To wait or not to wait?

[Berkut]

So, I am looking at a new AMD system, Athlon 64, Radeon 9800Pro, 1G memory, etc., etc.,etc.

I decided to wait a bit since it seems like there is some pretty significant updates coming - 939 socket, PCI-E, new motherboard chipsets, etc.

But someone almost talked me into not waiting since

A) There is always something new coming, and
B) PCI-E, and chipsets based on the 939 socket will inevitable be sub-optimal when first released due to bugs and such.

I don't want to wait 9 months for Rev2 versions of these new technologies, but I don't really want to buy a motherboard right now that will have little or no upgrade path.

Any advice or comments?

 

[Alex]

well you pretty much narrowed it down yourself... there will always be something new coming out and when that something new comes out the stuff before it becomes cheaper.

so if you insist on having absolute state of the art then by all means go nuts and get it but be warned that it wont be cheap. alternatively, you could build a cheaper rig using as many common parts as possible (like the 1GB ram and video card etc) and then when it gets more affordable just do a mobo/processor upgrade.

 

[Berkut]

I am more concerned with the reliabilit of the new stuff, than I am how uber it might be. I tend to buy "amost cutting edge" in general, i.e. a step or two below the absolute latest and greatest.

If I were to wait for Socket-939 Athlons and whatever new chipsets support them, and PCI-E instead of AGP, is it reasonable to think that I will be beta testing these things, or is it reasonable to assume that a ATI Radeon 9700Pro(PCI-E) will be as solid as a ATI Radeon 9700Pro (PCI-E)?

It seems like initial motherboard when new chipsets are released are commonly either buggy or poor performing - but my information is pretty dated, as I haven't really kep up on this stuff since my last system upgrade, some 3 years ago.

 

[Matthias99]

ATI Radeon 9700Pro(PCI-E) will be as solid as a ATI Radeon 9700Pro (PCI-E)?

I presume you mean "PCI-E" and "AGP"...

I don't expect the PCI-E transition to be quick or particularly smooth. If earlier technology introductions are anything to go by, you *will* essentially be beta-testing the hardware if you buy a brand-new chipset, especially if it's also using a brand-new graphics card interface and brand-new graphics card. Besides that, you'll pay through the nose for it through the end of the year.

Couple this with the fact that at least one more generation of high-performance graphics cards will be coming out in AGP, and I just don't think people should be waiting if they want to upgrade now. Current-generation parts are pretty cheap, plenty fast, and very reliable. The only consideration you might want to take into account is that the release of new products may drive prices on today's parts down even further, but I doubt you'd be saving more than 5-10% even six months from now, unless something drastic happens (like AMD/Intel or ATI/NVIDIA getting into serious pricing wars with their new parts).

 

[dullard]

You are in a position that many people reach when considering the A64. For example, the built in memory controller is great at maximizing performance out of that memory, but it means a memory upgrade will likely require a chip upgrade and a motherboard upgrade. Suddenly people who like to change one at a time and upgrade over time are out of luck. K8T800 motherboard won't accept higher speed A64.

So you need to adjust the way you look at computer upgrades. Maybe it is time to switch to do what the majority of people already do: they switch CPU, motherboard, and memory at the same time. Or you really must plan your upgrades carefully - something that often isn't possible if all you have is rumors to go on.

You are correct that if you buy now, you won't have much upgrading room. So my suggestion is to buy things one notch cheaper so that when it is time to upgrade you have that money you saved to buy that extra motherboard. Get the 3200+ instead of the 3400+, or get the 3000+ instead of the 3200+.

I personally think a A64 with 1 GB memory, great video card, etc that you mentioned should last anyone for quite some time. So I would personally buy now with most of those. The one exception is a high end video card. Rumors of a great improvement in about 2 months are starting to appear. Anand himself (who couldn't say details due to a nondisclosure agreement) highly suggested that people wait on the high end video card purchases.

 

[Schadenfroh]

buy it then break it when rev2 comes out and rma it and get the rev2 9 months from now

 

[nitromullet]

The biq question for me (and I assume a few others) is will the next generation of video cards be avaialble in AGP as well as PCI-E. Previously, we had been lead to beleive that the NV40 and R420 would be PCI-E cards only, but newer information shows that AGP will still be with us for another year. If this is the case, then my money will be on upgrading my rig to the fasted cpu my motherboard can handle, get an expensive next gen video card, and bow out of the upgrading arena until the new technologies mature over the course of the year. If on the otherhand, PCI-E, DDR2, and new sockets were emerging all at the same time and all the top end video cards were only going to be available in PCI-E versions, it would be best to wait until that happens. Since it looks like the former will be true and that DDR2 adoption will be slower than earlier expected, I don't see any reason why not to upgrade or build a good base system now. I would however, hold off on buying a video card to see what the next gen cards bring in terms or performance or price drops to currently expensive cards.