Looking to upgrade - suggestions?

[PapaMambo]

Ok.. I'm looking to finally put my 4 year old Athlon Xp 2600+ to rest - I plan on making it into my kids gaming system. It's served me well, but I think it's time to upgrade.

So my question to all of you then is, what should I be looking to get. I have a couple of 250 gig WD Sata Hard drives that I plan on pulling from my current system to use in my new rig.

What I need though are suggestions for the following: I want to keep it at around $1500 Canadian.

CPU: Should I go Core 2 Duo, or wait for Barcelona?

Motherboard: Obviously this will depend on the type of above processor. Are the Barcelona's going to be compatible with AM2, or Socket F? Also, is Socket 775 going to be around for a while, or is there a major shift coming from Intel (seems like they change sockets about as much as most people change underwear) - I don't want to buy a motherboard that quickly finds itself obsolete. What are the best Chipsets for AMD and Intel? I hear good things about Nforce 680i, Intel 965, and 975.. what's the best one?

Case: I think I might go with the Antec 900 - lots of cooling, good space, and it looks good. Anything comparable?

Video Card: Nvidia or Ati? 8800 or wait for the R600?

RAM: What's a good rock solid set of Ram? I was thinking OCZ, but there are so many new players in the Ram business in the past year - I wanted to make a good choice.

Power Supply: What sort of beast should I be looking at to power this rig? I've been looking at a few different ones from Enermax (galaxy series), OCZ (GameXstream), FSP Fortron, Silverstone (Zeus or Olympia series)

CPU Cooler: I'm thinking the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, or Scythe Ninja.

So, That's it really.. Optical drives are cheap, and so are Hard Drives, so I'm not too worried about them right now. Like I said, what sort of system could I pull together for under $1500?

 

[moon111]

Even if you have all the computer knowledge in the world, there's only one really good reason to build your own system --> $$$. CPU's don't go on sale much. But the other components do. So grab them when they do. When an ASUS SLI motherboard went on sale I was all over it. Is the brand of PSU really that important? So many perform equally as good, have the same features... many are made by the same company even.
Most of the time staying one step back from the latest will save you a ton.

 

[werty316]

You should have a decision made up by time Q3 2007 rolls along as that is when things get interesting between AMD and Intel.

 

[PapaMambo]

Moon111 - I have been reading different reviews for Power Supplies, and am basing my choices on the reviews I have read. For instance, I know that Fortron builds many of the power supplies out there (including the OCZ I had mentioned), but OCZ has a better warranty.

I suppose I should have stated that I'll be looking to buy this whole setup in the next 2-3 months - before summer is out hopefully. Based on that, I was hoping to get some insight into what would be a good purchase - CPU wise and motherboard wise. I just don't want to drop a wad of cash, only to find out that in the next quarter they decide to change sockets, leaving me with no future upgrade path. Usually AMD and Intel give us a bit of lead time though, although I haven't really heard too much lately from either, as to the lifespan of current sockets/chipsets. I know that AMD just dropped socket 939 from their roster, focusing on AM2. But with the recent introduction of Socket F, I'm not sure if it's worth my while to buy a socket AM2 motherboard. Same goes for Intel. Socket 775 has been around for quite a while, and Intel is infamous for having multiple chipsets on the same socket (whereas AM2 doesn't have nearly as many). If I were to buy a 775 setup, what chipset should I be looking to get? Should it be an Nforce 680i, P965, P975?? There are so many to choose from that it's all very confusing - especially for a guy like me who has never owned an Intel rig before.

 

[moon111]

I looked at the latest weekly flyer from Canada Computers... and saw they had most the stuff you were discussing. Thought I'd list some of the prices...

Intel Core 2 Due E6600 - 2.4 GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1066 MHz Front Bus - $358.67
Asus P5B Premium Vista Edition - Intel P965 _ICH8R Chipset - $269.49 - $628.16
Antec Nine Hundred Case - $122.05 - $750.21
BFG GeForce 8800GTS OC2 Graphics Card - - $394.43 - $1144.51
OCR DDR2 PC2-6400 2 GB Platinum Revision 2 XTC - $185.59 - $1330.10
Enermax NoiseTaker II 600 Watt -$ 114.21 -$1444.31

Didn't include the heatsink... and other items like cables, paste, etc... but with taxes.... this already breaks the $1500 budget.
I'd say if that budget is set, you don't want to 'wait' for the latest because it'll cost a premium to get it. If you wait for an anticipated new processor 'type' to hit the market... it might be do so... but at what cost? It might come out at a $600-800 price point. The latest and greatest is totally over-rated in my opinion. There's also some good looking generic cases that can save some bucks. This case is about $70 cheaper. It's not like the Antec was even aluminum.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=012416&cid=CS.664

 

[PapaMambo]

Thanks for the info. I've checked Can Computers out in the past - they have some pretty decent deals.. Actually, right now Tigerdirect.ca has the E6600 (oem) on for $279 or $299.. Seeing as I was planning on buying a different cooler anyways, this is a pretty killer deal.

Let me clear something up.. I'm not necessarily looking to get "the latest and greatest" - I know that will cost me far more money than I have in my budget. What I DO want to make sure of though is that I don't buy a new system, only to find a radical shift in technology (namely socket styles) occurs just after I get it. I can be pretty secure in knowing things like PCI-express will be around for a while, so I'm not worried about that, but sockets change - and change frequently. More than anything, especially with Intel, they love to change chipsets - and being unfamiliar with Intels offerings makes me leery of getting anything out there right now only to find I bought something that has reached its end of life, and won't be supported for their newer processors. I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination, and don't want to throw my money out the window - cause I won't be able to do it again in 6 months from now when that change does happen.

I mean with my current system which is an Athlon XP2600+, and ASUS A7N8X deluxe mobo, I bought them 4 years ago. Shortly after I purchased them (4 months or so), there was a radical shift to the Athlon 64, essentially heralding the end of 32 bit computing, and making my system more or less obsolete.. I couldn't buy an Athlon 64 that would fit into a socket A, and thus my upgrade path ended more or less where I started. Sure I could have bought a faster XP, but it really would have worked out the same in the end.

I want to make sure that I don't drop 600-700$ on a CPU/ Motherboard, only to find out that I don't have an upgrade path in 4 months.

So my major question to the community is essentially - does anyone know of any RADICAL shifts forthcoming for either AMD or Intel? If I buy an AM2, will I be ok with it for a while (at least a year or so?) - Same question applies for Intel - Is socket 775 going to be around for a while? If either of these AREN'T, I may as well wait, and buy a budget version of the next major platform - thus ensuring I can turn IT into the killer gaming rig I eventually desire (as money eventually doesn't become an issue).

I know I'm sounding paranoid, and I know I "have to jump in and get wet sometime", but I just want to make a well informed decision about this whole thing, and get the best bang for my buck, while TRYING to future proof myself for a while. I know that future proofing in the computer world is near impossible, but I'd like to give it my best go anyways.