Upgrade itch, need help

[Cutthroat]

This week I need to buy something new for my PC, but I'm not sure what I should get now, and what should wait for later. Here are my choices...

1. Q6600 guaranteed G0 - $310
2. Xeon 3220 non-guaranteed G0- $302, or wait for G0

or

3. 4GB Patriot Extreme Performance 5-5-5-12 EPP - $263

If I was to get the RAM now I might wait for Penryn to get the new processor, but they will likely be $1000 at launch.

90% of my gaming is FSX, which can use 4 cores, and would also get a boost with 4GB RAM. And I also run Folding @ Home which can use 4 cores, but wouldn't get a boost from the RAM.

I'm tempted to go for the Xeon and call first to try to get the G0, and see if 4GB RAM kits continue to fall in price, but I don't know.

 

[savvy]

Tough choice... but a guaranteed G0 is appealing.

 

[Blain]

Keep your money in your pocket a little longer.
Buyer's Remorse is a terrible thing to live with. :shocked:

 

[Cutthroat]

Originally posted by: Blain
Keep your money in your pocket a little longer.
Buyer's Remorse is a terrible thing to live with. :shocked:

That should have been #4. But that's the hardest option, it's burning a hole in my pocket.

 

[JustaGeek]

You know, it might sound silly, but I just got myself the Kensington USB Bluetooth adapter, and am both amazed an excited about the possibilities!

My main idea was to transfer the Phone Book from my old Motorola V330 to the new RAZR V3, so I downloaded Motorola Phone Tools software. The way the phone connects to the computer is incredibly simple, and the file transfer is relatively fast.

But think about the Wireless Stereo Headphones, Remotes, Mice and any other devices that can be easily connected. I am accessing my phone and work with my phone like if it was a remote hard drive! (well, almost, considering the limited capacity...).

Just my 2 cents...

 

[shortylickens]

OS's and games being what they are today, I'd go with the RAM.
If you cant use it right now then you will soon.

 

[Blain]

If you have 2GB of memory, then 4GB would be my last option. When your task manager tells you you're maxing out your memory usage, then you can think about it.

4 cores does sound very tempting. But how about the slowest link in your system chain... Your HD situation?
How do you stand there?

 

[Cutthroat]

Originally posted by: Blain
4 cores does sound very tempting. But how about the slowest link in your system chain... Your HD situation?
How do you stand there?

Aww, crap. Did you have to remind me!:|

I do have a HDD problem I need to deal with too. I currently have 4 HDD's, two RAID0 arrays. It's a pain in the ass, creates too much heat, and blocks too much airflow. I was thinking about buying new 7200.11 drives when they were available, I better go have a look.

 

[Cutthroat]

I don't see any 7200.11 drives available yet. And a Raptor X 150GB is the same price as my processor choices. So it would appear I cannot beat or match my current HDD speed quite yet.

JustaGeek, I'm pretty well set up for peripherals. Only thing I could use is a digital cam, but I think they are still generally too expensive for my need. I don't have any bluetooth devices or anything. I'm kinda behind the technology curve outside of my PC (my cellphone is still a big clunky thing that only makes phone calls).

 

[Blain]

"Only thing I could use is a digital cam, but I think they are still generally too expensive for my need."

What kind of demands would you require from a camera?


BTW: Personally I don't think you'd see a $300 performance increase for what you do...
Even if you got the extra memory AND the Quad core. :shocked:

 

[Cutthroat]

Originally posted by: Blain
"Only thing I could use is a digital cam, but I think they are still generally too expensive for my need."

What kind of demands would you require from a camera?

Less than $150CDN, decent enough to take good outdoor shots, and decent indoor. But I don't even know much about digital cam's, I'm under the impression that anything decent will cost me $250+. But I don't really know what is 'decent'.

BTW: Personally I don't think you'd see a $300 performance increase for what you do...
Even if you got the extra memory AND the Quad core.:shocked:

It would however allow me to crank the settings up on FSX another notch, more eye candy is good. But it's not all about performance, it's more about getting something new.

 

[Blain]

If you are printing normal sized photos, then a 3MP camera should work very well for you.
One thing I look for is "Optical" zoom and "Image Stabalization".
If the camera is zoomed out there, you need to have the picture stabalized. Unless of course you're using a tripod.

 

[Cutthroat]

Honestly, most of my pictures would be of my BIOS screens to save me from writing down crap when overclocking, or taking pictures of my screen and PC parts for various uses. I'll look at some prices and put up some links if anything is decently priced and see what you guys think of them.

 

[Cutthroat]

So I can only find one camera which is close to my price range that seemed OK, but it's still a little above what I would like to spend for a camera, plus I would need a memory stick as well, but have no idea what I would need.

Fuji A820 Digital Camera 8.3MP 4X Optical Zoom 800 ISO 2.5IN LCD SD XD Silver, is this any good?

Over the last couple of days we have been seeing some info leak out about Penryn, so that makes me think I should hold off on a processor a bit to see what happens there. I'm still tempted to go for the memory, I`ll need it soon enough, And I won`t be going to DDR3 anytime soon.

 

[Blain]

Why do you need 8MP?????

 

[Cutthroat]

It`s actually the cheapest one that they have, the 7.1MP and the 5.1MP cameras are all more expensive, why? Is there something deficient about the one I linked?