looking to upgrade p4 2ghz

[supersoccrstar]

hello, was wondering if now would be a good time to build a new computer (2-3000) system to last me 2-3 years

or should i wait? new stuff coming out?

thanks

[nCrusader]

If you can stand it, wait 'till we know what dual core can do for us.

[Northwood]

2005 is the year of this that and the other coming out from all companies, loads of stuff on the market and getting very complicated!

2006 will hopefully be simpler.

Intels "Presler" chip will debut Q1 06 and should be quite a landmark for intel, around the same time ATI's AMR should be available, and also it's r520 "Fudo" cards.

this technology represents a doubling in PC's performance and marks the start of the Next Generation, with Windows Longhorn on the horizon aswell.

and dont forget Nvidia, there have been whispers of G70 and G80 cards over the last week or so.

my gut feeling is that everything will be getting better in 2006, and if you cant afford to stay upto date with all the hardware changes that are going on currently, then wait till 2006 when all the good stuff happens :)

no point spending all your money now on FX55's and P4 570's, they are reaching the end of their life cycle.

hope this helps :)

[Nasgul]

It's pretty hard to tell whether or not you should either wait for at least 6 months or just go ahead and buy a nice system that will definitely last you for the next 3 years at least. I myself went from a system I built in Sept of 2001 to the one I currently have which I built in Sept of 2004. The '01 system: ASUS P4T, P4 1.7GHZ, 4x128MB RAMBUS, GeForce 3, SoundBlaster Live Gamer Edition, 2x80GB HDD, 16X DVD-ROM and Yamaha 24x10x40 CD-RW, system is still being in use by my friend at his home, TO: Intel D875PBZLK, P4 3.2GHZ, 2x512MB Corsair XMS, GeForce 6800 GT, Audigy Gamer, 2x120GB Raid 0, 1x200GB, 1x250GB, DVD/CD-RW Combo drive, SONY DRU 700A DL DVD burner, Thermaltake all ALUMINUM case w/a 480 Watts PSU and a 22" CRT monitor I bought on eBay. I am currently having itchy thoughts on upgrading Motherboard (to LGA775), Processor (P4 640) and Video Card (PCI-Ex16) but those itches go away very quickly.

Knowing what I know now, if I were to upgrade I would get the fallowing, which will definitely last for at least 3 years:
GIGABYTE "GA-8I915P Duo Pro(REV 1.1)" 915P Chipset Motherboard For Intel LGA 775 CPU (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-128-249&depa=1). With the lastest BIOS update you can run a P4 6xx series.
Intel LGA 775 Pentium 4 640 3.2GHz 800MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache Processor w/ Hyper Threading Technology - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-116-197&depa=1).
PDP SYSTEMS Memory Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB (512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-220-006&depa=1) .
Radeon X800XL Video Card, PCI Express, 256MB DDR (http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=318335&pfp=BROWSE).
As far as Hard-drives size and brand, it does not matter which I get, for the two optical, I'd get the same Lite-On DVD/CD-RW combo drive and same SONY DL DVD burner but the 720A. Case and power supply will go for the same, Thermaltake.

I like the new P4 6xx series, I just finished building up an entire new system for a co-worker. His set-up was a Cooler Master case w/ a 350w psu, GIGABYTE I915G, P4 630, 512MB PDP, GeForce 6600, 2x80GB SATA, 1x DVD/CD-RW combo Lite-On, 1x DVD-DL burner Lite-On, wireless keyboard/mouse and a 19" LCD, all for $1197.
The processor has the Intel Speedstep technology which makes it run cooler, the P4 630 ran 27C at idle, I was never able to see what the temperature was while encoding though, I'll ask him when he tries that.

[calcal]

loose that motherboard 2 reasons
915 cant overclock too well
gigabyte cant overclock too well

your prob gonna say i dont overclock, thats what i said when first got into custom comp..

[cirthix]

but now your posting at xtreme systems lol :P

right now i'd either go turion, venice, or dothan (all with stuff coming out in a few months), or like said above, wait for dual core (but if you go venice 939, you can just drop in a dual core later, just upgrading the chip).

[oublie]

If you have to upgrade, for the moment buy some 2nd hand components from ebay or b grade from internet sites, i would recommend having a good hunt around and get either a prescott or a 5 series chip as these are fairly new and a lot of people will be switching to 6 series in the coming months. This will keep you going until dual core etc comes out as this will be probably the biggest technology leap we will see in a long time. Buy a decent 2nd hand board (i picked up a spare p4c800e dlx which was b grade for 50 pounds / 100 $ and got a decent o/c out of it). you wont regret this as much and you should save a bundle plus by the time dual core comes out you will have saved enough to buy the best of everything on a really new platform.