When I built my current computer, I built at a really bad time. It was when processors were changing from single to dual core and if I waited like 3 more weeks I would have had a much better computer for the same price. I want to build a new computer between now and christmas time and I'm wondering if I should wait if there's going to be any significant shifts in technology. I'm going to be using the computer for gaming and OpenGL graphics/game programming.

The three big things I can think of are:

Intel Core i5 (and i3) CPUs -- These utilize the same Nehalem core found in the newer intel i7 CPUs, but in a socket/platform that is significantly cheaper to put together. You have to be careful about *which* i5 you'll end up selecting though -- some are 2-cores, some are 4. If you can afford to put together an i7 system, all the better, you get 4 cores + hyperthreading (for 8 simultaneous threads).

DirectX 11 hardware -- ATI is readying Direct3D 11 graphics cards for the fall, nVidia probably isn't far behind. DirectX 11 brings new graphics features and the "compute shader", allowing your GPU to accelerate non-graphics tasks.

Windows 7 -- If you're going to be needing a new OS, Windows 7 is probably it. Word in the tech circles is that its far better than Vista ever was, and if you're going to make use of that fancy DX10 or DX11 gpu, you're going to need it.

I have recently built the following two 'comparison' computers which both exhibit similar gaming performance with a Geforce 8800 GTS and 4GB of DDR2 memory:

AMD Phenom II x3 720 - $140
Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P - $110


Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - $167 (was $230 when I bought it)
EVGA NF78 - was around $260 when I bought it but is no longer produced. Total overkill, and I'm not even totally satisfied with it (nVidia's fan speed control code sucks a LOT lately and I have to manually turn the fan speeds up before playing games, otherwise the system locks). So much for automatic fan speed control.


Even though benchmarks say the E8400 is better than the PhenomII 720, I don't notice any difference, even in gaming. My video card makes way more of a difference. Since the price was drastically lower, I am actually happier with it. The nice part about the AMD system is that the motherboard chipsets don't need a fan at all to stay cool (the processor has the memory controller, so I just put a Zalman fan on that and the whole PC is pretty much silent other than the video card.)

Also - my AMD system successfully recovers from S3 suspend while my Intel system does not. Pretty much the same drivers other than the chipset. This is one of those things that irritates me but isn't a dealbreaker.


Truly outstanding performance lies with the Intel i7, but the price is also significantly higher.

I was in your situation, but my choice was made simple when my previous computer died, pretty much forcing me to purchase a new PC. Ravyne pretty much stated everything that needs to be said.

As far as Windows 7, you're looking at October for OEMs, and the beginning of 2010 for consumer purchase.

In terms of DirectX 11 cards, you're looking at October at best. NVidia will be releasing at the beginning of 2010, whereas AMD supposidly will be releasing around October, but ATI has had a history of paper releases where only a few lucky people were actually ever able to purchase on the release date.

As for the CPU's, being that the latest i7's were just released on June 1st, you're looking once again at the beginning of 2010 for the 6 core's and beyond. The i5's should be out late August, early September though.

The general rule of thumb for waiting for upgrades is if you don't need to upgrade, don't, and if you do need to upgrade, unless there's new technology coming out within a month, don't hold off. The next big thing is always around the corner, and waiting for it is a never ending cycle.

What's coming out in 2010?
New, faster video cards.
New, faster processors with more cores.
PCI Express 3.0
USB 3.0
Sata 3

Remember though, that just because something is finally released, doesn't mean it will be accessable to most people.

If you're after a budget PC, yes, waiting probably makes sense for the i5's. If you're after an enthusiest machine, outside of the video card, the newest stuff was just released within the month, so you're looking at half a year before newer technology comes out. I would recommend though, that you go with a cheaper end video card, as the next gen video cards are pretty awesome, and it's not worth spending $400 imho for something you'll only have for 6 months.

Quote: Original post by Nytegard
In terms of DirectX 11 cards, you're looking at October at best. NVidia will be releasing at the beginning of 2010, whereas AMD supposidly will be releasing around October, but ATI has had a history of paper releases where only a few lucky people were actually ever able to purchase on the release date.

NV and AMD both have a history of this so I wouldn't go calling out one over the other.

I'll say this much on the subject however;
- AMD have had a virtually DX11 compatible chip for a couple of generations now
- AMD have WORKING DX11 chips and have show as such
- NV haven't even talked about DX11 yet let alone got a working chip.
- NV don't have experiance with these pieces yet and their recent chips have been huge when compared to AMD without the performance difference (indeed, technically AMD were keeping pace without using all their silicon) and now have to fit MORE in for newer tech.

I can see AMD taking this generation.
NV need to get something floating about and soon.

Intresting times.

Sorry for the late reply.

Phantom, I don't disagree with you. My point was not to state that NVidia was greater than AMD or vice versa, rather that it's probably unrealistic to be getting the next-gen of video cards this year.

As for who takes what generation, I can agree that AMD does. It's about what's the most affordable, and even in this generation, for price to performance at the moment, it's AMD.

If I hadn't seen a report about AMD having working D3D11 silicon already then yeah, I'd be skeptical about a release as well.

However, they do and the last few releases havent' been paper launches so it bodes well for D3D11 in Oct.

Granted, it doesn't bode well for my bank account but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it [grin]

Quote: As far as Windows 7, you're looking at October for OEMs, and the beginning of 2010 for consumer purchase.

The Windows 7 RC is still up for public download if you don't mind using a pre-release OS. MaximumPC is using it for this year's dream machines. The RC licenses are good until early 2010, and you could always buy the official release when it comes out.

Quote: Original post by Nytegard
As far as Windows 7, you're looking at October for OEMs, and the beginning of 2010 for consumer purchase.

Windows 7 will be officially released to the public on October 22nd, Businesses will be able to upgrade in August or September, and anyone with a MSDN subscription will be able to get the RTM once it is made available.

Quote: Original post by Nypyren
I have recently built the following two 'comparison' computers which both exhibit similar gaming performance with a Geforce 8800 GTS and 4GB of DDR2 memory:

AMD Phenom II x3 720 - $140
Gigabyte MA790X-UD4P - $110


Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 - $167 (was $230 when I bought it)
EVGA NF78 - was around $260 when I bought it but is no longer produced. Total overkill, and I'm not even totally satisfied with it (nVidia's fan speed control code sucks a LOT lately and I have to manually turn the fan speeds up before playing games, otherwise the system locks). So much for automatic fan speed control.


Even though benchmarks say the E8400 is better than the PhenomII 720, I don't notice any difference, even in gaming. My video card makes way more of a difference. Since the price was drastically lower, I am actually happier with it. The nice part about the AMD system is that the motherboard chipsets don't need a fan at all to stay cool (the processor has the memory controller, so I just put a Zalman fan on that and the whole PC is pretty much silent other than the video card.)

Also - my AMD system successfully recovers from S3 suspend while my Intel system does not. Pretty much the same drivers other than the chipset. This is one of those things that irritates me but isn't a dealbreaker.


Truly outstanding performance lies with the Intel i7, but the price is also significantly higher.

Unfortunately, it sounds like deja vu all over if you want to buy before this Christmas since that's about the time or a month thereafter that all the new stuff is coming out :(
DX11 cards and new cpu's will be out then as mentioned.
If you can't wait I suggest going the Phenom route. I built a cheap Phenom II + mobo,etc as a backup rig and it came out to not much more than $200. And as Nypyren mentioned for most users and uses it's actually indistinguishable in performance to a much higher priced Intel build.
Only different recommendation I would make is to get a geoforce260/275 videocard since it's performance in newer games is significant over the 8800 series.