Upgrade or buy a new pc?

[Pain86]

I'm at that point where i'm itching to buy a next gen pc. I've allready got all the next gen consoles but i still need my pc gaming fix.

Basically i want a pc that'll do me for the next 4-6 years, and to play Crysis all maxed out with no slowdown. I've never built a pc or even messed around with the insides. So i'm abit nervous at trying to build one.

My current system.. Which has done me well, will feel sad seeing it go. :god:

Processor: AMD Athlon??? XP Processor 3200+
Motherboard: ASUS A7N8X Deluxe NVIDIA® nForce2??? SPP Motherboard DDR
Memory: 1GB Corsair XMS DDR SDRAM PC-3200 - 2x512MB
Video Card: ATI RADEON??? 9800 XT 256MB 8x AGP w/DVI & S-Video
Hard Drive: 160GB Seagate Barracuda Serial ATA 7200rpm w/ 8MB Cache
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy 2 6.1
Network Card: NVIDIA® Integrated 100Mb Ethernet Modem: US Robotics 56K Voice Modem PCI
Optical Drive One: Plextor Plexwriter Premium 52x32x52 CD-RW
Optical Drive Two: Plextor PX-708A 8x DVD±R/W Drive


Is this pre-built pc good enough?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-041-OK

Seems about the same price if i were to buy all the parts seperate?

what should i do?

 

[3ssence]

If you're really not comfortable with building one yourself (which i would personally recommend, it's a great learning experience if you haven't before, and it's really not as hard as it may seem) then that pc is very well specified and would do you quite well.

But before someone else comes along and says it, you may want to wait to see what comes along in the form of ATI's DX10 offering, who knows, it may offer better performance, but then again it may not ! The upside of that PC is that it has an sli capable motherboard and a top end nvidia card, so a second could always be added if you were left wanting for more graphical power at some point.

 

[MRG]

3ssence offers good sound advice.

That system will provide a huge amout of power & *should* be able to run Crysis without any problems. However, since Crysis has not been released, it's impossible to say at this time. As for it lasting you 4 to 6 years, it'll do that, however, don't expect it to run everything as well then, as it will now.

Technology is just going to advance so much between now and then.

If you are a gamer, then it is a sin if you don't build the entire PC yourself. Unless you are rich & don't care about down time, it's always the best option to build the PC yourself. Not only is it fun to do, but you learn priceless troubleshooting skills. Also if you are anything like me, I can't count on anyone to do the job (build the PC) to my level of expectations. All to often a client will bringme their PC, telling me that for one reason or another that their brand new pre-built system does not work, only for me to find out that the monkey that put it together at the factory did so @ 4:50PM and so did a rush job.

As for the video card issue, unless you are impatient and simply cannot wait, I would advise you to wait to see what ATI releases for the DirectX 10 market.

Either way, an extremely powerful PC is in your forseeable future!

-MRG

 

[Pain86]

Thanks for the advice. I would build the pc myself but would hate to screw it up. I could always just get my pc from 10 years ago i mess around with that. Thats an idea.

I think i'm just going to wait 5-8 months before buying a new pc. My current one is doing my fine right now. The game consoles are enough for gaming untill the big pc games come out. I've always been a pc gamer since the days of quake.

Thanks again for the good adivce.

 

[Zannovere]

I would wait till this fall and build a new pc. Apparently Quad cores are supposed to drop a huge amount in price by then.

 

[Qonfused]

Nice case, tbh.

 

[staticprimer]

I would wait till this fall and build a new pc. Apparently Quad cores are supposed to drop a huge amount in price by then.

See that's the inherent problem with upgrading hardware, theres always something just around the corner. At some point you have to sit down and say, I'm happy with what's available right now. Personally I think this summer is a very good time, as dual core processors will be very cheap by the end of this month and there will finally be competition in the DX10 card market. I know I'll be doing it.

 

[Barney Fife]

Thanks for the advice. I would build the pc myself but would hate to screw it up. I could always just get my pc from 10 years ago i mess around with that. Thats an idea.

Build the damn thing and have a friend who knows how to build observe ya. Ya P!@#ssy!

The game consoles are enough for gaming untill the big pc games come out. I've always been a pc gamer since the days of quake. Thanks again for the good adivce.

Yes sir! Its never like the same on PC than on console. I never feel like I have full control when playing console games, and I;m never involved and inside the game on console. I don't know console just don't feel right to me.

That Antec 900 system seems cool, but I want you to learn how to build. Why? cuz:
1) You will brag like a little bitch Like me.
2) You always get to choose. No one will ever dress up system for you. You wouldn't like to to be dressed by a male nurse like a handicap person would ya? Then you must not let others dressing your system.

Good Luck.