Best time to build?

So after deciding I'd build a new i7 rig, I'm starting to have second thoughts. For one thing, I'd really like to have the GTX 295, but it's sold out virtually everywhere right now. But most importantly, I went over my budget of $1,500.

But anyway, my question is when do you guys think the best time to build will be? Are prices for the i7, x56 mobos, and GTX 295 expected to come down significantly in the summer or maybe the fall?

Any input is appreciated.

Being an engineer, I tend to believe in the 'form follows function' rule. First, define the function. What do you want to do? Can you do it now with what you have? If not, why?

Once you have determined the function, the rest is simple. If all you want to do is play games, then at what resolution?

Just saying 'I want to build an i7 system' won't help much.

I have a feeling that the GTX 295 will not come back in stock. I've read somewhere that they had major difficulty producing it.

Prices for the x58 will not fall, if history is any indication. Motherboard prices are pretty stable as far as I can see.

The i7 920 will probably drop from $280 to around $200, sometime in July. This is just a wild guess, based on what Intel has been doing in the past.

The good news is, most X58 boards support both SLI and Crossfire. You can get a GTX 285 or HD 4890 now and add a second one later, and you'd get even better speed than with a GTX 295.

best time to build is late when amd comes out with their 28nm's.

I think thats when moore's law will go down to 12 months.

Then why build a new rig if you don't want an i7? That doesn't make sense.

Anyways for my input I would wait right till the new line of ATI/Nvidia cards come out then build.

That's what I'm planning on doing. XD

I think a GTX285 or ATI 4890 will suit your needs just as well. Like mentioned before, unless you are gaming above 1920x1200 there really is no need for it.

You could always cut costs by going to the AM3 and AMD Phenom II platform.

Well, even if they don't pass the savings on to us, it's still good news, I think. We don't want nVidia dying and then ATI charging whatever they please, right?

So bottom line, a 285 is a good choice for me right now because two of them in SLI is pretty much overkill for anything above 1920X1200? This would also allow me to upgrade more easily to Nvidia's new 300 series when it's released, right? I guess it does seem a little silly to spend $700+ on video cards when we all know Nvidia will be coming out with something much better soon. I was actually very close to purchasing two 285s.

Awesome. Buying only one 285 allows me to buy all of the other "extra" stuff I wanted like keyboard, mouse, mousepad, headphones, and a new monitor at around the same price as a single 285.

How much do you think I could get for the 285 FTW once the GT300 is released?

^
My buddy has a gtx285 on water OCed and running 1920x1200. It rocks the hot totty. It basically replaced his tri-sli 8800GTX setup.

Right...

You could get a GTX 285 now and an 850TX PSU, and then when the GT300 is out add another GTX 285. If an old used one really costs $150 at that time, then you may find one for $150 on eBay, or a new one at Newegg for $200. Two GTX 285 cards may very well beat that new GT300 card. And if that card costs more than $540 at release time, you actually end up paying less in total.

And then there's the AMD version. You could get two HD 4890 cards and a 750TX (LOL, again for a total of $540 or so, this time including the PSU but with all the money paid now) and get the same results as with GTX 285 SLI or a GT300 or whatever. That is, 60 fps in all games (assuming an LCD with 60 Hz refresh rate).

Hard to say, because the 9600GSO is very rarely in reviews. Not a very popular card.

GTX 285, Crysis, DX10, 1680x1050, 45 fps
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/for [...] ew-19.html

9600GSO, single card, 25 fps
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/ [...] so/10.html

I don't have charts for GSO9600 SLI, but based on what one card can do and how SLI usually works, I'm guessing 35 fps to 40 fps in Crysis. That is, less than a single GTX 285, but still decent.

In games that don't scale well with SLI you'd still get the same experience as on your old setup, of course.

I expect the i7 920 to cost close to $200 in 6 months. X58 motherboards will cost $10 less than now - don't expect any spectacular drops there. DDR3 will cost about as much as DDR2 costs now. Just guessing here, no promises

Well With the 300 series, they are going DDR5 this time, to catch up with ATI in that perspective.

Yes, I know. Best we let this thread die and I'll make a separate thread for this another time.