There is a time when bleeding edge also equals bleeding wallet with no recourse for redemption. How well will a new game play on a system that is not stable enough to run for very long? How well will a new game run when you need to lower the system settings to very low levels just so it can operate? This is one time when waiting out the first revision may just be a real good idea!
Actually, I just went through this ordeal with a 7900GTX. Apparently NVidia pushed the memory specs a bit and lots of these cards were failing in the field. It may have been nothing more than a bad batch of memory that went to OEM's. Anyway, it caused quite a stir in the gaming community. I had to go through four 7900GTX RMA's to get a working card. Luckily, my vendor paid shipping both ways, so it didn't cost me anything other than time and depreciation on the hardware while I was waiting. And, although I don't have a sig showing my gear, I have already moved up to the 7950GX2. My wallet is bleeding, but so are my online adversaries!
And then there are the unknown problems of Conroe that haven't had time to rear their ugly heads because it is being rammed through development so fast just to beat the competition that it will take real world use to find. You also speak of new games needing the power of new technology. The video cards are much more of a bottleneck in todays systems than the system itself.
Exactly. Which is why the next addition to my arsenal will most likely be a new video card that supports DX10 and Shader Model 4.0. I would say my current ratio is three video card upgrades per every one CPU upgrade.
Look at the rig in my sig below and tell me that simply upgrading to the latest greatest video card would let me play the most demanding games to come out in the year to come!
Upgrading your video card would be your best performance boost - it is the weak point of your system for current games at higher resolutions with video and graphics settings at max. I would not upgrade at this time unless you have a game that is choking your system. Wait for video cards that support DX10 and SM4.
Daxx, you can pencil me in as one of the "low techs". I usually upgrade when price/ performance makes it worthwhile. I didn't upgrade to WinXP until sp1 was released, and then it was only because a friend loaned me a copy and an old hard drive to install it. Kind of taking it for a test drive.
Right now I'm using my slowest rig to work on, the rest are folding, though I did "update" the graphics card to an X800GTO. When I retire this rig, not sure when, I'll more than likely use the dual proc. rig I just built. Just need a vid card for it (the old TNT2 isn't going to be able to do much) Heck, I'm still using my old 17" CRT for display duties.
Do I need the next gen? No, unless the money is burning a hole in my pocket.:D
Even then it will be bang for the buck.
Daxx, you can pencil me in as one of the "low techs". I usually upgrade when price/ performance makes it worthwhile. I didn't upgrade to WinXP until sp1 was released, and then it was only because a friend loaned me a copy and an old hard drive to install it. Kind of taking it for a test drive.
Right now I'm using my slowest rig to work on, the rest are folding, though I did "update" the graphics card to an X800GTO. When I retire this rig, not sure when, I'll more than likely use the dual proc. rig I just built. Just need a vid card for it (the old TNT2 isn't going to be able to do much) Heck, I'm still using my old 17" CRT for display duties.
Do I need the next gen? No, unless the money is burning a hole in my pocket.:D
Even then it will be bang for the buck.
Trust me...I buy plenty of "low-tech" gear myself. Only one of my systems is kept relatively updated for gaming. The rest of my computers...well...let's just say my name is the first entry in my little, black book of "low-techs". Heheheee. My dirty little secret is out.
For folding power, nothing beats the latest generation from Intel.
Datsun 1600
It all depends on the batch of wu's that you are getting. On a lot of the Gromacs work (not the P147x/p1481 types), AMD's procs do just as well clock for clock. The only thing is that C2D clocks so much higher than AMD's procs right now. You can buy the cheapest e6300 right now and with the right mobo get it clocked over 3 GHz fairly easily. 3 GHz with a DC AMD proc is much harder to do.
One other thing for owners of Asus P4 boards to think about too right now is instead of going with a new C2D system, just upgrading their old P4 rig that is using a board of the P4P800 or P4C800 series of mobo's, to a Dothan processor. Since Yonah and now Merom have come out, you can get great deals on a Dothan 730 or 740 on eBay, often for less than $75 for the processor. Combine that with the Asus CT-479 converter card ($50) and you will see a noticeable gain over a Northwood P4, as well as see a noticeable power and heat drop too. These 533 fsb Dothan processors overclock very easily on the P4P800 and P4C800 series motherboards and the CT-479 adapter kit also comes with it's own quiet hsf that is decent enough for non extreme overclocking of your new Dothan cpu. If you aren't a big time gamer and don't need the latest and greatest video card, but would like to see some snappier performance out of your old P4 rig, this is a great upgrade path that won't break the bank.
An extra 56K modem and second (or third) phone line for the famous "Shotgun" tech? (Right before broadband really took off.)
A Socket 754 system?
An Athlon XP CPU just before the Bartons were released?
A houseful of Wireless-B stuff?
A 24-Port 10-Base Network Switch right before 100MB throughput became available?
Put me down as another person who would be just as happy to let others pay the hefty premium for being an early-adopter and allow them to do the field testing for new technology.
i regret 56k no matter what.
oh and the wireless b stuff w/ with 10mbps switch, actually i had a hub :shakehead
Yeah, cause I really needed a new system (see below), when my old system was decent (AMD 64 3700+, 2 GB RAM, ATI X800, A8N-E-Deluxe). But I had that itch... I'm sure everyone here knows how that goes.
I use "low tech" and "high tech" and I would say I desire the newest tech that will come out tomorrow - though I wonder how much this may have to do with well constructed and deployed marketing brainwashing - my problem is that what was the "best" yesterday has never really had the opportunity to be exploited and used before it is rendered obsolete by tomorrows "best".
Comments
Exactly. Which is why the next addition to my arsenal will most likely be a new video card that supports DX10 and Shader Model 4.0. I would say my current ratio is three video card upgrades per every one CPU upgrade.
Upgrading your video card would be your best performance boost - it is the weak point of your system for current games at higher resolutions with video and graphics settings at max. I would not upgrade at this time unless you have a game that is choking your system. Wait for video cards that support DX10 and SM4.
I'm erasing your name out of my little, black book of LOW-TECH's. :bigggrin:
Right now I'm using my slowest rig to work on, the rest are folding, though I did "update" the graphics card to an X800GTO. When I retire this rig, not sure when, I'll more than likely use the dual proc. rig I just built. Just need a vid card for it (the old TNT2 isn't going to be able to do much) Heck, I'm still using my old 17" CRT for display duties.
Do I need the next gen? No, unless the money is burning a hole in my pocket.:D
Even then it will be bang for the buck.
Datsun 1600
It all depends on the batch of wu's that you are getting. On a lot of the Gromacs work (not the P147x/p1481 types), AMD's procs do just as well clock for clock. The only thing is that C2D clocks so much higher than AMD's procs right now. You can buy the cheapest e6300 right now and with the right mobo get it clocked over 3 GHz fairly easily. 3 GHz with a DC AMD proc is much harder to do.
i regret 56k no matter what.
oh and the wireless b stuff w/ with 10mbps switch, actually i had a hub :shakehead
Yeah, cause I really needed a new system (see below), when my old system was decent (AMD 64 3700+, 2 GB RAM, ATI X800, A8N-E-Deluxe). But I had that itch... I'm sure everyone here knows how that goes.
Hope so, seeing as how it's your last.