Now or wait

[Madals]

Hi people,
I need a new system before January.
-The budget is £1500ish.
-Must be pre-overclocked (bundle or a complete pre-built).
-Primary use is 1920x1080 gaming.
-Ideally would like USB 3.0 and an h70 water cooler (what is the advantage?)

So, is it worth waiting a few months or getting it now (if now, would appreciate a spec).

Madals

 

[stulid]

wait.

 

[Nyoron]

Lots of new stuff around the corner so my advice would be to wait.

 

[ishoeyi]

sandy bridge and bulldozer is almost here

ati 6xxx almost here

 

[inflynx]

X amount of cash would buy you a certain machine now. If you wait, the same amount of cash would buy you a faster computer. The longer you wait the faster machine you can get compared with the one you might get now. If you wait infinitely long time, you can get infinitely fast machine

If you need a computer NOW, then just get one. If you can wait a bit - do. The problem is, with all kind of staff "just around the corner" you may end up waiting forever.

 

[Tealc]

Yeah I hear the AMD 7xxx series will be even better than 6xxx series, best not mention 8xxx series as you'd never upgrade.

Don't wait too long. Whatever you buy at that price will be more than capable whether you go now or in 3 months.

Oh and don't expect H70 to be quiet or the best cooling solution as it isn't. There are more silent and efficient air coolers available for more or less the same price.

 

[Clarkson]

Well I don't know much about Bulldozer and Sandybridge, but my logical guess would be that when this tech first comes out, its going to be quite expensive?

Especially for something decent.

Therefore, it might 'only' be X amount of months or something away, but then there could well be another X amount of months before it actually becomes affordable to the majority of people?

So to be honest, I'd just buy now, regardless of whether I've just had an epic logic fail or not

 

[cmndr_andi]

If you need a new system "before january" then I would suggest you buy in a month or so when the new ATI 6000 series comes out. If you have a half-decent PCIe graphics card, then you may as well buy the main system now and buy the GPU when the new ones come out.

The new AMD Bulldozer and Intel Sandy Bridge are coming out at the start of 2011 - so would be outside of that timeframe. However, they are supposed to be very fast, so if you are in a position to wait then you would get more performance for your money.

As for the expensive ones coming out first - I don't believe it will be. The socket 1155 sandy bridge platform that is coming out at the start of 2011 is the mainstream platform, this means it will take over from the s1156 Nahalem products. When those s1156 products launched they were not super expensive and the i5 750 was a great performer for a fair price, I am expecting a similar launch for these mainstream sandy bridge products. As for Bulldozer, AMD usually launch a nice wide range of options - so it won't be just the top-end coming out first.

 

[Madals]

How fast are the new intel CPU's going to be though?
Also, I am generally a fan of intel and with AMD now owning ATI, I would imagine the new ATI(AMD) cards will work ebtter with a AMD system?
And as for the h70 - are there no benefits to it? Wont it allow more air flow in the case and therefore nicer GPU temps?

 

[Nemesis379]

Meh, my system before my i7 was total crap kept messing up so i upgraded.

 

[ZG002]

Are AMD likely to use the same cpu socket? My mate is in the same situation as op and is waiting. I on the other hand have a much smaller budget so not sure how much new cpu's gfx cards will change my spec.

 

[cmndr_andi]

How fast are the new intel CPU's going to be though?

From a few tests I have seen it is around 15-20% faster clock-for-clock than current generation nahalem CPUs and the stock clockspeeds will be on average higher than the current generation.

The main issue with the s1155 platform is that you won't be able to overclock the main bus, instead overclocking must be done on a CPU with an unlocked multiplier (which will command a price premium).

Also, I am generally a fan of intel and with AMD now owning ATI, I would imagine the new ATI(AMD) cards will work ebtter with a AMD system?

I understand your thinking, but there really isn't any benefit - AMD cards and Crossfire works just as well on intel boards as AMD ones.

And as for the h70 - are there no benefits to it? Wont it allow more air flow in the case and therefore nicer GPU temps?

(guessing you mean CPU temps)
It performance is comparable to a top-end heatsink like the Megahalems, but costs significantly more.

 

[Nemesis379]

The new AMD cpus as ive heard dont, you need a new mobo, for the new cpus, so yes a new socket.

 

[pastymuncher]

Are AMD likely to use the same cpu socket? My mate is in the same situation as op and is waiting. I on the other hand have a much smaller budget so not sure how much new cpu's gfx cards will change my spec.

No. Bulldozer will require the new AM3+ socket when it is launched.

 

[cmndr_andi]

Are AMD likely to use the same cpu socket? My mate is in the same situation as op and is waiting.

No, they have confirmed that they will be using the new AM3+ socket for their new CPUs and that the new chips will not work in existing AM3 boards.

They tried hard to maintain backwards compatibility, but it was compromising performance - so they switched it over to a new one.

I on the other hand have a much smaller budget so not sure how much new cpu's gfx cards will change my spec.

Well if your budget is modest, then I imagine the new mid-range AMD HD 6000 series cards would be worth a look. As for Sandy Bridge and Bulldozer prices at the lower end - i'm not sure. But as Sandy bridge is a mainstream platform, you can expect some chips comparable to the current i3 and Pentium Dual core(s1156) CPUs.

 

[Vidar]

The logic on here is pretty sound, However the progress is pretty much a constant and you could potentially wait forever if you simply listen to the "wait till .... as such and such is comming out" arguement! Fact is £1,500.00 will buy you a killer machine that will see you right for a long time to come...

I'm personally running an I7 920 DO @ stock speed and it doesn't break a sweat no matter what I throw at it... I've never been happier with a computer... You won't regret buying now!!!

 

[ZG002]

Meh, I've already bought my am3 board lol (if it ever gets posted!). Not overly bothered about the latest and greatest. As long as it runs my games ok for a year or two I'm happy enough tbh.

What are these AMD HD 6000 series cards you speak of? lol I was looking at getting a GTX 460

 

[Madals]

The main issue with the s1155 platform is that you won't be able to overclock the main bus, instead overclocking must be done on a CPU with an unlocked multiplier (which will command a price premium)

If this is the case, then surely getting a current gen i7 running at 4-4.2Ghz be a better option with my budget?

As for the h70 - wont it result in more air flow in case causing other components to be cooler anyway (aside form the CPU)?

 

[ishoeyi]

even if you not gonna wait for the new cpu at least wait for the ati 6xxx

6xxx is so close i can almost smell it

 

[Nemeses]

I would wait till Jan Feb by then you will the new AMD cards and the new Intel CPUs, then if you buy what top spec now, which for 99>9% of everything is overkill you will still have a great system ..cheapers ..so you can get more of it.