Is now a good time to buy a cpu?

[shaido7]

I am wondering if the holidays are a good time to buy a new computer? are the prices gonna drop again before christmas,or after christmas. I am also curious about when and what new video cards are comming out next year because the fx5950 is just an overclocked 5900 I mean should i wait? I want the next series in nvidias line or ati's i want something more than both of thier latest versions any news of when and what? also do we know what athlon an pentiums are comming next like for example what is next after the p4 extreme and when?

 

[mrwhipper]

I dont know for shure but with the release of the Athlon 64 and P4EE I would think they would befor ehte holidays. I would wait as long as you can though. Good luck.

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[Crashman]

You're seeing the price drops this week, I expect some sites to continue dropping over the next few days in order to be more competitave with other sites.

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[eden]

I see perhaps the mainstream CPUs being good buys, but it depends. Do you want some really high-end system? What is your budget?

The next generation of cards from ATi and nVidia is coming around the first half of next year. If you were to buy now, don't go for nVidia. The optimizations they do are often game-specific and many games not frequently benchmarked, have weak performance. Max Payne 2 for example, stands out. Known games like Halo and TR however get competitive performance with nVidias, simply because of the restructured code to fit the CineFX architecture.
Personally I would go get a 9800PRO once the XT settles in as prices drop. If you have patience, you can always hold for the R420 or the NV40. I am waiting for sure. I don't feel any of the current cards really do much. They're great, but I feel like every high-end game that comes out runs at 60FPS on average. That is without the minimum FPS mentionned.

CPUs expected for this year if not next are the Prescott, Athlon FX-51 Socket 939 and speed grades. Don't go for any FX-51 if you want future upgradability. The Athlon 64 3400+ should come out this year if competition continues, so it will likely drop the 3200+'s price down, making it a great value. Mainboard-wise, I'd look at any mainboard for AMD with an 800MHZ HT link (note that nVidia's nForce 3 150 uses a 600MHZ HT link), and would not worry too much about chipset or mainboard performance. Really, if anything, features are what will really matter on AMD mainboards. Look around the known companies and see what suits YOUR demands above all.
But do stay away from the FX-51 Socket 940.

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[lhgpoobaa]

Why do people ask that?
Its NEVER a good tie to buy a CPU. Prices are allways falling and new better models are allways just around the corner.

Prices seem pretty stable now, or you oculd wait till the post christmas price discounts.

<b>I am not a AMD fanboy.
I am not a Via fanboy.
I am not a ATI fanboy.
I AM a performance fanboy.
And a low price fanboy.
Regards,
Mr no integrity coward.</b>

 

[eden]

There were reports for even another Intel price drop coming. Not sure if it still will happen though.

It will be interesting to see if Prescott's gonna make it this year.

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[CaptainNemo]

True - is it never a good time to buy anything computer related.

However, depreciation is worst on the absolute top-of-the-line stuff; If I had paid more than £150 for a processor one year ago, I would be feeling slightly sick (you can buy a 2.8C with that now). My XP2100 has only lost £30 (from £75) during the last 10 months, so I don't feel too bad.

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