Best time too build a system

[Merlin4458]

With parts going in and out of fasion when would be the best time to buy a pc system. One that wont be replaced by a new chip in 2 months or new gpu. I know the new amd's have jsut come out so thats good. But are there new amazingly better mobos,gfx cards, ram coming out soon and worth waiting.

Ideas would be cool. Like 6 months time, or next week!

[Meiapaul]

The best time is whenever you can afford it. The components market is never going to stop, so there will always be things newer than and better than yours, its something you have to live with. The new AMD processors are probably worth a look, but I wouldn't hold my breath for any new GFX cards or motherboards, there won't be anything revolutionary out in the near future.

[Allen]

There's never a "best" time to build a PC, by the time you order something and it arrives, it's almost replaced with a newer version somewhere along the line!

Just go with the best that you can afford. I'm still happy with my XP-M 2500+, NF2 mobo and 6800GT setup. XP's are out of date, NF2 is out of date and the 6800GT is pretty good, but not the best, but it was the best that I could afford at the time!

[malfunction]

Best thing to do is to set a budget and try and squeeze what you can out of it. Really think about what you need / want and focus any 'future proofing' on things that you can REALLY keep between upgrades (monitor, keyboard, mouse, case, PSU, cooling). Then focus the rest on best bang per buck i.e. best CPU, GFX, etc that you can afford - but think about what the best performing / overclocking components are and try not to buy anything that's 'automatically' obsolete - e.g. favour a 6600GT over a 9800 Pro because it has better DX9 support, buy a PCI express mobo (maybe SLI capable?), buy the lowest priced CPU in the band if it overclocks to at least the same level as the more expensive mid and high range CPUs... If you need more CPU speed later you can buy faster CPU for less when you need it.

You also need to really think about what you want out of the PC - gaming, image editing, video processing, rendering, programming, etc, etc... All tasks have specific focus (e.g. gaming pretty much needs a fast CPU, GFX card but image editing will appreciate a faster CPU and more memory than a faster GFX card... Video processing needs a fast CPU, a fair amount of RAM and LOTS of HDD space)... You get the idea

[malfunction]

As for what I'd go for:

Socket 939, 0.9u core CPU, nForce4 mobo with SLI (why not basically). A 6600GT or a 6800GT if funds allow. A couple of 200GB HDDs (SATA - might as well - 200GB was the best price / GB last time I looked)... Lots of RAM (PC3200 is < £35 per 512MB stick at the moment... If the mobo has and can use 4 slots then why not go for 2GB?)... Nice case, PSU, monitor, keyboard and mouse... Nothing too flashy cuz you'll get sick of it. Deffo spend as much as you can on the monitor without too much sacrifice on other components... Eye strain is no fun. I have a good TFT monitor that my last employer funded. A Lian Li PC61 that I've had for years now, a Tagan 480W PSU, a nice IBM keyboard (USB) and a MS IntelliMouse explorer V4 IIRC... All of which should be just fine for my next upgrade

Would I buy now? No - cuz other than on the GFX side I wouldn't get a significant upgrade (XP-M barton @ 2.4GHz, 1GB RAM, 9800 Pro, 2 x 80GB HDDs). I'm trying to wait for the dual core CPUs but they won't be out for a while. Will probably upgrade the HDDs at some though!

Edit: One thing I would personally focus on in a new rig is cooling - and noise - so I'd probably look at aftermarket heatsinks (CPU, chipset and GFX) as well as case fans... If you've going to want to seriously overclock think about getting some heatsinks on the mobo MOSFETs, etc too... And do some serious research into the best mobo, CPU and RAM combo to get. I'd even think about water cooling though I've never had the guts to go for it so far.

[nvening]

This is pointless unless we know how much you want to spend There is always something new roung the corner, u have to just ignor it and buy.

[skattrd]

Now is a decent time to upgrade imo, and as said theres always something new around the corner.

Currently the main "new" thing about to come is dual core cpu's, but these will be v expensive, so I wouldn't bother waiting for those .... that said I'd avoid intel 915/925 c/set mobos as these are relatively new and will be obsolete when dual core arrives on 955 boards.

[nvening]

go home intel boy (nothing personal)

[StormPC]

With parts going in and out of fasion when would be the best time to buy a pc system. One that wont be replaced by a new chip in 2 months or new gpu. I know the new amd's have jsut come out so thats good. But are there new amazingly better mobos,gfx cards, ram coming out soon and worth waiting.

Ideas would be cool. Like 6 months time, or next week!

The only reason to buy a computer (hardware) is to run programs. Without programs computers are useless piles of scrap. I think sometimes with all the hype and excitement people forget this simple fact.

With the above in mind, you may want to ask yourself; "What do I need a computer for?"

New hardware is introduced almost daily now. Even if you buy the bleeding edge stuff today, it can easily become run-of-the-mill a day or two later. If your goal is to have the fastest computer forever be prepared for disappointment because it ain't happening unless you upgrade constantly. Based on your post I'd say that's not what you're into.

When should you buy a computer? As soon as you need it. You must figure out what you need to run and how well you need to run it. You also need to know how long it is to last.

If you tell us what you want to do with it and for how long we can suggest a system based on what's available. If you can't tell us this then you probably don't need a computer right now and you should do some thinking.

[Kumagoro]

i agree with storm,

though im assuming you dont have money to burn but want a top notch
pc. Seeing as the venice core will be out soon and the winchesters will
drop in price, you might as well wait a couple of weeks to see how that pans out. going to bother overclocking?