Only Time will tell?

So I am getting an itchy finger and money burning a hole in my pocket. I was wondering what everyone, with their ears to the rail, thinks is the going to be the best time in the near future to build a computer. I figured its after Vista is out and probably more DX10 cards are out but is there anything anyone wishes to contribute to the when to upgrade question? Granted this computer will be used for only gaming.
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i think that for what you want (new build relatively soon) the early summer will be goodish. i mean, there IS always something better coming, as prozac said, but you just gotta bite the bullet and go for it sometime. also as prozac suggested, a build of this kinda nature:

would be quite nice. i'd wait for vista to hit the market and r600 in the early stages of the new year, and check out whats going on then as far as tech goes.

i agree.

I had a very similar system. I wanted to upgrade earlier this year to an Athlon X2 64 4600+. But then I saw the preliminary Core 2 Duo benchmarks from Intel and I decided to wait. I finally upgraded back in August to the E6600 and gave my Athlon XP-M 2600+/Radeon 9800 Pro to my cousin (a major upgrade for him).

If I were you I would upgrade when you finally think your aging system will drag down the entertainment value of the games you want to play. If you can wait, then wait. If not then buy now.

I had a very similar system. I wanted to upgrade earlier this year to an Athlon X2 64 4600+. But then I saw the preliminary Core 2 Duo benchmarks from Intel and I decided to wait. I finally upgraded back in August to the E6600 and gave my Athlon XP-M 2600+/Radeon 9800 Pro to my cousin (a major upgrade for him).

If I were you I would upgrade when you finally think your aging system will drag down the entertainment value of the games you want to play. If you can wait, then wait. If not then buy now.

beautifully put, jag, really spot on. i'm gonna print it and mount it! such compelling words... +1 karma for you!

very good point, but i would personally have to wait for vista to fully launch. i totally agree that shopping is better post-christmas, however i think that the wait of a few more weeks would be more tactical. vista launches in january (jan. 30 according to the good ole wikipedia), so i suppose that is more like an extra MONTH, but i for one hold the fantasy that ram prices will come down as people realize they need more to power this ram-hungry OS.

a second, and possibly more convincing reason to wait would be the R600, the new ATI dx10 card. you may not want to jump straight on vista; i wouldn't if i were at the helm, because i can just wait for prices to fall and bugs to be fixed. however, the r600 is rumored to launch on the 20th of january, and it is believed by many to be the creme de la creme of gpus. even if it doesn't pwn as much as everyone believes, it should drive prices down a bit.

in conclusion, the time which you build is totally up to you. if you wait a little longer, some new things are coming out, as well as you may have some more money saved up, so it may be more appealing to you. however, you may not be the kind of person that wants the newest tech (in OSes or vid cards), so you may not want to wait for these launches. i think i would. its up to you.

i think that the r600 will not only challenge/rival the 8series, which is as you said the top dog, but i also think that it will usher in the trickle-down effect. nvidia should be releasing its other 8 series offerings around that time (such as an 8600 and 8400 or w/e which will be more affordable), not to mention the fact that r6's competition may simply lower prices.

i personally will not have any dx10 hardware for quite some time, as i am a bottom feeder when it comes to graphics cards. however, depending on the OP's budget, he/she may be inclined to take this route.

i just wish that ram would magically become cheap again....