CPU roadmaps/when to buy?

[acpryor]

am going to be purchasing a PC soon and am wondering if anyone has any relatively clear view of when Intel and AMDs latest offerings will be released. i want to buy the best possible available (when i buy) to avoid buying something today only to find AMDs/Intels newest CPU is coming out tomorrow.

any help (and links to verify) is VERY MUCH appreciated!

andrew

 

[HolyShiznit]

I may be mistaken on this, so correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I see it, I don't think there will be the same kind of one-upmanship between AMD and Intel in the forseeable future. I'd recommend an Athlon XP 1800-2200+ system. Excellent value.

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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[acpryor]

you're probably right. but in order to try to get the most bang for my buck at the same time not delaying my purchasing decision, i'm trying to consider when new CPUs will be released in the near-term. am i making any sense?

if Intel is due to release a new p4 in the next month, 2 or 3, i'd like to know. could someone tell me? with any degree of certainty? and the same goes for AMD.

ap

 

[DOOM]

I would recommend against getting the "latest and greatest" in any component. You will pay more money than it's worth, and it is more likely to be imperfect. If you get the second-best, you are getting better value, and it's "tried and true": most of the bugs have been worked out.

-DOOM

 

[HolyShiznit]

You might want to take a look at <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1752" target="_new">this article</A>.

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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[dhlucke]

<A HREF="http://freespace.virgin.net/m.warner/RoadmapQ103.htm" target="_new">http://freespace.virgin.net/m.warner/RoadmapQ103.htm</A>
I'm not sure if this link is perfect, but it'll give you a decent idea of what's going on.

You sound like you're about to waste a lot of money though. If you're looking to buy the newest thing out, you'll pay a massive premium.

What are you using the PC for? That should be the deciding factor, not the release of the next processor.

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<A HREF="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/" target="_new">Forum Assassin</A></font color=red>

 

[HolyShiznit]

I agree. If you buy a slightly slower system, you'll save a lot of money. For example. NewEgg.com lists the P4 3.06Ghz at $645, yet the P4 2.4 Ghz costs only $190, and it really isn't THAT much slower. Years ago I paid a premium for the 200 Mhz pentium w/MMX. Think about how weak that sounds now. Anticipate the need to upgrade and save yourself a lot of cash. You'll be glad you did so.

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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[lhgpoobaa]

Some things to consider:

A. Buying the biggest and Best will always cost exponentially more.
B. Murphies law says that as soon as you buy something it will be cheaper next week
OR
C. Something better will come out next week.

Something mid to high range is probably best
A motherboard based on the KT333 or Nforce2 chipsets, a AMD cpu from XP1800 to XP2400, 512Mb of PC2700 ram, a 40 to 80Gb 7200rpm Hard drive and a decent graphics card like a Geforce4 ti4200 or Radeon9500pro and you are set.
Garnish with optical drives and other stuff to suite your flavour.

<b><i>The Very Hungry Caterpillar</i> - George W. Bush's favorite childhood book.
Note: This book was first published a year after Mr Bush graduated from College.</b>

 

[Col_Kiwi]

B. Murphies law says that as soon as you buy something it will be cheaper next week
OR
C. Something better will come out next week.

Usually, both, B having been caused by C! :frown:

-Col.Kiwi

 

[lhgpoobaa]

I think ive only had one instance where this WASNT the case.
Midway through last year i purchaced some Corsair XMS3200 512Mb ram for $AU345. Good stuff, though pricey.
2 Weeks later we had that 'ram drought' and the price shot up to allmost $AU400.


<b><i>The Very Hungry Caterpillar</i> - George W. Bush's favorite childhood book.
Note: This book was first published a year after Mr Bush graduated from College.</b>

 

[dhlucke]

I bought at the bottom. I got half a gig of PC2100 from crucial for $60 USD.

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<A HREF="http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ApJ/" target="_new">Forum Assassin</A></font color=red>

 

[HolyShiznit]

I wish I had partaken in the RAM jubilee. Sadly, I had an outdated system back then and had no plans on upgrading. The short period of cheap RAM seems to be one of legend these days :frown:

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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[HolyShiznit]

I wish I had partaken in the RAM jubilee. Sadly, I had an outdated system back then and had no plans on upgrading. The short period of cheap RAM seems to be one of legend these days :frown:

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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[lhgpoobaa]

Its not too bad. The price has come down a bit.
I was just lucky. Mobo and ram died pretty much the same time, an epox 8k3a+ was available and cheap, as was the uber ram.

Now im using its potential with nice Turbo memtimings at 166mhz with the processor at 166fsb too

Man i love my epox, my corsiar & my factory unlocked Tbred XP1700+.

<b><i>The Very Hungry Caterpillar</i> - George W. Bush's favorite childhood book.
Note: This book was first published a year after Mr Bush graduated from College.</b>

 

[HolyShiznit]

Hopefully soon we'll be talking about the crazy price drops of the R9700pro's ...........*fingers crossed*

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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[RobD]

Alas, I got stiffed over the memory. RAM died a horrible death so I had to get some more, purchased Crucial 2700, and...bummer of bummers, the price drops by 25% within a week. I cried very slowly into my beer that day!

 

[UDHA]

If you like AMD then wait for the clawhammer (codename sounds cooler :tongue: ) Or if Intel is your bag wait for their threading cpu's to drop I guess. There is some 80:20 rule, I forget how it all goes.

 

[seancaddell]

The AMD XP2000+ is damn good value for money at the moment, and in a decent board will easily achieve 15-20% over clock. My system is an AMD 2000+, Gainward GF4 ti4200, 256MB DDR333, ATA100 HD. It plays every game there is faultlessly. In a years time with the money I saved buying the 2000+ and the TI4200 I will be able to buy the Radoen 9700Pro and the AMD 2800+ for a similar price to today mid range. Unless you are an enthusiast or require heaps of processing power there really is no reason to get anything better. Save yourself half a fortune and have a decent holdiay instead.

Never pay more that a hundred pound for a component. It just isn't worth it...

 

[acpryor]

some more info:
1) usually i wait for the latest greatest stuff to come out, then buy 1 CPU below it. this way i get more bang for the buck without paying the big premium...
2) with that the case, if there will be fewer CPU choices releases, to get more bang for the buck like we've been conditioned to, i'd have to wait a lot longer... 8^(
3) i need a machine this quarter and can't wait until April...
4) used primarily for photoshop work (thus HyperThreading is interesting to me) and some PageMaker work...
5) company is paying for it although i do have to stick within a budget of sorts...

does this effect your all's thoughts?

thanks.

ap

 

[sjonnie]

Looks at <A HREF="http://www.mikeshardware.co.uk" target="_new">Mike's Hardware</A> for roadmap CPU prices info.

"Intel Price cuts are expected on February 23rd."

If you can't wait till the end of Q1 / beginning Q2 for AMD's infamous "hammer" chips which are bound to disturb the price market somehow, then maybe wait till beginning of March to see if those Intel Price cuts come about.

 

[paulj]

What is your budget?

<font color=red>The solution may be obvious, but I can't see it for the smoke coming off my processor.</font color=red>

 

[acpryor]

i have about $2000-$2400 to spend. and the PC has to last me at least 3 years (using here at my office). so i want to make sure i don't buy something soon when new technology emerges shortly thereafter. a new CPU speed enhancement isn't as big a deal to me as improved technology (like Hyperthreading, Serial-ATA, faster RAM). if i had money down the road to spend on upgrading it, etc, i wouldn't be as concerned, but i don't, so my decision needs to be a smart one.

 

[paulj]

OK, now we are getting somewhere. You have enough money to build a great system. What programs do you use. Office apps, any games, any modeling/CAD, etc.

<font color=red>The solution may be obvious, but I can't see it for the smoke coming off my processor.</font color=red>

 

[acpryor]

yeah. i'm not much of a DYI'rer though. mainly i use PhotoShop, Homesite (my HTML editor), and PageMaker. also Netscape/IE...

thus the reason Hyperthreading is intriguing as is the Serial-ATA option as well as really fast RAM. currentlty i'm on a Dell pIII 700.

ap

 

[Lamoni]

mainly i use PhotoShop, Homesite (my HTML editor), and PageMaker. also Netscape/IE...

It seems to me that if you mainly use those applications you could get any computer you wanted. An AXP 2000+ will handle those applications just fine... even for 3 years. Of course with that budget, you should spoil yourself and get something a lot faster. You can get a pretty top of the line system for that money and to tell you the truth, you won't notice much difference between a P43.06GHz and an AXP 2000+ with those applications except for loading times with Photoshop.