Computer upgrade!

[SecretMaster]

Originally Posted by SpiritWarrior Problem with waiting though, is A) you're waiting and B) sometimes you can wait for a new technology to be released and then within a few month,s something better comes along I.E. Dual Cores and Core Duo's. They released a "better", "faster" dual core within months of me purchasing two first gen. dual cores. I was pissed at the time. However, if you take this route, you can seemingly be waiting forever, as technology is always growing. But sometimes in cases like these, with a new technology, it can morph rapidly or be "patched" into something else within a few months to a year. Remember, if you read into this too much there will technically never be an ideal time to buy, and waiting will always seem prudent. Just my experiences of it.

Well yes and no I would say. The rule of thumb is always if you can wait, then wait. Of course this leads to a paradox of infinite waiting as there is always new and upcoming technology. Eventually there reaches a time where you need to buy.

But even with constant technological progress and development, there are still good and bad times to buy. Once Fermi is released, I don't think there will be much worth holding out for in the immediate (3ish) months. There really is nothing too major being released that I can think of. Clarksdale comes out in January (Core i5 dual cores), but after that I don't think anything on the horizon till the middle of the year around May or June.

[Raistlin Majere]

My thought on the matter is, since I have to wait until January anyway(I don't have a desktop with me on my student exchange), I might as well wait until the Fermi cards come out. Then depending on the price range of the new generation compared to the best of the old generation, I'll buy whatever seems prudent.

[SecretMaster]

Just want to give an update to those not following hardware news.

TSMC's manufacturing woes continue. I finally was able to nab my hands on a 5870 for my father's computer, but I'm still searching for a 5850 to come in stock so I can purchase one. This news article, if true, doesn't bode well.

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/18070

In addition, there is also talk that Nvidia is further delaying the release of their Fermi chip till March. If this is true, it really isn't looking very good for them at all. It almost echoes several generations ago when Nvidia released their DX10 chip and ATI was nearly 6 months late to the party. Only back then, there were no supply issues like today.

All in all, not a good time to be buying new gen video cards. It sucks that my own building cycle fell right about this time.

[Raistlin Majere]

Aah, don't think I'll be willing to wait until March, so I'll just find the best solution for myself for the time being. I'm far too impatient to wait 3 months hehe