How future proof is this system?

tomanders91 · 4 Dec 2006 at 21:45

this is something for gaming for me, and internet use for the family. I want it to last a year untill i need a dx10 card but the rest off the parts to last aorund 4 years, do u think it would hold on that long?

OCZ GameXStream 700w Silent SLI Ready ATX2 Power Supply

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950 XT-X SILENT Heatpipe 512MB GDDR4 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail

Cherry Black CyMotion Expert (USB/PS2) Keyboard - Black (G86-2

OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400 800MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 400GB ST3400620A ATA-100 16MB Cache - OEM

NEC AD5170 18x18 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Silver) - OEM

Abit AW9D Intel 975X (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard

OcUK Gamer 198YP 19" LCD Monitor - Black/Silver

Antec Nine Hundred Ultimate Gaming case

Intel Core 2 DUO E6600 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.40GHz (1066FSB) - Retail

Akasa AK-183-L2B Amber Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin (for t he case)

do u think this would be good for our main computer for a large number of years, upgrading the graphics card once everyone 1-2 years and maybe moving to 4gb in 2 years when games start needing it. note ill be playing at 1280x1024 so that could last even longer.

Vai · 4 Dec 2006 at 21:54

If you want it to last a number of years, see if you can get Intel's Quadcore chip (Kentsfield), it is very expensive and useless now (as are dual core chips aswell), but over a few years as games become multithreaded it will last twice as long as the Conroe's.

Margaret · 4 Dec 2006 at 21:55

I think the Conroe should last nicely really.

CHUDS · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:01

aye they better had

tomanders91 · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:08

well tbh i couldnt afford a quad one for ages.

vincent1989 · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:09

conroes will last better than kentsfield simply because at the moment they are more useful for standard tasks, gaming etc, kentsfields are overkill atm, but once programs that actually need the power of a quad core come out, so will better and cheaper quad cores, meaning you spent a hell of a lot of money on something you didn't need, and by the time you do need it, it is obsolete

go with a conroe, much more use for todays applications, and will last you a good 2-3 years until cheap more powerful quad cores are released.

BillytheImpaler · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:11

Future-proofing is, IMO, a silly proposition in a high-end rig. Simply buy the best rig you can afford. When you want to upgrade do the same again. For instance 939 seemed pretty future-proof up until this summer. Now it's a dead end.

Right now that would mean a fast C2D, 965P or 680i based mobo, and 2 GiB fast DDR2 and either a high-end DX9 card or one of the shiny new DX10 cards if the budget allows.

Lolcb · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:11

It is definitely future proof but not to the extent of 4 years unless you are the type that don't mind super slow perfomance in 2 years time.

tomanders91 · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:11

ok thanks, so for gaming this system should be fine for a while? at least until dx10 cards become more affordable.

Lolcb · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:12

Yes it should be fine till DX10 comes out.

PilotTait · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:15

Intel Core 2 DUO Extreme Edition X6800 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.93GHz (1066FSB) - Retail = £681

Intel Core 2 Quadro Extreme Edition QX6700 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.66GHz (1066FSB) - OEM = £704

Im in the same situation, want the PC to last a good 3ish (maby 4) years before needing to upgrade.
But for an extra £23 dont you think it would just be as good to get the quad? only £23....

CHUDS · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:18

BillytheImpaler said:
Future-proofing is, IMO, a silly proposition in a high-end rig. Simply buy the best rig you can afford. When you want to upgrade do the same again. For instance 939 seemed pretty future-proof up until this summer. Now it's a dead end.

Right now that would mean a fast C2D, 965P or 680i based mobo, and 2 GiB fast DDR2 and either a high-end DX9 card or one of the shiny new DX10 cards if the budget allows.

not everyone cant afford that...this is something you OCUKers can't seem to understand.

vincent1989 · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:23

PilotTait said:
Intel Core 2 DUO Extreme Edition X6800 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.93GHz (1066FSB) - Retail = £681

Intel Core 2 Quadro Extreme Edition QX6700 "LGA775 Kentsfield" 2.66GHz (1066FSB) - OEM = £704

Im in the same situation, want the PC to last a good 3ish (maby 4) years before needing to upgrade.
But for an extra £23 dont you think it would just be as good to get the quad? only £23....

bringerofdecay said:
conroes will last better than kentsfield simply because at the moment they are more useful for standard tasks, gaming etc, kentsfields are overkill atm, but once programs that actually need the power of a quad core come out, so will better and cheaper quad cores, meaning you spent a hell of a lot of money on something you didn't need, and by the time you do need it, it is obsolete

go with a conroe, much more use for todays applications, and will last you a good 2-3 years until cheap more powerful quad cores are released.

and in addition, why even consider the extreme edition, the far cheaper conroes clock to far greater then the extreme at stock, i dont understand why people are will to pay double the price for something that isnt worth it :confused:

let alone buying a kentsfield (as i explained)

sprognak · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:23

To be honest, what I do is do one MAJOR upgrade every 4ish years with an intermediate at 2 years.

My Barton 2800 lasted me till last week at a nice overclock. It started with a Ti4200 and 1Gb RAM and ended with a GF6800GT and 2Gb RAM plus about 5 hard drives.

It was still playing all the games I wanted, but newer stuff like Oblivion were obviously taxing it at anything above min settings.

A PC will last as long as you want, and afford it to. Technology isn't moving as fast as it once was. We're now into the domain of multiple cores rather than clock speed and it's going to take software a year or so to play catch-up.

BillytheImpaler · 4 Dec 2006 at 22:24

CHUDS said:
not everyone cant afford that...this is something you OCUKers can't seem to understand.

What do you mean? :confused:

It sounds like you're suggesting that some people choose to spend more for the sake of future proofing. That's just silly. If something is popular now, as LGA775, DDR2, and PCI-e 16x are now, you can bet that there will be a reasonable number of products available in the future for these even is the market moves to a different form factor.

Memphis · 4 Dec 2006 at 23:06

CHUDS said:
not everyone cant afford that...this is something you OCUKers can't seem to understand.

No, it's your posts we can't understand.

The point people are trying to make is that to future proof, you need to spend a silly amount of money on cutting edge kit.

Us "OcUKers" aren't trying to tell anyone to spend **** loads of cash.

daven1986 · 4 Dec 2006 at 23:15

it will easily last, but not for gaming - 1 year max for games. for general windows work it'll be ok for many years.

tomanders91 · 5 Dec 2006 at 07:58

what about if i replaced the x1950 with an 8800GTX?

sprognak · 5 Dec 2006 at 10:09

tomanders91 said:
what about if i replaced the x1950 with an 8800GTX?

I would swap the Abit for a Gigabyte, Asus or EVGA. They clock much better, and not sure on the price of that RAM, but check some reviews before you buy.

With an 8800GTX I would expect it to last at least a couple of years. Put it this way, mine is very similar specced and I'm expecting 3 years out of it.

It won't still be able to do 1680x1050@16AA and 16AF as it can now, but it'll sure as hell "play" whatever is around albeit with less quality settings in 2-3 years time.

How future proof is this system?

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