System buying advice

[scaryjeff]

Hi (hope this isn't the wrong forum!).

I am looking to buy a new system in time for the arrival of HL2 and doom3, and am mainly interested in the future availability of northwoods. At the moment, I'm looking at:

Intel 2.8C
Asus P4P800-Deluxe
2*512 DDR
9800xt/5950 or lower end x800/6800

I am hoping to be able to overclock this system to around the 3.2GHz mark, and this seems to be an acheivable goal. Is the 2.8C going to be available in mid-summer, or are they going to stop making these soon? Are prices likely to drop further on this CPU, or will prices rise as availablity decreases? A similar question applies to the graphics card - are cards like the 9800xt or 5950 likely to make a drop in price as availability of the latest generation increases, or are prices likely to stay about the same to encourage people onto the newer GPUs? I won't spend over £200/$300 on the graphics card, but I'm guessing that the cheaper cards based on the x800/6800 will not be very good.

If the northwoods will stop being available, I can happily buy the motherboard/processor/ram now, and wait to buy the graphics card later - might this be a good plan? I don't really want a Prescott because I want a reasonably quiet system which implies a quiet CPU fan (I read that the stock fan for the prescott is louder because it runs hotter), and I also read that the 2.8E would be less likely to overclock to 3.2 on stock cooling - but perhaps this isn't true?

TIA for any info/advice

 

[biostud]

9800XT/5950Ultra = waste of money IMO
Either go for X800pro/6800GT or 9800pro to save money

 

[Axon]

Given that you do not yet have a video card, I would suggest bypassing the 9800/5900 series and going straight to the newer offerings. Many are liking the 6800 GT (correct me if I'm wrong with the designation there) due to it's price point and performance. X800 Pro is similar in that regard, and both of those cards are "future proof," at least more so than the 9800 Pro. Given that farcry challenges today's systems, it is unclear what Doom 3 will do....maybe wait for some benches before you buy.

What are you looking to spend on your CPU? Knowing what I know now, I'd have bought a used 3.2 EE for $600 off of the for sale forums and built around that.

 

[scaryjeff]

Thanks for the replies.

A 3.2EE is way above what I want to pay really, with the 2.8C coming in at around £125; the 3.2EE is nearly £700! I am pretty inflexible on the CPU front, I just don't want to wait so long that the 2.8C is not being made any more, and I don't know when this will be - the roadmaps I have found show when processors are being introduced, not when they are going to axe products.

The newest generation of graphics cards interest me, but I don't really want to spend more than about £200/$300. I have seen that there will be a 'plain' version of both of the new cards (not GT/Pro/Ultra/whatever), which should come in at around my spending limit for this component, but there does not seem to be a release date for the standard versions of the cards. I was thinking that if the 2.8C is soon to be discontinued, I could get that now, then wait for some HL2/Doom3 benchies to come out before buying the graphics card.

 

[XRaider]

If you're set on having the Northwood 2.8 and that Asus mobo, then by all means get it. It should OC to what you want it to. But, always remember that the prices will drop some (they always do). So, it's up to you when you want to purchase these items. But, who knows when that cpu will be no longer offered to retailers and when they'll run out. (I don't really know for sure)
Memory is another situation, prices have been going up - or have been up for several months. Those prices will eventually come down too.
For the video card, I would suggest what the others have been stating - wait for the newer ones to get mainstream and wait for more benchmarks. We are not sure what Doom3 will do exactly yet on some of these video cards. (I haven't seen any yet)
GL on your decision!!