The time for an upgrade?

[Zenci]

Hi there!

My computer, today, consists of a Pentium 4 Northwood and some other old ****** =)

Point is that i am thinking of upgrading my computer to the next "generation", but my question is: Is it the right time to upgrade?

Is Intel, Nvidia or some other company brewing some new stuff? I don't won't to upgrade finding that the prices will drop or they are sending something new out on the market.

Thank you in advance for your advices

 

[meltdown75]

The right time to upgrade is ultimately decided by the user and what his / her needs are on the PC.

It pretty much hinges on what you do, or what level you do it at. ie. if you are into gaming but only play Starcraft or Diablo, there is no real need to upgrade. However, if you are into Far Cry with the eye candy maxed out, then you need to start considering how much $ you have to spend and just how much you want to chase the "bleeding edge" - performance PC vs. something that "gets the job done".

 

[deadseasquirrel]

Every hardware company BETTER be brewing up some new stuff, or they won't exist for too long.

There is always something faster, better, more advanced, cheaper, etc coming soon. The best advice is to buy/build when you are ready and buy/build the best system to fit your budget.

Generally, if you buy something right now, in 6 months there will be something faster and even cheaper than what you paid. Such is the life of the computer hardware hobbyist.

If you have some specifics with regard to your estimated budget, as well as info on what pieces of your system you plan to carry over to the next one (e.g. monitor, kb, mouse, etc), and give us an idea of what you enjoy using your computer for, many folks here can give some examples of cost-effective, yet robust, systems for you to consider.

 

[Zenci]

Yeah i kinda knew that the market inside computer hardware is at full speed all the time..... Maybe my worries lies at the point that i am looking at a motherboard which is from summer last year...

My current upgrade setting:

Motherboard: EVGA nForce 680i SLI
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66 GHz
Graphics card: Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX*
Memory: *

I am a bit in doubt about the Graphic card because i don't know which has the best performance/price ratio but i have looked at EVGa's. Anyone have a suggestion?
I am also in doubt about the memory.

The parts i need changed: Motherboard, CPU, Graphic Card, Memory, Power Supply and maybe a cabinet.

My budget is about the 2000-3000$

 

[nZone]

I recommendation:

CPU => don't buy the top model (upgrade later when price comes down)
Graphic => buy top model like 8800GTX
MB => buy top model with goodies feature (for future cpu upgrade or add sli/crossfire)
Power Supply => don't go cheapy supply (get PS that can handle SLI of 8800GTX specs)
Memory => DDR2 533 or better will do fine.

 

[chizow]

Depends what you want to do with your PC.

If its mostly for gaming and your current rig doesn't do what you want it to, then you should look to upgrade. If you mainly browse the internet, print pictures, watch some DVDs, rip CDs/DVDs, etc. a 3 year old PC should do all of that just fine.

If you can wait a little bit longer, there's going to be a pretty big price cut on Intel CPUs (April 22nd or so). The mainstream DX10/G80 parts from NV should hit the market in early April as well. AMD is planning to release Barcelona in June/July and R600 sometime between April and July.

DX10 and the mainstream migration to Vista will be the biggest catalyst for upgrades, but right now there's no DX10 games driving the move to Vista.