I am looking to build a midrange gaming system right now, but I'm having trouble deciding where to start since both Intel and AMD are transitioning their sockets, which is bad for midrange since you're stuck with parts that are already going out. Normally I'd wait for things to settle down, but I need to make this build ASAP since the rig that it is replacing can no longer run games at all. (I've been putting it off for too long already.)
I can't (don't want to) pay for current i7 offerings, which means going the Intel route will land me in the dead-end LGA775 socket for a Core 2. Any future upgrade will necessitate a complete rebuild for the i7 socket and DDR3.
So of course I'm looking at AMD right now which at least has some partial compatibility between AM2 and AM3, but to what extent? Will Phenom II support AM2+ until EOL, or is this likely to apply only for the transitional chips? Will any AM3 motherboards keep using DDR2 sockets? Maybe this is all just speculation, but what are your thoughts about how far a current AM2+ build will go into the future? Will it end up in the same boat where an upgrade 3 years down the line will require ditching the system for an all-new AM3/DDR3 build?
Basically if the AM2+ has a decent chance of remaining upgradable, I'll go with AMD for sure, otherwise I'll have to study price/performance a bit more to decide what to do.
I can't (don't want to) pay for current i7 offerings, which means going the Intel route will land me in the dead-end LGA775 socket for a Core 2. Any future upgrade will necessitate a complete rebuild for the i7 socket and DDR3.
So of course I'm looking at AMD right now which at least has some partial compatibility between AM2 and AM3, but to what extent? Will Phenom II support AM2+ until EOL, or is this likely to apply only for the transitional chips? Will any AM3 motherboards keep using DDR2 sockets? Maybe this is all just speculation, but what are your thoughts about how far a current AM2+ build will go into the future? Will it end up in the same boat where an upgrade 3 years down the line will require ditching the system for an all-new AM3/DDR3 build?
Basically if the AM2+ has a decent chance of remaining upgradable, I'll go with AMD for sure, otherwise I'll have to study price/performance a bit more to decide what to do.
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