When I Should Buy

[Duffman]

Well, I did post this the day before the big loss and never got to see the respones if there were any. But I want to upgrade my CPU, motherboard, RAM, and my video card.
I want to spend around 500$ and get the best bang for my buck. I mostly play SWG, so when is the best time to buy, when the newest top of the line comes out and when is that supposed to be. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[clocker]

Well Duff, the most volitile item in your list price-wise is the video card.
A Barton core AMD chip can be had ( especially if you are lucky enough to find a used, older unlocked one) for around $100 ( I saw a Barton 3200+ on the OC Forums classified for $115...damn! I was too late to get it!), a good board ( I can personally recommend either the Asus A7N8X- Deluxe rev2 or the ABIT NF-7-S rev2) will run about $135-150.
512 stick of quality DDR Ram is another $125 or so.

What's left over is your video card.

T'were it me, I would go big on the chip, board and RAM and then upgrade the graphics as it became possible.
Who knows what prices will look like on the older stuff when ATI and nVidia finally start shipping the next-gen cards?

Also, I would not hesitate to buy used from the classifieds of the OCForums.
Some mighty sweet deals seem to pop up there on a regular basis.

[Duffman]

hmm.... I'll start checking the oc forums regularley then

[tesco]

agreeing with clocker, the Asus a7n8x, abit Nf7-S, or the gigabyte 7n400L are all great boards.

For processor, again i agree to go with an AMD barton cpu, preferably 2500+ since difference between 2500+ and 3200+ is very little, and it can easily be OCed to 3200+ speeds anyway.

For ram, if no OC, then go for csome PC2700, or if it is going to be OCed, some quality pc2700, or good enough pc3200 is needed.

Quality names are always important in computers, the noname brands are almost always crap (in my experiences), so i aren't buying cheap stuff anymore.

for hard drives, seagate is my favorite. Very quiet, had good experiences with them installing them in a friend's and my aunt's computers. SO QUIET can't even hear them at all it's amazing.

for vidoe card, do you like gaming, or just occasional counterstrike or something like that? if occasional, an fx5200 is a pretty OK card. If you really like to game, or plan to game a lot, an ATI Radeon 9600XT or higher is best to get.

Power supplys are very important as well, don't go cheap on that, Antec, Enermax, Thermal take, Zalman are all good companies.

[Duffman]

well, I have a segate, not just one but two segates. And I have a Raidmax Scorpio 868 case with a 420w? PSU so im set there and I do enjoy the every free moment game of star wars galexies so.... Also i can't see any trade forums on OC-forums.com do you have to be registered

[bigdawgfoxx]

get a 2500xp and an asus a7n8x. That will cost like 160.

Say 130 for dual channel memory...290..rest is for video card...that would be perfect

[Duffman]

But as you currently reccomend dual channel theres a thread about wether or not its a big conspiracy that does nothing. hehe, good suggestion though, im gonna go search a bit on new egg

[clocker]

Originally posted by Duffman3@17 June 2004 - 19:39
Also i can't see any trade forums on OC-forums.com do you have to be registered
Sorry, yes.
AND you have to have a minimum of 100 posts to gain access to the Classifieds.

Seems snobbish, but it keeps out the riff-raf and those who would make a quick strike into the area and then leave.
This way you have a pretty good feel for the folks you are dealing with and people's experience seems to be very good.
I've never managed to actually land one of these good deals...apparently, much like e-Bay, one must sit on the board like a hawk and be ready to respond with alacrity.
Being old and slow I miss out alot.

*sigh*

[Duffman]

well i tried to sign up but my email's banned? so as soon as i finish download office xp ill beable to email and uncover that mystery.

[tesco]

Originally posted by Duffman3@17 June 2004 - 22:20
well i tried to sign up but my email's banned? so as soon as i finish download office xp ill beable to email and uncover that mystery.
You are aware that office XP isn't the latest office program right? (office 2003 is newest).

[Duffman]

yeah well its gonna be a bit longer now

[bigdawgfoxx]

80 for Asus A7N8X
80 for 2500XP
130 for good memory
210 for 9800Pro

PERFECT..and 500 bux

[Duffman]

nice! but does that include shipping?

[bigdawgfoxx]

yes shipping is all free from newegg.com

[Duffman]

well I was just kidding but even cooler =p, but it should be a bit o ver 500 cause I'm not gonna be able to buy til around July/August

[Duffman]

Well Im not so sure I like that board, it has onboard audio which is good cause i forgot to mention as of now my audios onboard. But it only goes upto ddr333 pc 2700, I hear its picky about the ram and its a micro atx

[Virtualbody1234]

What board are you talking about?

The A7N8X supports PC3200 RAM Dual Channel and is full ATX Form Factor - 12" x 9.6" (30.5cm x 24.5cm).

http://www.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=A7N8X

[Duffman]

well there was 2 84$ ones with the same number and I was looking at the crappier micro atx one, now i need time to get a better opinion be back soon

[Duffman]

ok i like it i like it a lot

[tesco]

Originally posted by Duffman3@18 June 2004 - 00:22
ok i like it i like it a lot
:lol: we wouldn't recomend you any POS boards. :lol:

[Duffman]

Well I looked at it and I was thinking wtf, they reccomend pc3200 and board that goes up 2700, for some strange reason its micro atx... hmm maybe I pissed someone off here.

[bigdawgfoxx]

This would be the one (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-455&depa=0)

This (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-478&depa=0) has sata and raid and is on sale...better audio too...might get this..they are great boards

[musicmaster]

@ Duff and anyone else interested... I thought I would throw in my 2 cents...

From what my cousin tells me... he builds computers btw... anyway, there is new technology coming out around August. (There is always new tech. coming out) LOL

But anyways, this will be in regards to mobos and cpus. First of all I would only go with Asus for mobos. And, I think he said, August, so wait until the end of the year or beginning of the next year for prices to drop, but they will be having mobos with larger socket config. ( I dont know much about this.. but the CPU will have more pins, and be protected from being bent.... like I say... I dont much about hardware myself, I have just heard this from someone who builds machines)

Anyway, if anyone has any other info, please lemme know.

Thanks

[bigdawgfoxx]

Yeah it will be PCI Express and BTX and the new socket T for intel

[tesco]

yep like bigdawgfoxx said, but at that time it will be way to expensive and not much support for it yet so i probably wouldn't buy it until atleast a few months after it has come out.

[trillscout]

people always say to wait for the new technology. If you stuck
to that you'll never buy a comp. New technology comes out every month.

Just jump and make sure that whatever you get won't be obsolute in 2mos like
when I bought my P4B mobo that only takes SDRAM :frusty:

another thing-get a good cpu and you'll never need to upgrade unless ur 1 of those people you love to have the newest shyt.

compatibility is a BIG issue as well. Make sure things will remain compat. when upgrading. You can't put 64bit amd in A7N8X and u can't put PC2700 mem in a 64bit mobo(K8V)...

You'll most likely only need to upgrade the vid card once in a while to continue playing the latest games like GTA 8 or something.

It's all about speed and how satisfied you are with it and how much ur willing to spend of course. ;)

[musicmaster]

Originally posted by trillscout@18 June 2004 - 21:12
people always say to wait for the new technology. If you stuck
to that you'll never buy a comp. New technology comes out every month.

Just jump and make sure that whatever you get won't be obsolute in 2mos like
when I bought my P4B mobo that only takes SDRAM :frusty:

another thing-get a good cpu and you'll never need to upgrade unless ur 1 of those people you love to have the newest shyt.

compatibility is a BIG issue as well. Make sure things will remain compat. when upgrading. You can't put 64bit amd in A7N8X and u can't put PC2700 mem in a 64bit mobo(K8V)...

You'll most likely only need to upgrade the vid card once in a while to continue playing the latest games like GTA 8 or something.

It's all about speed and how satisfied you are with it and how much ur willing to spend of course. ;)
I think I said new technology is always coming out... but if you buy the mobo now.. you will be wasting your money unless you wait for 6 months, if you can wait... because you will get more bang for your buck. By that time, they will have bugs worked out and prices will have gone down.

[RGX]

Granted, new technology is coming out all the time, BUT this is a big leap. 64 bit processors, DDR2 RAM and PCI express are all due to come out (or already have partially been released) this summer. Methinks if you are ever going to hold on to your money, do it now.

[Mad Cat]

Originally posted by Duffman3@18 June 2004 - 01:08
Well, I did post this the day before the big loss and never got to see the respones if there were any. But I want to upgrade my CPU, motherboard, RAM, and my video card.
I want to spend around 500$ and get the best bang for my buck. I mostly play SWG, so when is the best time to buy, when the newest top of the line comes out and when is that supposed to be. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Theres never a right time to buy stuff. If you keep on waiting for a better price, you'll never get it, and if you just go out and buy it straight away you'll always find it cheaper later.

[RGX]

Nevertheless.....I would hold your guns now mate, then again thats just me...

[Mad Cat]

Originally posted by RGX@19 June 2004 - 22:57
Granted, new technology is coming out all the time, BUT this is a big leap. 64 bit processors, DDR2 RAM and PCI express are all due to come out (or already have partially been released) this summer. Methinks if you are ever going to hold on to your money, do it now.
6 months after that lot Super PCI Express will be out, along with DDR7242 and 128 bit processors :P

EDIT: And Cely has been teh saved already :P

[Duffman]

I gotta agree, I want a mid range pc, since im not buying right now, Ill buy the stuff that s high end now, and itll be the right price when i goto buy