Your next "big upgrade"?

TheSmJTheSmJ
edited June 2006 in Hardware
Just wondering what/when some of you plan to upgrade next on your main rigs? After I got my WC system installed, new HDD and Audigy 2 ZS, I'm pretty much out of ideas as to what would make it significantly better/faster than it already is.

I figure the next upgrade will be to a DX10-compliant video card, and I'll start seriously looking into them in February (or a month or two after Vista has been released).

What about you people?

Comments

  • GargGarg Purveyor of Lincoln Nightmares Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    I'm getting a LCD to replace my aging and quirky Trinitron, but I'm going to have to wait awhile to upgrade the system itself. With my current system having an OC'd Barton and a Radeon 9800, I'm close enough to the ceiling of Socket A upgrades that I'll wait until I have enough money to make the jump to the Socket AM2/DDR2/PCI-E platform.

    I think I'm going to put a ginormous heatsink on my 9800 and up the GPU voltage, though. Maybe that'll keep me going awhile :thumbsup:
  • TheSmJTheSmJ
    edited May 2006
    I thought about getting an LCD based widescreen monitor to replace my 21" Trinitron, but the whole "optimum resolution" thing is really off-putting, since I'd need to have a video card capable of playing a game at 1600x900 (or whatever the rez is) in order for the game to look correct.

    I guess I'll just wait for the thing to burn out/give me eye cancer/blow up in my face before I upgrade it. I'm really hoping nice OLED monitors will be available by that point. If not, I'll scrap the whole "dual-monitor" thing and replace them both with a nice $700-$800 LCD projector instead. :P
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    Physics card?

    My next upgrade will to wait for one of you guys to sell your 939 mobo/cpu/mem when you upgrade. I believe in cheap speed.
  • Sledgehammer70Sledgehammer70 California Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    I am thinking Dual 24" LCD's and a DX10 GC... I have ram and HD's and the CPU is fine. I just want more screen
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited May 2006
    Right before I leave to go to college, or right after I get there. Proabably after, since my parents think that this new PC should last me for oh, 10-12 years.
  • rapturerapture
    edited May 2006
    I'm currently running a 754 3000+ with a gig of ram and an AGP 6800GT. I'm really wondering what I can upgrade too right now.

    My main reason to upgrade was Oblivion. Everything is struggling in that game at the moment and I've now finished all the interesting parts so I suppose I don't have anything to upgrade for now.

    Some sort of Conroe chip and a PCI-E graphics card will be my next machine. I have thought about picking up a 754 motherboard with PCI-E so I can get a 1900XT, seen some really good offers on some cards by Connect3D.

    Originally I'd planned to upgrade to an AM2 machine by now but I've been so under whelmed I don't think I will bother.

    The other parts of my setup I’m thinking about spending money on are an amp and some speakers. My computer is used mostly for music, films and finally games.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    since my parents think that this new PC should last me for oh, 10-12 years
    Wow, that would be the equivalent to keeping a car for 40 years, maybe 50! Guess they aren't too tech savvy are, they? Don't feel bad, my parents just upgraded from Win95 a couple months ago. They still use dialup though, as they don't see the need for broadband. Trust me, they could afford any computer tech they desired, without even denting their retirement funding! I've been tempted to ask my dad why he's not considering driving a Model T Ford. After all, who really needs 300 horsepower and an electric start! That crank start is reliable and fast enough!
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    My mom is a little more reasonable, but not much, she thinks a computer should last for at least 5 years, I told her if I could afford it, I'd like to upgrade every year, although, its probably gonna be once every 2 years, which seems like a good number.
  • BudBud Chesterfield, Va
    edited May 2006
    Right now I have a 820d, 2gb ram, 6600gt, audigy 2zs,160gb sata drive. Only think i will prob do is a better video card and sata 2 hard drive and a real raid card for my fileserver.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    Next major upgrade(s) will probably be a year from this summer or fall. First things first is to attend my daughter's academy graduation next spring, and then a day later, her wedding. I will have to pay for the wedding, but I will upgrade my family with a son-in-law. All kidding aside, after the finances sort themselves out after the wedding and travel, then my system 2 is definitely due an upgrade. Then as soon as practical, systems 1, 3, and 4 will be upgraded. Dual core without question. (I really doubt quad core, if out by then will be worth the money. Hope I'm wrong.) Will the upgraded systems be advanced revisions of AM2 or Conroe, or their successor chips? Of course, that remains to be seen. My decision will be based on the best compromise of price and performance. Intel or AMD? Who knows. We'll have to seen what competition brings to market. I will not pay a premium for performance unless the performance level of one or the other is significantly higher than the other's. Knowing my pattern, whatever I get will be after the hardware has been on the market long enough for the early adopters to have knocked down the rediculous initial high prices. Preferably, I'll do my purchases from trading forums, eBay, and online retailers' refurbished items. That's how my current systems were sourced. For all three of my D820 CPUs, I paid less total than the price of one top of line Intel or AMD CPU. None of my motherboards were new retail. Most of the hard drives in my systems I purchased for $39 - $49 on sale with rebates. I just will not pay full retail for cutting edge parts that are ho hum in status after only a few months.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    I think my next big upgrade isn't going to be an upgrade but a whole new system. I basically don't wanna ever buy a desktop anymore... I love DTR's. So hopefully in a year or so they'll have PPU's built into laptops and games will utilize them more. I don't care about battery power, just mobility, I enjoy laying down like right now while using my lappy :)

    So in a year I should hope to have a new lappy, maybe 19" with PPU and Dual Core goodness with 4GB of memory and a decent graphics setup... depending on price of course.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited May 2006
    My next "big upgrade" will be an entirely new PC. I am currently not even using my desktop PC at all - my notebook PC is my most stable and well-performing computer at the moment. I stopped using my desktop PC when Oblivion came out. It wouldn't run on the PC because of a sound issue that caused an obnoxious sound to come out of the speakers constantly while the game was running, so I installed it on my notebook instead, and I pretty much use my notebook exclusively now. I'm getting so used to it, that I'm not sure whether my next PC purchase will be an entirely new desktop PC or an entirely new notebook PC.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited June 2006
    My next upgrade will most probably be a system based on either Conroe, Woodcrest or perhaps merom (on a desktop board). I won't be an early adopter though as the machines I presently have are plenty powerfull as they are right now. But the next gen Intel procs looks like they will be winners, from what I've read so far. I actually had a chance to get a merom ES chip the other day, but I didn't have the money to play with.
  • airbornflghtairbornflght Houston, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    Are they allowed to sell the Engineering Samples? or was this more of an under the table deal?
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2006
    I am finally going to get a new monitor this year. I need to get rid of this 5 year old 17" Trinitron I've been using. I will have the cash after June is out and decide on a WS LCD then. Other than that I need to get my wrists and right hand fixed before I do anything else. At least I have enough power in all my boxes right now so I should be OK for a while yet.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited June 2006
    airbornflght wrote:
    Are they allowed to sell the Engineering Samples? or was this more of an under the table deal?

    It was listed in the classified section at another forums, so I don't guess Intel enforces that too hard. Leo bought an ES 820 off of eBay.
Sign In or Register to comment.