stability, right? If you really want DDR (only 10% max performance increase) then get the A7M266 or A7V266. Good luck!

 
Honestly, the question of "can I wait?" will always be around. Do you want a computer now? Do you have the money? Then get it! 🙂

 
Picking the parts out is giving me a migrane:disgust:
Off topic but do you know any good books on PC Harware? Ive already read PC Hardware in a Nutshell and it was good, but do you know anything else?
 
Dude, you are 16 years old. Don't blow $2000 of your own money on a PC. The name of the game today is "go cheap", AFAIC. You used to have to spend $2000 to get a good system a few years ago, but $1000 does the job today. IMHO, PC performance has gotten to the point where the best is not important or even necessary to shield against obsolesence.

My suggestions:
Forget the 1.4GHz TBird. 1GHz will do.
GeForce3's are expensive now, but the price will drop quickly in a few months. Get a GF2 Pro.
I'd opt for a Santa Cruz sound card instead of the XP, unless you REALLY needed the XP's features.
 


<< You buy the cheap stuff now and its not worth anything when you need to upgrade you buy the best now and you will get a good resale onit. So like I said buy the Ge-Force 3 >>



That's ridiculous, what was the price difference between p2-233 &amp; p2-450 at one time? $300 or more. What's the difference now? Maybe $10.

Expensive hardware will ALWAYS depreciate faster. If you want to buy expensive, that's your deal, but i NEVER saves you money on &quot;resale&quot;

 
Would I find an increase in performance between a 1ghz Athlon and a 1.33ghz Athlon. It is only a $50 difference on Pricewatch.
Do you think you could find me a system for ~$1500? Win 2k has to be included in the price, but I got this student discount thing. If I can find a place to buy it I can use my student ID and supposedly save some money.

But you think I can get a system for around $1500 that will be fast, have decent FPS in games, and all that kind of good stuff? I'll drop the CD-ROM and keep the DVD (Got a bunch of anime DVD's but no DVD-ROM to look at some of the special features). I also will not buy any SB LIVE! things, got one and I hate it.
 


<< But you think I can get a system for around $1500 that will be fast, have decent FPS in games, and all that kind of good stuff? >>


$1500? You can get all this for about $500 if you look for a used system in the For Sale/For Trade forums.
 
Should I buy
Or should I wait now?
If I buy there'll be touble.
If I wait there'll be double?

Should I buy or should I wait?




Who sang that anyway? THe song I just mangled?

Anyway, you are asking the most terrible icky question in the realm of computers, shall ye upgrade. You will never follow the right path, you will never be right. I gave up deciding based on logic, and now follow my pocketbook.
 
Expensive hardware will ALWAYS depreciate faster. If you want to buy expensive, that's your deal, but i NEVER saves you money on &quot;resale Your full of it Expensive hardware does deprecite faster only because it has value cheap hardware has little value and in a short time has no value...
 


<< Should I buy
Or should I wait now?
If I buy there'll be touble.
If I wait there'll be double?

Should I buy or should I wait?
 >>



LOL 😀

 


<< Expensive hardware will ALWAYS depreciate faster. If you want to buy expensive, that's your deal, but i NEVER saves you money on &quot;resale&quot; >>



All fine and good, but I usually don't sell my old stuff. By the time I get around to upgrading it's usually so crappy and old that nobody wants it. I either give it away or put it in my closet.
 
The Clash sang that song BTW most people in these forums upgrade before their hardware is worth nothing.
 
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