Upgrading my PC

[Don]

I see some great deals on quad-cores and am thinking about picking one up myself. My PC is fairly old. But it is still pretty decent (P4 3.0GHz, 2 GB RAM, NVIDIA 6800...). My wondering is outside of games, do I have any real legit reason to upgrade (I only have AGP and all the new graphics card are PCI-E). True I play games and would like to play the latest and greatest but I don't play all that often. However I do some occasional transcoding (MPEG<->Xvid and H264<->Xvid) and I wouldn't mind a PC that can play back those HD files from those new HD digital video cams (mine currently can't). I'm assuming a quad-core would help in both areas? Also my PC does not support SATA2 so sometimes copying files around can be punishingly slow. A new PC with SATA2 HD would probably be better...

thoughts? worth it or overrated?

 

[WoodPeckr]

There are great deals on everything lately.
I was in the same position and ended up gettting a laptop instead of a quad desktop as originally planned. Now I'm not sure if I will go back to a desktop because of the portability a laptop affords. I don't care about games and think HD is overrated. There are plenty of other formats out there good enough for me.

Your 'fairly old' pc is far newer than my 11 year old P2 400mhz 384ram pc that still runs XP & linux well. I mainly use it for the internet, music movies and linux allows me to hit all the 'suspect sites' worry free, and your fairly old pc should easily still outperform my antique for a few more years.

 

[Don]

yeah I agree with everything you are saying... I guess I am trying to justify purchasing something that I deep down know I don't really need. 80% of my PC usage is surfing, music playback and e-mails which can be easily done with my existing system. And while I like games, maybe it is a better thing if I stay away from them!

 

[basketcase]

An upgrade would likely force you to get a new motherboard which would likely force you to get a new graphics card and possibly new RAM (along with the new HD).

If it fits you budget and you want newer toys, go for it. If it's not that important.....

As for games, I chose to go with a gaming console instead of continually upgrading my computer.

 

[Don]

Yeah I would pretty much buy a whole new system. The only thing I would keep are some of my HDs...

I have the budget for it but I don't like throwing away money if I don't need to. I can easily find a better use for it...

 

[enyaw]

what is budget

your ceiling, would help narrow down your options

just a thought

 

[Don]

I was thinking about 1K or so. I can get a mid level Q6600 system with 2 GB and an upper end graphic card (NVIDIA 8800). I'd like to build it myself...

 

[WoodPeckr]

They are giving them away down here

I was thinking about 1K or so. I can get a mid level Q6600 system with 2 GB and an upper end graphic card (NVIDIA 8800). I'd like to build it myself...

Here's a prebuilt that blows your one above away:

http://officedepot.shoplocal.com/of...uErgXrGbQLmbvcLQ&odserver=www.officedepot.com
Click on the 'View Ad pages' then go to page 2:

It's a Gateway with Intel Core2 Quad Processor Q6700, the only one listed for $649.99 after rebate.

6GB DDR2 Ram
640GB HDD
Vista Home Prem 64-bit version

 

[tboy]

If you don't need it for anything other than games/editing video or photos, a faster computer really isn't necessary. If you're just doing word processing, surfing the net, etc a 486 or P3 will do you just fine.

There's a whole thread over in the lounge about Kathleen upgrading hers, you should read that.....

 

[onehunglow]

From experience i can say that too often we purchase too much to do so little.

If i had a dime for every client who asked me if they should upgrade their system to the latest state of the art computer................so they can email and surf!!!!!!...................i could retire.

If it suits your needs, wait a while then upgrade a year or two from now. The stuff on the way down the pipe will make todays purchase look like a P1.

 

[WoodPeckr]

If it suits your needs, wait a while then upgrade a year or two from now. The stuff on the way down the pipe will make todays purchase look like a P1.

Agreed.
That's why I settled on a dual core laptop.

A little over 6 months ago I did buy a HP Quad Q6600 w/3 gigs RAM, all wireless desktop for ~$1150 w 19" LCD monitor. Returned it because of the crappy wireless setup HP used and a few other reasons. Today prices dropped ~50% since then and I could get a better Q6700 quad with double the RAM and Vista 64-bit for $650 as posted earlier in this thread.
So I'll wait awhile for that better stuff on the way and use the laptop in the meantime.

 

[Don]

The way I look at it, PCs are always dropping in price so if you look at it in terms of waiting for the price to drop, you'll just wait forever. Just gotta go out and get it when you need it, can't look at the price. It's not like buying a home, when there is a good time to buy and a bad time.

 

[cypherpunk]

The way I look at it, PCs are always dropping in price so if you look at it in terms of waiting for the price to drop, you'll just wait forever. Just gotta go out and get it when you need it, can't look at the price. It's not like buying a home, when there is a good time to buy and a bad time.

That's not entirely true. For example, buying a mid range video card today is much smarter than buying a mid range video card a year ago. A lack of competition meant that the offerings were overpriced and underperforming. And again because of a lack of competition, Intel's entry level quad core is being replaced by something slower. Also, memory prices generally decline, but they can go up.

Speaking of memory, that's the only upgrade I'd recommend for your current system. It's so cheap you can't afford not to do it.

 

[tboy]

I don't know CP, the 9800 GT series of Nvidia cards have been out for more than a year and they've always been sold at a reasonable price. WHat I consider a reasonable price is around $200 - $250.00 for a 512 MB PCI E or 16.....

But you could say that about all components when they first come out. Heck Quad core processors were over a grand a year ago and now they can be had for around $400.00.

But as others are saying, unless you're pushing the limits with video editing or games, NO one needs the latest and greatest.

 

[cypherpunk]

I don't know CP, the 9800 GT series of Nvidia cards have been out for more than a year and they've always been sold at a reasonable price. WHat I consider a reasonable price is around $200 - $250.00 for a 512 MB PCI E or 16....

Mid range a year ago was the 8600GT, which had an MSRP of $200. The new mid range is the 9600GT, which is a much bigger leap than 7600 to 8600. And a reasonable price for an 8800GT today is $150.