Upgrade now or wait?

[Jubee]

One or more parts on my Gaming PC are starting to fail. I'm looking to build a new one but I wanted to get some other opinions before I went gung-ho on a new build. I generally keep up to date on modern tech but I don't read into future advancements as much as I should. So I have one big question before I get started.

Are there any major technologies that are right around the corner? When I built my last machine, I tossed it together in an emergency like the one I'm in now. I missed out on DDR2 Memory and SATA drives that were just starting to pick up steam. While they aren't deal breakers, I don't want to make the same mistake twice.

Right now money is a little tight. Tax time next year should put me back into the "comfortable" range. If I need to wait, I have a personal laptop that I can use for basic web-browsing but it can't keep up with modern games. If waiting a couple months will help future-proof my machine a little bit, so be it.

 

[groo]

what parts are failing? everything save motherboard, memory and CPU could be used in a new build 6months to over a year from now.

so if its HDD, PSU or graphics, just buy good stuff now.

you may also want to try wiping the HDD and a fresh install of the OS. it helps more than you'd think possible sometimes.

 

[zenmaster]

There is always something newer and better coming, so what you build will be old not long after you build it. That's life in computers.

What do you have now?
What do you have to spend?
What games do you want to play?

Intel's Nehalem is coming soon, but initially that will likely be for $1500 and up builds. (Perhaps more, we will need to have to see Mobo and DDR3 prices. The CPU should go for just over $300 at release due to a "Tray price of $284 and initial demand which will keep it over the $284 price for a little while.)

 

[dirtmountain]

There's always a few things "just around the corner" The big one right now is Intel Nehalem (Core i-7 ) new processor that requires a new socket (X58 motherboards) and will make socket 775 obsolete. Requires DDR3 RAM. Release date is somewhere from Sept. to Dec.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3382
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3395
My hardcore tech friends are all slavering over SSD hard drives.
http://www.guru3d.com/article/ocz-core-sata-64gb-solid-state-drive-review/
If you're interested in a high end system with a little future insurance, then i'd wait. If you're getting twitchy to play hardcore games, then current tech is still good.

 

[Onus]

The answers to Zenmaster's questions will be useful for determining good answers to yours.

 

[Jubee]

There is always something newer and better coming, so what you build will be old not long after you build it. That's life in computers.

What do you have now?
What do you have to spend?
What games do you want to play?

Intel's Nehalem is coming soon, but initially that will likely be for $1500 and up builds. (Perhaps more, we will need to have to see Mobo and DDR3 prices. The CPU should go for just over $300 at release due to a "Tray price of $284 and initial demand which will keep it over the $284 price for a little while.)

I had an AMD Athlon 3800+, Asus mobo, 2 gigs of DDR1 memory, 250 GB IDE Seagate HDD, GeForce 8600 GTS (which is the only "new" part in the machine at about 6 months old.) It's not good even by 3 year old standards but I got some decent prices on all of it from my old job and I was in a hurry so it worked.

Right now I could probably swing about $700 for a system but I do want to go a bit bigger with my monitor when I upgrade. I only have a 19 inch atm and 1280x1024 isn't really cutting it any more. Around Spring of next year I'll be better off but I still don't want to go above $1,000 (not counting the cost of the monitor.) I like to replace my PCs about every 3-4 years and going higher than that just isn't worth it to me.

Right now I just play WoW and I'll be moving to Warhammer Online once I get a working rig. I'm also looking towards Dawn of War 2, Starcraft 2, and Diablo 3. None of them seem particularly graphic intensive.

 

[ohiou_grad_06]

I'm thinking for 700 bucks you could have a really nice system. That said, I think in your situation, put that 700 toward a nice rig now, because 700 is on a budget but if you have an OS to put on it, you can really put a quite decent tower together if you watch it. That said......I think build a tower now, keep the 19 inch, come next year, you can have saved a little, and then with your tax return go out and get yourself a nice 22 or 24 inch monitor, or whatever you can afford. At that though, you may almost be able to get a decent 26 inch lcd tv that may do well for games. Other guys will need to comment on that though.