What is a Top Chip worth to you?

[halbhh]

Supposing the Top CPU chip would overclock higher than any other chip.

I know there are a lot of philosophies, a lot of approaches to building performance computers, and of course application oriented builds, etc.

But....for a good number there is just the thrill and kick of having a top rig, like a top car (but cheaper ) and I'm curious to hear what you'd be willing to pay (for the cpu). Comments welcome.

 

[darious00777]

One thousand dollars seems like a good price to support the premium of having the highest grade chip, along with all of the ability it assumes. Better then the fifteen hundred that a chip can command at it's first selling.

 

[zenmaster]

Silly Poll IMHO.

It's all about cost/benefeit analysis.
How much power do you need? Paying for unused power is silly.
How much do you need the xtra power and what are you willing to pay for it.
Clearly the larger the difference in performance between low-end and high-end CPUs would lead to a paying a larger difference.

Lets Say .....

CPU A costs $100 and could achieve a peformance level of 100.
CPU B coast $110 and could acheive a peformance level of 105.
CPU C costs $900 and could acheive a peformance level of 107.

My answer of which CPU to buy would be different in each case.
Why would I pay 9x more for 7% permance?

However I may say that the 5% gain in is worth 10% more to me.

or This scenario................

CPU A costs $100 and could achieve a peformance level of 100.
CPU B coast $110 and could acheive a peformance level of 120.
CPU C costs $900 and could acheive a peformance level of 1200.

Maybe I only need a performance of 100 and stick with that.
Or I may toss in $10 and get a 20% gain.
Or If I was lucky and had the money and needed the power, I would get CPU C.

 

[michiganteddybear]

The top of the line chip is absolutely worthless to me, as is even middle of the road. Now for the reasoning. I can't afford to upgrade my system (p4 2.8 northwood, 2 gig ddr (all mix matched, so no dual channel), and an x800xl) in any manner that would allow me to use an different cpu or gpu for that matter.

Now, that my choice is out of the way, *IF* I had endless pockets (as many seem to), I would carefully weigh the difference in price/performance and choose which chip gives me the best bang for the buck. as previously posted, I dont see paying a huge premium for a small performance increase. Instead, I suggest going middle road and getting a lot more money in your pocket for feeding either the kids, or the computer habit, and be happy!

That is just my opinion and position, and I am sure I will recieve some flak for it.

 

[bkiserx7]

I said $300 cause in 6 months there will be something faster. Now if I was a reviewer or sponsored I would pay any amount necessary!

 

[goldragon_70]

$300, I'm cheap. 8)

 

[sailer]

I went for the 600-800 bracket. I don't know if that means I have more money than most people, that I desire more speed/power than most people, or that I'm more foolish with my money than most people. I'm not going to delve into the answer to that too much. I may not like the answer. At the same time, I usually figure that a higher end cpu will last me longer before replacement time, so that may balance the initial cost a bit.

I must add that I also tend to buy the highest end graphics card when I buy one, at least one close to the highest end. My reasoning is that the high end graphics cards will last longer before needing replacement and they will compliment the high end cpu the best. I think that getting a better graphics card usually take precidence over a better cpu, unless the cpu is very outdated.

Just my opinion and nothing else.

 

[kamel5547]

I would pay $0.

The reasoning is quite simple, the premium for the top chip is always going to be large, so no matter the cost the next model down will be far cheaper. I'd rather buy a mid-tier model more often, than spend twice as much to get a top tier that will be out of date in six months. Basically top tier (and I do not mean the stupid $10,000 PC's) costs twice as much, meaning if you aim a little bit lower you can upgrade more often at the same price and get better performance overall.

 

[zenmaster]

I wonder what type of PC Bill Gates has and how often it is updated?

Basically,

Clearly money would not even be the slightest concern.

Clearly upgrading would not necessarily be a hassle concern since I'm sure techs would handle it.

Heck, I wonder what type of PC he even has?

If I had to guess, he does not even have the $10,000 PCs that some folks build. They are of little real use and I don't think he need them for his ego :>

 

[flasher702]

I've never paid over $200 for a CPU. Don't plan on changing that anytime soon.

 

[bkiserx7]

He probably does not even have one; and if he does I bet it's a mac book lol.

 

[flasher702]

I've never paid over $200 for a CPU. Don't plan on changing that anytime soon.

 

[halbhh]

bet you're right. He might tell himself: I gotta know what the competition is doing, heh heh.

 

[akahuddy]

Knowing how to OC, I would prefer not to spend more than $225ish or so on a chip for myself. But I'd be willing to spend up to around $300. That will get you tons of bang for the buck at stock or OC'd.

 

[m25]

If at the end of this year I can get a quad core (any quad core) between $200 and $300, only money issues can stop me from grabbing one, that's for sure.

 

[cwj717]

I say $400... At that price Id buy a Pair

 

[halbhh]

yeah

 

[goldragon_70]

I say $400... At that price Id buy a Pair

That must be one delicious pair

 

[CaptRobertApril]

I say $400... At that price Id buy a Pair

That must be one delicious pair

Late this year, one delicious pair of $400 quads sitting on a dual socket motherboard right next to 8GB of non-reg. Makes my mouth water! :lol:

 

[goldragon_70]

I say $400... At that price Id buy a Pair

That must be one delicious pair

Late this year, one delicious pair of $400 quads sitting on a dual socket motherboard right next to 8GB of non-reg. Makes my mouth water! :lol:

I don’t see a pair working well in a computer. 8O Pairs are for eating.

 

[goldragon_70]

pears :?: 8O :? Pairs are for unwrapping with interns at the whitehouse 6-800 .

Sorry, I like word play, but that doesn't always work out right when you're typing it.

 

[MU_Engineer]

Absolute maximum is $500, and then only if the "top chip" had SIGNIFICANT advantages over the next-lowest one (e.g. 8-core versus 4-core.) Otherwise I try to keep it under $300, $200 preferably. Most I've ever paid for a CPU was $360 for an X2 4200+ when it was a mere $20 over the 3800+ in early '06. There was a big jump from single-cores to the X2s in performance and the $20 to go from 2.0 to 2.2 GHz was a no-brainer. Could not stomach the $430 that the 4400 cost then.

 

[goldragon_70]

I was lucky enough to find my cpu for $200

 

[halbhh]

Absolute maximum is $500, and then only if the "top chip" had SIGNIFICANT advantages over the next-lowest one (e.g. 8-core versus 4-core.) Otherwise I try to keep it under $300, $200 preferably. Most I've ever paid for a CPU was $360 for an X2 4200+ when it was a mere $20 over the 3800+ in early '06. There was a big jump from single-cores to the X2s in performance and the $20 to go from 2.0 to 2.2 GHz was a no-brainer. Could not stomach the $430 that the 4400 cost then.

heh heh, same choice near the same time. I think I paid $355. But now, until some new software changes things, that's all I'd pay for a top chip.

 

[halbhh]

As you can see from my current rig I am kinda cheap so I voted $200 since it was the lowest available. :lol:

I like it that you're at 2.8Ghz