What time is it?

[TheCenturion]

My system looks pretty shabby, when compared with other systems

Pentium 4 @ 3.00ghz
1Gb RAM DD2 @ 533mhz
geforce 6800 (overclocked to 370mhz core, 680mhz memory.)
XP professional sp2
19" Dell monitor
160Gb hard disk 7200rpm
2 DVD RW drives

Is it time to get a new system, or is it better to wait for stuff like nehalem, skulltrail etc?

 

[V3g3tto]

It's Chico time!

 

[mishima]

What do you use the system for? This will determine if you need to upgrade...

 

[V3g3tto]

On a lighter note, i recently upgraded from a similar spec, i had:

P4 3.4ghz
Geforce 6600GT
1.5GB DDR2 533mhz RAM
Asus P5GD2 Deluxe mobo
250gb Seagate Baracuda HDD

Same boat as i was then. That was mid-high range 2 years ago, so upgrade yes.

It's a good time around now, the Quad chips have become very cheap, seen them for like £145. DDR2 RAM is cheap.

Nehalem won't be out until later this year, but the Yorkfield Quads are just coming into stock now, so if you can afford the extra £50 or so, worth getting. Quick mid range spec off top of my head would be:

Intel Quad Q6600 - £150
Asus P5K Motherboard - £75
2GB DDR2 800mhz OCZ platinum RAM - £30
Western Digital Caviar 250gb HDD - £45?
ATI Radeon 3850 pro - £105 (Can get overclocked one with Zalman fan for this)/Geforce 9600 - £100? Slightly faster i think, but no dual card ability on that motherboard.

Lets say £410 for arguments sake for a very solid build. The ATI graphics card is solid and means you can buy another at a later date for Crossfire.

 

[PiKe]

You'd benefit more from an E8xxx series if you're only gaming.

 

[V3g3tto]

You'd benefit more from an E8xxx series if you're only gaming.

Agreed. I find it bad advice that everyone here recommends the Q6600 to gamers (yes i know i just recommended it), when the Wolfdale dual cores overclock more and run better with games AND are cheaper. Saying the quad is better as games next year will 'maybe' use 4 cores properly is a bit naff.