Is it worth updating a PC now?

Marmotta

Marmotta

Marmotta

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5 Feb 2006
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115
I currently have a Shuttle SS56Gv3 with a Maxtor 300GB HDD, 1GB Corsair RAM and a S478 3.4Ghz Prescott CPU. I've been considering updating all my PC gear - getting a Silverstone LC16 case, 2GB of RAM, a Samsung Spinpoint 250GB HDD and maybe an AMD CPU and compatible motherboard so I can run it quieter.

Thing is, is it really worth spending money on a new processor, motherboard, graphics card and RAM when there isn't too far to go before Conroe, AM2, DDR3, and HDCP products arrive on the market?

...and just as a sub-question; if I were to go ahead and update now, what AMD CPU would you recommend? - I usually use my PC for movies and general office work. Possibly looking for something that can run cool enough to maybe be passively cooled and won't die out as a medium shortly (like S478 and AGP did).
 
You'd be mad not to wait for conroe. It's only 7 weeks away, and the prices of current AMD cpus will probably drop considerably too, so now is a bad time to upgrade.
 
Do we know how expensive conroe is likely to be? The main reason i thought everyone moved away from Intel was because they cost more for less power?

Now they are going to be "more" power is it likely they are going to charge through the nose for this new super chip?
You say AMD will drop their prices on its launch, woundt that make the above point doubly valid?
Thanks!
 
The expected prices of the Conroe cpu's seems to be VERY competetive - have a look round these forums for Conroe prices.....

The E6600 (mid range) is expected at around £250.....
 
I'd definitely wait for Conroe. Even if just for the fact that there's likely to be price drops on other CPU's once Conroe's released.
 
Sir Random said:
You'd be mad not to wait for conroe. It's only 7 weeks away, and the prices of current AMD cpus will probably drop considerably too, so now is a bad time to upgrade.
Click to expand...

I agree and I'm getting SOOOO excited about it all ;)

Stelly
 
Blackhorse said:
Do we know how expensive conroe is likely to be? The main reason i thought everyone moved away from Intel was because they cost more for less power?

Now they are going to be "more" power is it likely they are going to charge through the nose for this new super chip?
You say AMD will drop their prices on its launch, woundt that make the above point doubly valid?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

They have released the prices are they are not expensive.
 
frosty03 said:
I'd also actually wait until vista comes out. Their min requirements are still subject to change.
Click to expand...

A computer I sold 4 years ago could probably run Vista so I hardly think its required specs are in anyway a factor in buying a new PC

Besides, who says you have to run Vista? I plan to avoid it like a bad curry until at least Service Pack 1.

SiriusB
 
Thanks for the answers - I'll probably get a mid-range Conroe, as the most gruelling task my current CPU has to undergo is photo-editing and I never make use of the 3.4Ghz.

As for a motherboard, I've got my eye on this. 'Tis a bit steep for a motherboard, but there aren't many 975X chipset mobos about at the moment.

As for Vista, I'm going what for it to be released and hear what people have to say about it first (although I remember a lot of people bashing XP at the beginning) - I'm definitely not going to be rushing out to get it on release.
 
Yeah, I used an ASUS P4C800 with a Celeron Processor when I was building a PC for my aunt, and I was impressed by it.

I think for the timebeing I may buy a Pentium D and then move on to Conroe when the price drops a bit - they appear to be pretty good value and are also pretty overclockable.
 
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Just found this:

"Four Conroe chips will ship initially: the E6300, E6400, E6600 and E6700, following Intel's new processor numbering scheme, introduced when the Core Duo mobile processor family arrived earlier this year. The four dual-core Conroes are clocked at 1.86, 2.13, 2.40 and 2.67GHz, respectively, run on a 1066MHz frontside bus and contain 4MB of cache shared between the two cores.

The CPUs will be priced at $209, $244, $316 and $530, respectively, at launch, the new report claims. At the same time, Intel will debut the VT-less Pentium D 925 at $178. In addition to the 960's price reduction to $316, the 950 will come down to $241 and the 940 to $209. Intel has already indicated it intends to phase out the 930 and 920."

$316 (£168) for the 2.40Ghz doesn't seem bad at all, although the jump in price between it and the 2.67Ghz (£283) is quite a bit.
 
Marmotta said:
Just found this:

"Four Conroe chips will ship initially: the E6300, E6400, E6600 and E6700, following Intel's new processor numbering scheme, introduced when the Core Duo mobile processor family arrived earlier this year. The four dual-core Conroes are clocked at 1.86, 2.13, 2.40 and 2.67GHz, respectively, run on a 1066MHz frontside bus and contain 4MB of cache shared between the two cores.

The CPUs will be priced at $209, $244, $316 and $530, respectively, at launch, the new report claims. At the same time, Intel will debut the VT-less Pentium D 925 at $178. In addition to the 960's price reduction to $316, the 950 will come down to $241 and the 940 to $209. Intel has already indicated it intends to phase out the 930 and 920."

$316 (£168) for the 2.40Ghz doesn't seem bad at all, although the jump in price between it and the 2.67Ghz (£283) is quite a bit.
Click to expand...

Yer seen that in the CPU forum

Stelly
 
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