I am relatively new to TG and since I've been here so much of the talk has been about Core 2 Duo. Before C2D what was the main theme of posts? What will be the main topic in 2-3 months? Quad core procs?

Whatever it is, there will be 2 sides, those who debate politely and intelligently, and those who dont.

Peace

At years end, Intel will be releasing its quadcores Clovertown/Kentsfield, AMD should be at or near 65nm production, and will probably have more 4x4 details.
AMD/ATI merger will be finalized (or shot down), can't predict what Intel/Nvidia's reactions will be. ATI & Nvidia's new chipsets will be out and maybe new dx10 card designs too.
Sony will release the PS3, so I expect alot more details/discussions of its "cell" processors.
IBM is always good for a suprising innovation from its top-of-the-line R&D.
Probably will have more info on the new PCI-e spec, along with more Windows Vista/Longhorn Server information.
If the AMD/ATI merger goes through, I see some sort of alliance with Creative Labs, as Intel is now offering pretty decent sound on their new IGPs - Integrated sound will become increasingly important for HTPCs as well as Gaming Desktops. Speaking of which, More info will be in soon on Intel's mobile cpu, will be looking for AMDs answer to it soon.

I am on the fence.... buy now, or wait. I am not a gamer, or much of a tweaker 8O


My current computer is a P4 from the spring of 2002 with 64 meg Nvidia graphics. RAM was upgrade to 1meg and USB ports were upgrade. And it is slower than sheeeeet.

{I routinely use 100% of CPU power.... I have become a big mutlitasker ....web page development and Photo processing are chewing up big chunks of CPU power, then there are a host of minor background programs}


I am on the fence as to WHEN to buy....

Budget is not the issue.... just keep it under 5K and everybody will be happy. I just want to buy something that will last me another 3-4 years without serious wants/needs.

Conroe chips look like they would seriously solve my need for speed and handle the mutlitasking very well.

But, like the other poster, I am checking what could be coming down the road in the near future.

Quad chips from Intel or AMD would obviously be a serious upgrade. And would be overkill, but what the heck, overkill today is slower than sheeeeeet tommorrow.

Whatever is top dog of today's graphic cards would be sufficient.



My question to everybody.... Ignoring software issues, if you were going to wait to build a new system.... what specific new/future hardware item would cause you to wait?

Quadcore will get some attention. But since the first scheduled quad core is a Xeon chip, don't expect all the fanboys to come out and play right away. For whatever reason, CPU's aimed at the server space don't get much attention 'round here.

I bet 4X4 will get a lot of attention though.

Jesse, You need to change your location to match the avatar: LA Lockup

Peace

Whatever it is, there will be 2 sides, those who debate politely and intelligently, and those who dont.

Peace +1

I'm looking to upgrade within the next 6-12 months, and the technolgies I'm waiting to see are:

Intel's Kentsfield - Will the FSB throttle it? (Doesn't look to be the case, but wait for reliable benchmarks.)

AMD's 4x4 Platform - I'm skeptical about this whole thing, but I'll wait & see. AMD has suprised me before.

AMD's K8L CPU - Don't know if this will actually appear before I upgrade, but if their engineering samples and test platforms look promising, then I will hold off upgrading until the K8L is available and independently tested.

PCI-e 2.0 - What changes will this new spec bring? I'm not much of a gamer, but will this new spec bring about more options to the type of processing done on the GPU? At least, I'll want it on my motherboard to help "future-proof" my machine.
PCI-e 2.0 Powerpoint Download

Intel/Nvidia Chipsets - Both are due out soon.

Windows Vista - I know it prefers dx10 cards (which aren't out yet), but is there anything else?

These are some of the technologies I expect in the timeframe I'm looking at, but do not put off building a system because something better will be out tomorrow, as this will always be the case.

The next big topic will be a thread about the next big topic.

Now is a great time to buy - if you need a new PC. Cheap CPUs, cheaper RAM, etc..

I have little hope for Vista, 64-bit(XP64 + Suse/Red Hat Linux have all failed me), DX10, quad-core (hey I love my rendering, but do you really need quad-core?), SLI/CrossFire (both overpriced garbage).

Gigabit + dual-core + 2GB of RAM + XP Media Center edition + a nice vid card is a sweet and cheap setup for a year or two.

Quote:
"I am on the fence.... buy now, or wait. I am not a gamer, or much of a tweaker
My current computer is a P4 from the spring of 2002 with 64 meg Nvidia graphics. RAM was upgrade to 1meg and USB ports were upgrade. And it is slower than sheeeeet.
{I routinely use 100% of CPU power.... I have become a big mutlitasker ....web page development and Photo processing are chewing up big chunks of CPU power, then there are a host of minor background programs}"

This is easy.
Multitask = dual core. You will love it!
And to go with it get 2 gigs of ram.
Since you are not tweaking, overclocking, etc. the CPU you pick becomes simple economics: Either AMD X2 or Conroe, at stock speeds the performance you get will directly relate to how much you pay.
For videocard choice you only need to consider the Vista upgrade needs, since for XP any card worth $50 or more wil work just fine. Buying cheap now and upgrading to a DX10 card later actually makes sense. No games makes something like a passively cooled (heatsink only) Geforce6200 work fine to fit your needs, (sounds crazy but it's true).

LOL. Fine idea! I'm actually gonna change it to Rehab though.

Prior biggest topic:
Why would anyone want an Intel Netburst CPU when AMDs are available.

Next big issue:
DX10 videocards and Vista.

Whatever it is, there will be 2 sides, those who debate politely and intelligently, and those who dont.

Peace

Word.