Future proof? (in Off-topic)

In a few months I want to buy myself a new PC. I already have some ideas what I want and what not...

Sort list: E8400@3.6gHz, 4 gigs DD2 Ram (probably 800Hz, ati HD4870, compatible mobo.

It all looks good on paper, a very nice setup, all A-brands. Should run most games on high to very high with full AA and AF with room to spare...

But I just saw a new game set to be released in january with minimal requirements: dual core CPU @ 2.4 gHz and 256gig ram vidcard.

So I'm not really sure how "future proof" this rig is that I'm building here...

Its ridiculous how much cash you have to spend to keep up with the development of games these days. Build a PC now and within a month a game is released that surpasses your specs...

Is it even possible to "future proof" your PC? Or just upgrade the whole time?

Now the question is should should I spend a few extra bucks and get a quadcore?

Or wait a few months until the i7 is cheaper???

uh buy/build it myself

as long as the goal is improved graphics, ai, pathing, shadows, lighting, etc., then there will be no future proof rigs. especially if you have to run the games on high quality and want the newest games as they come out, you should get used to constant upgrades and builds.

in my opinion, things are better now than they were ten or even five years ago though. overall parts have come way down.

If you buy a decent computer now it will still work with games in 4-5 years. Even if you have to turn the graphics down a little bit.

My 6600GT worked really well for years and worked with new games even in 2008. Late 2008 started having minimums that were a little bit higher, though.

Personally I believe the optimal price/performance ratio is reached with components that came out roughly 9 to 12 months ago, and that you should basically change your computer every 2 years or so at the most (so it's slightly less than 3 years behind "top of the line" when you change it).

Buying a top of the line machine would cost you three to four times as much (if you're lucky, that is), and only last up to four years, if that much anyway (and by the end of those four years, it would be much worse off compared to the above alternative).

Heck, if anything, you should upgrade your machine every year with components that came out one year ago, and sell your old machine (because it's still decent enough to be sold). This way you always get to have a roughly average (if not slightly above average) performance most of the time for a very small relative cash investment.

Yeah, thats agreeable. I build my own computer and get the components from all over the place. I generally don't buy anything new. The only real exceptions to this rule are Hard drives, which are usually pretty cheap anyway and Motherboards which I will not spend over $100~ (Depending on my budget) on and need to have a certain set of features. I will continue looking until I find a board that matches these criteria. The other stuff can be old. I don't care as long as it's not TOO old.

In August last year I bought a dual core 3.0 GHz AMD, 9800GTX and 4 gig ram, which matched all criteria and ended up being really cheap for a hell of a machine.

1: if you want future proof, why choose for an E8400? I'd say invest a tiny bit more and buy an Intel i7 920. This also would be in much better contrast with your HD4870.

2: 4 gigs of DD2 Ram, why not 6 gigs of DD3 ram? This would be a better choice in my opinion, downside possibly to this would mean to get Vista (or XP) 64 bits to use more than 3.5 gigs of Ram memory.

3: I'm not sure how much you have to spend but I could CM you a shopping list what I've bought recently.

Like I said in my return CM

cheapest i7 is about 100 euro's more

DDR3 sounds nice, but those are more expensive and the mobo is 100 euro's expensive.

If I want the same rig with the cheapest i7 that will run me for about 400 euro's more. And the rig im building now is already 1300 euro's.
Dude I still need to go on vacation :P

Anyway the mobo I'm getting is also designed for a quadcore. I can still upgrade the RAM enough. So in time when things are getting cheaper I will probably upgrade, place a second vid card.

All that stuff.

Shade wanna CM me a shopping guide? I'm not even running SATA yet

I have found this store to be a great manufacturer. They sell at bare minimum prices and they only sell the best. I'm very surprised that they have been in business for so long because I have no clue how they make a profit! Also, DDR2 is getting old and the radeon HD series just doesn't perform as well as the nvidia cards. All the stats look great on paper, but if you read one of the many reviews and stress tests aboot them, you'll find that they are simply insignificant compared to nvidia.

Ravenshaw: I've found a similar on-line store which also sell for daily prices.

"Also, DDR2 is getting old and the radeon HD series just doesn't perform as well as the nvidia cards. All the stats look great on paper, but if you read one of the many reviews and stress tests about them, you'll find that they are simply insignificant compared to nvidia."

Nope the new RV770 chipset of ATI is giving nVidia headaches...
Besides a similar nVidia card with DDR5! memory is a tad more expensive. I'm looking for bang for buck. nVidia is pricy

DDR2 is not old!
Besides DDR3 is only good with the more expensive CPU's, but the latencies of those are enormous so, no thanks I'm sticking with ddr2

Only when you want the Q9450 or indeed the i7 is when you need DDR3 otherwise the RAM is a bottleneck.

Besides DDR2 is cheap, and I might add. I also need to buy myself a 24" screen, new mouse, new gaming keyboard and of course new 7.1 audio set.

The total cost of the rig itself is no more then 900 euro's.

1 euro = 1.358 dollar. Go figure...

Ow and btw if I want to ship something from Canada to the EU it would cost about the same amount of the PC in VAT and shipping...

Besides prices for PC parts are much cheaper in the USA or Canada, heck I even believe that PC parts are cheaper everywhere then Europe.

Some people say that you should buy PC parts in Denmark, not sure if this still applies but a few years ago you could buy the same but for 200-400 euro's less, depending on what you buy of course.

Henk is right in saying that the current ATI cards have a much better price/performance ratio. For the same price in The Netherlands, you can buy a card which has almost double the performance of the GeForce card...

(when comparing HD4870X2 vs 280)

My shopping list with lowest prices:

#	Product	Prijs	Subtotaal
1	Antec Performance One P182 Zwart	ﾀ 119,-	ﾀ 119,-
1	Asus P5Q PRO	ﾀ 112,50	ﾀ 112,50
1	Corsair CMPSU-650TXEU	ﾀ 85,90	ﾀ 85,90
1	Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer	ﾀ 59,90	ﾀ 59,90
1	Gembird WCS-8001 wooden cabinet 7.1 system	ﾀ 77,50	ﾀ 77,50
1	Intel Core 2 Duo E8400	ﾀ 146,37	ﾀ 146,37
1	Kingston ValueRAM KVR800D2N5K2/4G	ﾀ 29,01	ﾀ 29,01
1	Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard	ﾀ 49,85	ﾀ 49,85
1	Logitech MX518	ﾀ 29,-	ﾀ 29,-
3	Nexus Real Silent D12SL-12 BW, 120m	ﾀ 4,97	ﾀ 14,91
1	OCZ Vendetta 2	ﾀ 33,18	ﾀ 33,18
1	Samsung SH-S223F	ﾀ 15,93	ﾀ 15,93
1	Samsung Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ, 1TB	ﾀ 82,95	ﾀ 82,95
1	Samsung Syncmaster 2253BW	ﾀ 189,05	ﾀ 189,05
1	Sapphire HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E	ﾀ 229,-	ﾀ 229,-
1	Zalman Super Thermal Grease ZM-STG1	ﾀ 4,17	ﾀ 4,17
Importeren		Totaal	ﾀ 1.278,22