So...

[HatchetRyda]

I am thinking of buying another computer this summer.. Anyone got any suggestions I am willing to pay maybe 500-800...That is U.S. money.

Also, need a suggestion for a good mother board that supports P4 and has a AGP slot. Or, I might just upgrade my current machine..

Decisions, and so little cash!

Help! :)

Also, a college wants TheJester to come in for a interview, I should bring a PPU and meh CS just incase it is a Gank Trap :P lol

[slaughteruall]

500-800 for a P4 system? Buy a dell. I can't build a P4 system for that amount. And i'm way behind on my P4 mobo's and what not. I can see what i can do tho.

Do you want a complete system? Or do you have a video card or what not that your going to use?

Slaughter

[Rob01m]

The problem with getting a system now is that there are so many changes just around the corner... PCI Express, Intel/AMD socket changes, DDR2 memory, BTX (well maybe not so much BTX), etc.

It's a problem because the best of today is still at a fairly high price, if you wait for the new stuff to come, then the prices of the best of today will fall.

But you haven't really said what your current system is, you might still have some life left in it for a small upgrade. If you're looking for a high end and (relatively) cheap video card, than look for an ATI Radeon 9800 PRO (128MB).. it's around $175 now I think.

Also, what can you keep from your current system if you don't want to upgrade? Do you need a new monitor? Do you need new hard drives?

[Judge]

So is this summer not a good time to buy a new computer? :(

[Rob01m]

So is this summer not a good time to buy a new computer? :(

If you need one, get one! :D

I'm just saying, things you can buy right now will be cheaper once the new stuff comes out (which isn't far off).

[Judge]

When you say... not far off. Are we talking in computer terms (like a month) or are we talking real world terms like 3-4 months?

[Rob01m]

When you say... not far off. Are we talking in computer terms (like a month) or are we talking real world terms like 3-4 months?

Well, it depends on the component I guess. :angel:

The next generation of video cards should be available this month or next month (testers already have them). This should knock down current high end cards like the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro/XT and NVIDIA GeForce FX5950.

The next CPU sockets are also in testers hands but I'm unsure of the date off hand, two months I think. :confused: This includes motherboards obviously.

PCI Express is just around the corner, but there wont be any real benefits right away, so the price of AGP video cards probably won't fluctuate due to it. But the next generation of video cards WILL drop the prices of our current generation.

The best time to upgrade (no time is a BAD time really) would be in like three months either to the cheaper hardware of today, or to the newer hardware. But again, if you need it, go for it! You aren't doing anything wrong by upgrading now or later. I'm just saying it'll be a bit cheaper then.. and heck maybe even not by that much.

[HatchetRyda]

I got an extra G Force4 MX 420, I could pop in the new machine... I'd buy the computer with ram, hard drive, processor, mother board, just something to run a second Neocron account..

Or I can upgrade my old system to a 3 ghz processor, The Nvidia 6800, and pop another stick of 1gig of ram, and maybe get a flat screen monitor and new cd burner (Current one burned out, bless his soul).

[slaughteruall]

When you say... not far off. Are we talking in computer terms (like a month) or are we talking real world terms like 3-4 months?

Depends what exactly you are talking about really.

BTX is a ways off. Only INTEL will use this. A very stupid mistake if you ask me. Alot of mobo makers dont even want to touch this right now

DDR2 is also a ways off at least for AMD i would say at least 6 months before you see a chip at a good price for DDR2

PCIX you should start to see in about 2 months or so maybe more not exactly sure on this one.

Dont know about INTEL. But AMD wont change sockets for awhile. Only thing that will change in the near future is you will see the FX chips change to socket 939 from socket 940. When they start to use DDR2 you sill see a socket 900 series chip.

All in all i think your pretty safe to buy now if you have the money. I'm putting together another comp.

Slaughter

[slaughteruall]

Or I can upgrade my old system to a 3 ghz processor, The Nvidia 6800, and pop another stick of 1gig of ram, and maybe get a flat screen monitor and new cd burner (Current one burned out, bless his soul).

Hate to tell you this but for 500 to 800 you wont be able to touch all of that

3.06 p4 $208 533 fsb or 3.0c for $209 800 fsb
The 6800 will be 499$ at first
another 1 gig of ram cheapest will be $219 up to $425

so $926 for the cheap stuff plus tax. If it's 7% it would be $990.82

BTW you can get DDR2 already PC-4200 256x2 for $295

[Judge]

I'm probably going to be getting my comp in like a months time... Most likely going to get a computer guy up the road to build it for me as my experience in that sort of stuff is very limited... I can install a graphics card, but not build the sort of system I want from scratch.

Basically, I'm going to have £1000 to spend but that has to include a 17inch monitor as well.

[Ormy]

I've never built my own computer, and I've always wanted to, but in about a year when my current comp is getting a bit tired, a high-end laptop will be far more practical for me.