Cable Forum - View Single Post - Discuss about my current vs my upcoming and previous systems

McGraw · 25-04-2005, 09:15

Current system:
1.4Ghz Athlon Thunderbird
512Mb PC133
Geforce 3 64mb (not ti)
Abit KT7a Raid

Previous System:
PII 450Mhz
128Mb PC100
Nvidia Riva TNT
Chaintech BX

Approx upcoming system (subject to change):
3000-3500 Athlon 64 (Socket 754 or 939)
1Gb of from PC3200 DDR to 400Mhz DDR2 (obv dep on mobo)
Nvidia 6600 upwards or Radeon X800
Basic MSI neo to SLI Asus board

Okay, here are the points that have been running through my head since I decided to uprade again.

1. Both my current and previous systems were bought when they were absolute bleeding edge. I am on a 3 1/2 year upgrade cycle at the moment. When I upgraded last time and the time before (from a P200), I noticed a large increase in performance. It wasn't surprising as I was pretty much trebling CPU performance, quadrupling memory and the graphics took a quantum leap each time. This time, I think I'm going to be disappointed.

The reason being, is that even though I've waited over three years, I'll only be adding approx 50% to my CPU speed, doubling my memory and adding some power to my Graphics and adding Direct X support. My Dad has a P4 3.2 Ghz with a (admittedly rubbish but still a lot newer than my GF3) FX5200. Some games run better on it (Delta Force black Hawk Down) and some worse (MS Flight Sim 2002 and 2004). I'm so glad I didn't go down the Athlon XP and Geforce 4 route.

2. I know you can always wait a bit longer but is this a good time to buy? The reason I ask this is that for at least the last month, the components that I'm after have stayed the same price. This means I would have been better off buying a month ago. Is the next performance hike around the corner?

3. Considering I have only ever upgraded the core components of a PC once (Voodoo into P200) is it a waste of time to buy stuff that's slightly more expensive with a view to upgrade? Yes it's all very well getting socket 939 with an eye on dual core but by the time they're affordable, they'll be faster than my mobo can support. Getting SLI seems like a good upgrade path but by the time I upgrade, won't there be dirt cheap cards around that beat my SLI'd 6600s into the ground? I'd rather spend ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£400 twice in three years on new mobo/ram/cpu/gc combos than spend 600 with a view to upgrade and waiting three years instead to get a new rig.

4. Will my 7200rpm 2mb IBM Hard Disk do a new system justice or will I need to go SATA?

Thanks for any advice.

25-04-2005, 09:15	#1
McGraw Inactive Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Manchester Posts: 993	Discuss about my current vs my upcoming and previous systems Current system: 1.4Ghz Athlon Thunderbird 512Mb PC133 Geforce 3 64mb (not ti) Abit KT7a Raid Previous System: PII 450Mhz 128Mb PC100 Nvidia Riva TNT Chaintech BX Approx upcoming system (subject to change): 3000-3500 Athlon 64 (Socket 754 or 939) 1Gb of from PC3200 DDR to 400Mhz DDR2 (obv dep on mobo) Nvidia 6600 upwards or Radeon X800 Basic MSI neo to SLI Asus board Okay, here are the points that have been running through my head since I decided to uprade again. 1. Both my current and previous systems were bought when they were absolute bleeding edge. I am on a 3 1/2 year upgrade cycle at the moment. When I upgraded last time and the time before (from a P200), I noticed a large increase in performance. It wasn't surprising as I was pretty much trebling CPU performance, quadrupling memory and the graphics took a quantum leap each time. This time, I think I'm going to be disappointed. The reason being, is that even though I've waited over three years, I'll only be adding approx 50% to my CPU speed, doubling my memory and adding some power to my Graphics and adding Direct X support. My Dad has a P4 3.2 Ghz with a (admittedly rubbish but still a lot newer than my GF3) FX5200. Some games run better on it (Delta Force black Hawk Down) and some worse (MS Flight Sim 2002 and 2004). I'm so glad I didn't go down the Athlon XP and Geforce 4 route. 2. I know you can always wait a bit longer but is this a good time to buy? The reason I ask this is that for at least the last month, the components that I'm after have stayed the same price. This means I would have been better off buying a month ago. Is the next performance hike around the corner? 3. Considering I have only ever upgraded the core components of a PC once (Voodoo into P200) is it a waste of time to buy stuff that's slightly more expensive with a view to upgrade? Yes it's all very well getting socket 939 with an eye on dual core but by the time they're affordable, they'll be faster than my mobo can support. Getting SLI seems like a good upgrade path but by the time I upgrade, won't there be dirt cheap cards around that beat my SLI'd 6600s into the ground? I'd rather spend ÃƒÆ’Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£400 twice in three years on new mobo/ram/cpu/gc combos than spend 600 with a view to upgrade and waiting three years instead to get a new rig. 4. Will my 7200rpm 2mb IBM Hard Disk do a new system justice or will I need to go SATA? Thanks for any advice.