Today's computer industry

[wviperw]

In my recent research for my imminent computer upgrade, I've been startled by the seeming stagnancy of the computer industry. Now, I'm probably considered to be an "armchair enthusiast," in that I really only have time to keep up with the latest hardware happenings when I'm upgrading--and only then because I have to make the best possible purchase. So I haven't really kept up on things in the last 10 months or so. My last foray was in building my Dad a computer, June of last year.

At that time, the 2500 Bartons were quite the hot item, so I ended up going with one of those for $90. The final computer cost came to a hair over $300 (w/o monitor, OS), and it had all your standard specs (512mb PC2700 RAM, 40GB HD, CDRW, Epox 8RGA+,etc.)

Now the scary thing is, here I'm looking to upgrade my own computer, almost a YEAR after having built my Dad's, and things have gone almost NOWHERE. I mean, the 2400+/2500+ Bartons are still the only reasonable "budget" processors to have, and are really not that much cheaper than a year ago. Not only that, but RAM has gone through the roof. Without a doubt, I can say that if I would have upgraded my computer 11 months ago, I would have saved money while still achieving the same specs.

And then there is RAM. It's really quite sad when buying 512mb of even the cheap stuff is going to cost me more than what I'll pay for my CPU. I remember when 512mb of reasonably decent RAM was maybe $60-$70. Last year, when I first started thinking of my upgrade, I was determined to finally have 1gb of RAM, however, now it looks like I'll have to settle for 512mb if I don't want to break my pocket book.

Anybody else getting worried with what has happened to the industry lately?

 

[addragyn]

Software is, and will be for some time, where the big news is.

When there is a mass market need for new HW capabilities the market will respond.

IMO HW has been largely boring and irrelevant for awhile.

Can you really stay excited over specs for a lifetime?

 

[Connoisseur]

It'll take a while but mem prices will go back down. The only reason that they're so high now is because they used to be dirt cheap a couple of years ago (I remember my friend bought a 512mb pc2100 stick from crucial for about $30-$40). With all the buying, a mem shortage occurred and thus supply decreased thereby jacking up the price. I figure in another year prices will go down a decent bit (at least $20-$30 below current prices). As far as processors go, you have to keep in mind who you're talking to. Of course the mobile Barton 2500+ are still excellent CPU's because they're very popular with the overclockers crowd. If you know what you're doing these babies can go up to about 2.4-2.5 ghz which is an awesome deal considering the price. But there are faster and better processors out there. The Athlon64's are getting crazy popularity.

In effect, the only disturbing trend I see is price. But that'll go down in the near future. I say it'll happen when Bush gets thrown out of office . I blame him for everything....including me failing my finals....

 

[Chaotic42]

There isn't any software to push the technology. Heck, lots of people are still using Windows 98. Microsoft hasn't given people a good reason to upgrade to their newest OS (By this I mean people like mom and dad, we all have plenty of reasons to upgrade). My opinion is that it's Microsoft that decides where processors go. People will upgrade when their computer "feels slow", and Windows 98 is a decent enough system to last a few years longer.

This is all, of course, just my opinion.

 

[Cerb]

HW isn't stagnant, software is.
I have a 1800+@1.8GHz, 512MB PC3200, 160GB HD, 9600 XT, etc., and nothing is too slow.
Some games coming out this year look they'll force me to raise to 1GB (hopefully as prices fall) RAM, but that's about it.
HW: we have Prescott, Dothan, Athlon64, Opteron (with non-M$ OSes supporting it fully already), DDR2 almost here (worth it when it reaches 800MHz), PCI-E, SATA, SATA II close at hand, new vid cards getting on the boats, AMD forcing Intel to once again innovate on the desktop...
Hardware is moving fast as ever.

...but that 2000+/K7S5A somebody got a couple years ago is still pulling through, and not bogging them down. The fan is going out, so they're shelling $30 for a shiny new Antec HSF at Staples and a can of compressed air; not $400 for new innards.

 

[BoomAM]

Must be you lot.
Im finding it quite interesting over the last 12months and looking forward to the future.
New gfx cards, new cpus, new mobos, new techs, PCI-E/E16. And loads more.
It probably depends on your outlook on computers in general, but i find it very interesting. From a gamer and tweakers point of view.

 

[Budmantom]

A64 is a big hit and sata and pci-x should be big even though it's more hype than actual performance.


You won't see any big advance in the low end but the mobile barton 2500 should overclock better than the standard xp2500.

Tom

 

[T9D]

Yeah things have been somehwhat stagnant and boring. New stuff is just trickling out. Until recently the video card market has been very slow. (shoot my 9700 pro is still kicking butt after two years!) Intel had roadmaps for prescot coming out with like the 3.6 last year and that never happened!

Anyway I don't think there isn't ever going to be an explosion like we saw with AMD and Intel a few years ago. That was pretty insane. To bad things didn't keep going like that.

 

[Lonyo]

BTX, PCI-E, 64-bit OS', 10k rpm desktop HDD's, SATA daisy chaining, new, much faster, products like graphics cards, DDR-II.
A lot is evolution, and a lot is still yet to come. It seems like things have slowed down for a bit and it's a big wait for the changes which always seem to be on the horizon.

Most users don't need half this stuff though, it's all enthusiast, so the real market has stagnated and probably will for a while unless something amazing happens.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

gone almost NOWHERE. I mean, the 2400+/2500+ Bartons are still the only reasonable "budget" processors to have

The operative word there is budget, and explains your feelings for me. Things have been anything but stagnant, but as always the cutting edge ain't cheap

 

[duragezic]

I have to agree. About 8 months ago I was one click away from ordering a new system: 2500+, 512mb PC3200, Abit NF7, 9600Pro. It was around $450 I think. But I couldn't throw down the cash and afterall my 1.33ghz is still doing fine for the games I play. So now I'm looking at getting a new system when I go away to college, and it would be the EXACT same thing as 8 months ago, just it's like $25 more now (because of RAM prices). Damn! There's no way I could afford a A64, so my poor Barton, 512mb PC3200, nForce2, and 9600P would be already outdated enough, and I wouldn't even have the system for another month or two! :disgust:

 

[duragezic]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER

gone almost NOWHERE. I mean, the 2400+/2500+ Bartons are still the only reasonable "budget" processors to have

The operative word there is budget, and explains your feelings for me. Things have been anything but stagnant, but as always the cutting edge ain't cheap

Yep, I fully agree here. They prolly figure they don't make jack on the budget stuff anyway so why give them cheaper prices?