Is it worth updating a PC now?

Marmotta · 4 Jun 2006 at 21:26

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).

Marmotta · 5 Jun 2006 at 17:03

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.

Marmotta · 5 Jun 2006 at 18:15

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.

Marmotta · 5 Jun 2006 at 20:44

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.