Btx or not too BTX

[hyper]

Firstly id like your suggestions on a £1500 system build.

Also shall i wait for BTX, and the intel 775 and PCi express and ddr2?

What ya reckon

Thx

[Platinum]

I would wait, even if you dont go for the newer technologys, when there relesed the older stuff will be much cheaper

[2800CC]

I just made this very decision yesterday. I didn't spend £1500 but I could well have. In the end it has cost me about £700

I pondered on "shall I wait or shall I just go and build the damm thing"

In the end I came to the conculsion that at the moment prices for high-ish P4's are low and yes 775 will come around soon but there seems to be sticking problems with intel trying to move mobo makers into 775 and massive new heatsinks and more and more and more and it was just too much hastle really.
Next summer Tejas is supposed to be out so I thought if I make a new build now I can always change the RAM, OC the bugger and tune it up for the next 18 months and THEN switch.

In the end I went for

P4 3Ghz (800FSB)
ASUS P4C800 Canterwood mobo
2X 512MB Corsair C2 TwinX
Sapphire Radeon 9800Pro
2X 40GB 7200 HD's
Chieftec Dragon case

It should run all the current games into the ground and it better had run HL2 or I'll be visiting vlave's offices and give them grief a la Gordon styleeee

I can mess about with PC4000 when it gets cheeper and DDR2 takes over, maybe swap the CPU for a 3.4 if people report they clock well etc.

My NEXT build will probably a Tejas system.

My new kit is in the post ...... I might even book holiday from work to build the bugger, it's like Xmas and birthday's all in one

Buy a new PC now, prices are cheep, new prescott's performance seems strange and it will all change again in 18 months time. The new BTX cases, BTX mobo's, fancy new prescott's are gonna have a heafty cost on them and for what real increase ?
I don't wanna even think about having to move to PCI-X yet, I just got a AGP 9800 Pro

Good luck in what ever you decide to do anyway.

[blockers]

Whack the £1500 in an ISA, and wait till the summer and decide then, as prices drop you have more options.

[2800CC]

Me again,

One last point. If you CAN wait till later do.
What I failed to mention in my case was that I am currently running a P3 866 and it is beginning to offer low FPS in games which is my main use for my PC
If I had a PC which was 1.5 - 2Ghz I would certaily wait and just bung a fast GPU in it.
As it stands there is nothing I can do to updrage my dell (shakes head) and so I went for a total new build with new kit

Cheers

[Darkmatter]

Im in the same position, albeit that i have a goodish system at the moment. Id consider looking at buying something now perhaps. In my eyes there's never a good time to buy a pc, there's always something better on the horizon.
I wouldn't blow the whole lot just now, spend say half and save the rest, for later.
The newer gear BTX gear that is coming out, will need a little time to mature, and not only that it'll take a while to filter through the channels once released. It all depends on what you want, and how long you can wait.

[Stoo]

I wouldn't bother with BTX for a long long time yet, at the moment the only people who are banging the drum about BTX are Intel, and it's their spec. It just seems to me like Intel trying to squeeze more dosh out of the poor old consumer, like those dodgy plumming outfits that insist your entire central heating system needs replacing when all you need is a couple of new washers..

[BEANFro Elite]

stoo is right although i think BTX's form factor is very logical with the cpu socket seated at the bottom of the pc where the cold air is as opposed to what we have now with the cpu at the top where the hot air is.

[DR]

I have seen a BTx system in use and bloody hell they are quiet, no special fans or anything (that is unless you want the Intel IP one).

It is logical yes, but everything will move to it quickly. You can use a normal ATX power supply with it, but some boards will require a special psu.

Stoo - are you basing your post on the rubbish story the INQ posted the other day? (I suspect so) which is wrong in 9 places.

I investigated this and it is going to be cheaper cases, mobos, and coolers due to the more logical layout and lack of traces etc.

[SilentDeath]

David do you know where i can find the spec of btx?
From what ive heard it seems like ATX flipped upsidown. Makes sence to me.... I think some people acctually did that, but there mobos upsidown in there case.
I dislike the idea however, agp/pci-express slot upsideown is good, but cpu should stay at top.

[DR]

I have some pics I have taken - I will upload them

[Stoo]

Stoo - are you basing your post on the rubbish story the INQ posted the other day? (I suspect so) which is wrong in 9 places.

No. I'm basing it on the fact that not very long ago I spent a lot of money upgrading most of my system, I made my own mind up last year when the BTX spec first surfaced. I can make my own mind up about things without having to spout an inquirer story.

[Steve]

Remember the swap from AT to ATX?

I hardly do. However I do remember my first mobo supported both form factors.

I don't think there'll be any of that this time though - not with the positioning of components on boards being so different.

[Platinum]

Hopefully BTX will still offer cases that are fairly large with enough room inside for 120mm fans, rads, and such, im all for the standard having a cooler running system with less noise and fans is great however I still want to use prolly the same amount of fans / airflow I use today as I still want to overclock to the lmits