Need some input, to wait or to buy now?

[fuCt]

Building myself a new system, and I'm putting a 7900GTX in it, but I'm not sure whether to wait for the new CPU's to get released (AM2 & conroe). My old rig runs ok for the moment, but its agp, so if I wait my 7900 will be sitting in a draw for a month or two.

The AM2 performance increase seems so minimal that I'm not sure its worth the wait, and I've been put off intel for the time being, and thats saying something about intel as I'm running a P42.8 prescott. But I'm really starting to want some DDR2 for some OCing.

If I buy now I'll be going for the dual core 3800+.
If anyones got some valuable input to give me some direction in to go. I'll be recieving the 7900 end of April.
BTW I've already got some decent samsung DDR400 which I can keep from my old rig if I want.

 

[Snorkius]

If you need it now, buy it now - something better and faster is always right around the corner. If you don't need it now, wait.

That said, since having your high-end video card just laying around uselessly for months can't be a good idea, I'd get a new system today.

 

[TechnologyCoordinator]

My recommendation is to get a video card that has a better price/performance ratio. I love nVidia, but I just can't justify spending $600+ on a video card.

I have found the 7800GT to be a very reasonable card with good price/performance. I would consider that card instead and take the $300 savings and do something else with it.

P.S. Nice username.

 

[jokersgrin]

To be honest here it sounds like youre going on whim without doing any research first. And like most new tech on the market, there will be some bugs because its not a mature platform....( AM2 and Conroe ).
If all consider going with a 939 opteron or Intel on a proven platform that is mature and has competitive prices...not going to get much of a bargin on the new chips and mobo's plus the bugs!

Hell go all out and that rig will last a long time, or untill your ready to upgrade again..by then the new platforms have matured and AMD and Intel have let most of the cats outta the bag ( talking about transitions to 65nm or 45nm procs..etc) with both companies fighting for better price for performance.
Exciteing new things to come for AMD and Intel, Its going to be a buyers market once they start dipping prices for their share of the sales and market.

Just step back and think about it for a bit.

 

[fuCt]

just to clarify things, the card (7900) is my 21st present, and I was already planning to upgrade as my 5900XT just doesnt cut it. The plan was to go for the 3800+ from the beginning, but as things go the new tech seems to be coming out just around the corner, so what I was asking for was some helpful advice, not being told that I'm going out on wim. The research has been done, I've checked out everthing, but there's nothing like a second opinion, and what better place to get it.
I'm from South Africa, and the system is gonna cost me roughly R6000, which is about $1000 excluding the 7900.

PS shot for the advice on the card laying around (I'm not sure if I can hold on)

 

[o1die]

IF you have to buy memory, I'd wait for the m2. I just bought 2 gigs of regular ddram, so I'm in no hurry to change to ddr2.

 

[fuCt]

I think I'll pass on the penituim D 805, AMD's 3800+ performance is alot better, and if I do buy AMD I wont be looking to upgrade in a hurry. Plus the Conroe is not going to be compatible with the mobo I buy if I do go intel. If only Intel and AMD would give out official release dates, and do a hard release for their new chips.

 

[TabrisDarkPeace]

The mass market Conroe release date is going to be much closer to October 2006.

Intel will be releasing it when Windows Vista launches. (As they almost always do with new processors).

AMD Socket AM2 will be out before then, but keeping a video card in a drawer for the first third of its 'best' lifespan is folly.

However, Socket AM2 will only be brining DDR2-667 / DDR2-800 to the table for AMD64, so don't expect a huge increase in performance.

Thus, If you want to get the most out of your GeForce 7900 GTX investment build a system now !

 

[abeck_23]

I was in the same boat, I can't wait any longer for the AM2 so I'm building an Opteron 165 based system. I just don't want to wait and gamble with the AM2
So I'm just building a sweet system now and after the AM2 is out and has made some changes I'll switch over, AM2 won't go away so wait it out and IMO AMD needs to make some changes or already has, no one knows.

Hopefully DDR3 ram is my wish

 

[fuCt]

I would go for the opty option, but the mobo's here in South Africa with pci-x16 are just plain expensive, to the point of being a rip off. So instead the only option for me now is to wait for my graphics card, and decide from there. BTW happy 21st birthday to me for tomorrow, for those of you who don't know it's st paddy's day so get wasted. Thanks for all the input so far.

 

[sojrner]

I agree w/ tabris above... buy now and don't worry about it. Keep the 3200 ram, go w/ the amd dual core and enjoy the glory of that 7900. You will not be dissapointed w/ that amd x2, I just got a 4200 and LOVE it. (btw, opty's run on s939 now too, so if you are gettin an x2 mobo it will support opty 165... just for thoughts)

 

[fuCt]

What would you suggest, an opty 165 socket939 or the 3800+, from what I picked up from the forum, the opty is a very good chip, as is the 3800+, but the 3800+s' dual core seems to outweigh the opty's other capabilities as a good overall performer and the price is cheaper. If I go for the 3800+, as I seem to be heading down that path, what does the manchester chip entail, and what are the OC capabilities. If I could get some input from people who have an x2 system and are OC, and what would be the neccessary cooling requirements for some moderate (200-300) overclocking? The HSF's I've been looking at are the Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu LED and the Gigabyte 3D rocket cooler Pro, could I get some input on these HSF, I have a friend who has been using the Gigabyte HSF for some time with very good results, but from what I've seen on the forum Zalman seems to be the first choice.
Thanks fuCt

 

[sojrner]

the opty 165 is also dual core, like the x2 3800. I have an x2 4200 and have not oc'd it other than slight oc w/ the asus A.I. capabilities of my mobo. (3% right now, i like stability first and this system is new)

If you oc alot, i would go w/ the zalman cooler. I have some friends w/ that an I know it works great. Reviews I have read back that up. (too lazy to google them right now) Stock cooling (assuming you buy the retail proc) will take you a little oc, but you will need the zalman if you want to jump big. The x2 is only available in retail version i think. (not sure there)

I thnk you will be happy w/ either. But with your choices there and you seem to want to oc, I would go w/ the opty.

 

[fuCt]

I am now somewhat starting to enjoy your idea of an intel system for a cheap price which will enable me to be able to upgrade to the emerging techs for cheap. BTW wusy, I cannot obtain the 805 chip, is the 920 or the 930 as good, or did you specify the 805 for its oc capablilities? As value for money goes the 920 looks like a good deal on a DFI LANPARTY 925X-T2 mobo.
Please could someone suggest a relatively inexpensive oc RAM as here in South Africa oc RAM like corsair is extremely expensive, about R2200 or $320 for 2gigs of Corsair XMS DDRII800 CL5-5-5-12 and about R2500 or $360 for 2gigs of Kingston HyperX DDRII800 CL5. I'm looking for something closer to the R1200 or $150 for some decent RAM, I'll probably have to import it when a family member comes over from the US as RAM is cheaper there.

 

[fuCt]

didn't realize that conroe was going to be based on the same socket, didn't read up on it much as I was more interested in AM2, but now it seems that this new path that you'ved opend up is leading to some damn good options in the future. Thanks alot wusy you'ved given me the recommendations it seem like I was looking for all along.
If anyone else has any other recommendations on the issue please feel free to help me out. I would still like to know about the RAM issue though.