Should I scrap my planned FX-60 build and wait for the Conroe?

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
How much money do these people spend just to game? WTF. I built a $950 rig instead of a $500 one, I have to do 3DSMax and I still felt bad....this pisses me off.

I'm sure you would be quite surprised to see what the 1% enthusiast market spends to have the best of the best, of the best in their computer. Even if it's 5fps more in a game, thats good enough to spend any amount of money to get it. Weird, I know.

 

[Randolphjo]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
How much money do these people spend just to game? WTF. I built a $950 rig instead of a $500 one, I have to do 3DSMax and I still felt bad....this pisses me off.

Actually, I'm not a hardcore gamer. My use for this system will be more for video editing/processing and everyday computing and multi-tasking. However, the build is close enough to be a hardcore gaming machine that that is how I refer to it when asking questions.

And to answer your question as to how much do these people pay just to game, I don't think there is a limit for some. Here is a link to ExtremeTech's "Killer Gaming Rig: Spring 2006", which, ironically, is very similar to my own build - even though I didn't see their article until after I had already planned my build:

ExtremeTech's Killer Gaming Rig: Spring 2006

I prefer to upgrade or build a new system every two or three years. However, I made a major mistake a little over a year ago by deciding to stay with an AGP video based system back then - instead of going PCIe. That?s why I'm doing a new build so soon and why I'm being very cautious to pick the technologies that will stay competitive for more than just a year or so and keep me satisfied with my rig for that long ? unless I win the lottery, then all bets are off. Until then, I'm going to measure twice and cut once this time around.

 

[Keysplayr]

Your current rig does not seem to be a slouch by any stretch. You bought everything for your new build already so it seems kind of pointless to tell you to wait until you see actual reviews for the upcoming Core 2 Duo platform. Sure, there have been TONS of user benches all over the web, but some hardcore folks WILL NOT accept those benches. Only from trusted review sites will they swallow them. So be it. Since you already bought everything, you might as well just build it and use it and be happy with it.

 

[Randolphjo]

I will build a Crossfire system now using all of the components I have already purchased - with the exception of the FX-60 processor. I'm going to sell the FX-60, and buy a dual-core Opteron I can overclock to get me by for now. When the upcoming Core 2 Duo platform becomes readily available, I'll update and complete the power system I want to end up with.

 

[wwswimming]

for gaming, do the Crossfire rigs benefit much from the dual-core ?

i'm just noticing the Opteron 150 for $370 or something, 2.4 GHz.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80103-R

i guess the FX60 is dual core 2.6 GHz.

 

[coldpower27]

You have a good plan buy an Opteron 165/170 or an Athlon 64x2 3800+ and you should be fine in the meantime and not have to pay the outrageous 827US for the FX 60.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
How much money do these people spend just to game? WTF. I built a $950 rig instead of a $500 one, I have to do 3DSMax and I still felt bad....this pisses me off.

hey i did that too. i got a opterton 165 on a whim instead of the a64 3000+ i planned to get cuz it was so popular back in january (IN AT forums). then i had to cut back on the video card and ram.

 

[Tanclearas]

I've settled into a very nice upgrade pattern. I swap out CPU, MB, and video card every December/January. As it stands right now, it looks like I'll be going with Conroe. That doesn't mean I won't be happy with my current Opteron 165/X1900XT combination until then. As someone else stated, for the resolutions I play at, Conroe honestly won't do much for me. In non-gaming scenarios, I'm pretty happy with the performance i get now.

Once again, like others have stated, there's always something better coming. Who knows what K8L will bring. By the time I'm ready for my annual upgrade, there might be preliminary benchmarks (like the Conroe ones that popped up a couple months back) that show K8L can outperform Conroe. That won't stop me from getting Conroe if it's the fastest option that is available.

 

[AssistantPimp]

Yes, intel has finally won with conroe and it's the best thing on the pc market now...but as you said Tanclearas, we are still waiting K8L...

 

[MusickMaker]

You people are using too much acronyms that its just going over my head. AM2? OCZ? C2D? FUD? WTF?

 

[Polish3d]

No offense but for that price I would wait.

Buy a conroe when it comes out and then spend that other 5-600 you would have spent on the FX on a SS phase or something, and OC that sob to 4ghz if you want to get really nutso

 

[bigshooter]

Sell the $1000 processor and buy a $200 one. In 6-12 months you can buy a whole new mobo/ram/cpu combo for $800 or less, plus still be able to sell your current equipment. I don't understand why people buy the absolute fastest, most expensive hardware so they can have bragging rights right now, but then they can't afford to upgrade for over a year. You'll have a faster overall computer in the long run if you take the large sum of money and spread it out over upgrades. There WILL always be something faster.

 

[Randolphjo]

Originally posted by: bigshooter
Sell the $1000 processor and buy a $200 one. In 6-12 months you can buy a whole new mobo/ram/cpu combo for $800 or less, plus still be able to sell your current equipment. I don't understand why people buy the absolute fastest, most expensive hardware so they can have bragging rights right now, but then they can't afford to upgrade for over a year. You'll have a faster overall computer in the long run if you take the large sum of money and spread it out over upgrades. There WILL always be something faster.

That's exactly what I'm going to be doing.

 

[bigshooter]

Lol... sorry. Guess I skipped over a few posts.

 

[Sable]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
How much money do these people spend just to game? WTF. I built a $950 rig instead of a $500 one, I have to do 3DSMax and I still felt bad....this pisses me off.

Some people (like myself) have been running old socket A Athlon XP's and just felt it was time for an upgrade. I set a budget of £1000 and got the best I could for that. That's what I budgetted last time and in a few years that's what I'll budget again.



@ the OP: If I was buying now (much as I hate to agree with FelixDeIntelKat) I would certainly not be going S939 and most likely go for Conroe, or at least AM2.
Conroe is just plain faster but when I upgraded it was all rumours with no numbers and I was fed up of waiting.

 

[v8envy]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
How much money do these people spend just to game? WTF. I built a $950 rig instead of a $500 one, I have to do 3DSMax and I still felt bad....this pisses me off.

Gaming is still a dirt cheap hobby compared to just about anything else. Ever since I got into flopping down in front of my PC rather than wrenching on any number of cars, I've saved a metric buttload of money. Ive also gained about 20 pounds, but that's a different story.

$10k alienwares and dells aside, even a $1500 rig every year is only $120 or so a month, assuming you recover $0 by selling the nearly top of the line box at the end of the year. Real cost is quite a bit less than that considering used hardware is oftentimes > $new on ebay.

Compare that to bar hopping, golf club membership, autocross or just about any hobby you can think of including premium cable TV. Still cheap.

That being said, I'm with everyone else. The FX60 will not help your box stay on top for a year+. Get a lower priced CPU now (3800+, opty 165), do a mild overclock to within 0-5% of the real world performance of the FX60 for now. And know that you will still need to spend $400 of the $600 you saved on either a Conroe or an AM2 upgrade in the next 6-8 months to reach the same e-peen length. If you go X2 now, that $400 drops to $300 because you can re-use DDR2 ram. S939 and DDR1 is as much of a dead end as AGP was a year ago, and it makes 0 sense to get a top end cpu for a dead/obsolete platform. At least if you believe AMD re: imminent death of S939.

If all you do is game, you will probably 'forget' to upgrade. Since you do other stuff, you may not.


edit: typos

 

[Noubourne]

You already bought an FX-60?

Put it together, enjoy it for a couple months, then sell it all and start over again.

Hell, you can afford an FX-60 (when you could have gotten a $300 chip and overclocked it past FX-60 speeds) - you can certainly afford to sell that system at a loss and rebuild in a few months.