Wait for Nehalem?

[Angel of Death]

I will be able to afford a new computer, within about two weeks. My primary use for it will be to play a variety of current and upcoming games, like Crysis, Guild Wars 2, and Sims 3. I'll probably overclock, on air-cooling, but only once I find that games are not performing as smoothly as I would like. Until then, I don't care to reduce the life of my parts, just to go from 79 to 86 FPS, for example.

During my research, I came across news of a whole new architecture, planned by Intel. I did a search for \"Nehalem\" in these forums, but came up with nothing. However, I'm hearing a lot of great promises being made about the upcoming Nehalem processors, including a rumor that the launch date has been moved up to September, making them available to average Joes, like me, in October. Sites, such as tomshardware, are suggesting performance gains will be in the 20 - 30% range. These processors will require the new socket 1366. To me, that means, most likely, a motherboard that could be much faster and more future-proof, when compared to 775. Obviously, feel free to correct me, if I'm wrong about any of this.

Here is my current config:

PSU: Aerocool Zerodba 500W Power Supply
Processor: CPU INTEL C2D E6420 2.13GHz LGA775 4MB L2 Cache
Heatsink/Fan: Coolermaster RR-PCH-S9U1-GP Hyper TX CPU Cooler
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 P965 775 rev 3.3
Memory: 2GB Corsair 240P 2048-6400C4
Video: EVGA 320-P2-N815-AR 8800GTS 320MB

With a budget of around $1,500 to $2,000, here are the options, as I see them:

1. Save my upcoming bonus money until around the end of January/beginning of February, after the holiday buying season, when prices on the new procs, mobos, & DDR3 will have dropped, then go with the best Nehalem CPU, 1366 socket mobo, DDR3 memory, and (hopefully) SLI or Crossfire dual video setup I can afford.

2. Accept the fact that there will always be something better/faster/more on the PC hardware horizon, forget about the Nehalem rumors until they become facts, plan on buying as soon as I have the cash in my greedy mitts, and build something like this:

PSU: 750+ Watts
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS P5E LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX
Memory: 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 between 1066 and 1200
Video: 2 x Radeon HD4850 in Crossfire

The above specs are not finalized, and I'm not looking to launch into a big discussion on them, until/unless I go in that direction. They are just there as examples of the price/performance I would seek out of that option. Also, I am leaving out other options, such as to wait until Nehalem is here, then upgrade to a Wolfdale or Kentsfield based system, once those prices have fallen in response to the new launch. I want to get the best I can afford, when I actually make my move.

So, with all of that in mind, your thoughts, opinions, and insights are welcomed and appreciated!

[Krom]

The Nehalem processors will definitely be faster than currently available Core 2 duo/quad processors. However there is something you should keep in mind, the intergrated memory controllers on the full featured Nehalem processors will be triple channel DDR3 controllers. Meaning you will need THREE sticks of the still expensive DDR3 memory to get the full memory performance out of it. If you do go with such a configuration, and you want high end future proof, I highly recommend getting Vista Business 64 bit and 3x 2GB sticks of memory for a total of 6 GB. You could also consider the platform maturity, even on Intel platforms it is better to wait a few months for them to work out all the kinks before you dive right in. And don't forget the power usage, computers can draw rather a lot of energy depending on how well built it is, crossfire or SLI will severely limit any energy savings you could make up by getting good components elsewhere. If you wait for Nehalem, there may be additional options in the video card segment as well. Nvidia may do a refresh or die shrink on the GTX 280 parts by then which may be a very attractive singe GPU solution by then depending on how well ATI competes.

[Angel of Death]

Thanks for your input, Krom The cost of the third stick of memory, as well as the energy consumption of Crossfire/SLI, are not issues that are likely to sway my decision. Platform maturity, and new/improved video solutions, will have an impact, though.

If I extend my timeline for looking at Nehalem from late January/early February to the beginning of summer, for example, then that changes the outlook on everything. I don't know if I can survive with my current hardware for nearly a year In that scenario, I would feel compelled to buy parts, in the very near future, with the goal of \"getting by\" until next summer.

Obviously, there is no way to accurately predict just how many/how bad may be the flaws in the new architectures, nor exactly how long it will take for them to be corrected/diminished. Still, given Intel's history, what kind of time-frame would you suggest, before Nehalem and the 1366 motherboards would be past their growing pains?

[Cuda68]

If I extend my timeline for looking at Nehalem from late January/early February to the beginning of summer, for example, then that changes the outlook on everything. I don't know if I can survive with my current hardware for nearly a year Sad In that scenario, I would feel compelled to buy parts, in the very near future, with the goal of \"getting by\" until next summer.



My heart just bleeds for you

[Sirius]

Uh... your current system is fast enough to run pretty much anything for the meanwhile on quite respectable settings. What exactly is making its performance hard to stand?

I should note that GW2 won't be released until well after you make the upgrade, even if it is next summer. It might be in beta, but even that's not a given; furthermore, the system requirements they're aiming at are not bleeding-edge, and will likely be closer to what you have now, possibly less. Crysis can run on your current rig well enough. Sims 3 ... I can't imagine it'll be too power-hungry. You don't sell millions of copies if it is.

[Krom]

The reason I say keep an eye on power use is because it makes a surprising amount of difference, and the less power a system uses also generally means the less heat it produces. Keeping an eye on the performance per watt as well as the overall performance can make a big difference in how easy it is to use and maintain a system. And you usually do not have to give up much (if any) performance for the cooler operation, but thanks to it you don't have to put up with loud fans and other complicated cooling solutions just to keep it running. Also for a computer that runs often, leaning more on the energy efficient side can actually have the computer pay for itself in electric bill savings over time vs. a more power hungry system.

If you really must upgrade your system for some game right away, your motherboard and memory should be able to handle one of the higher end 6x00 series C2D processors. And dropping in a newer faster video card such as the 9800 GTX+ should be enough to keep anything from the latest games running well enough while not making any significant dents in your long term budget. The only other part you might have to consider replacing would be the PSU if it couldn't handle the extra load.

[Angel of Death]

My comment about not \"surviving\" with the current hardware was meant as a bit of melodramatic humor, although it may not have come across that way. It was just my way of describing the computer version of \"new car fever.\" My upcoming bonus check, along with so many reviews/benchmarks of impressive stats, have weakened my self-restaint

The descentbb has always been a great resource for a variety of perspectives, levels of expertise, and tips on great deals. So, when \"new computer fever\" hits me, I come here to get ideas about what is the best/hottest out there, as well as for the voice of reason.

During the research for my previous builds, I never felt like there were so many appealing options that fit within my budget. It was always pretty clear about what was \"best\" for my purposes and wallet. This time, it's not so clear. So, as much as it pains me (that's a joke ), I believe that my best decision is indecision. I'm going to continue to follow the news about the upcoming procs, mobos, graphics, and games to see where it all leads. I'll probably hold out until around the January/February vicinity, when there should be less speculation about the Nehalem (and all that will come with it), before I even start to shop, again.

In the meanwhile, I'm still open to other information, ideas, and opinions. So, if any of you feel that something important has been left out of this discussion, please, feel free to add your two cents! Thanks to those who have already done so!

[Nergen-Ak1-Defender]

Ive heard that it is not called nehalem any longer. Its called i7 now.

[DarkShadow]

Ive heard that it is not called nehalem any longer. Its called i7 now.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10011913-1.html

[Burlyman]

It's called Core i7.

I still like my Core 2 system. ^_~
If you still want to wait, I would also wait and see if Larrabee is going to be any good.