Wait or buy?

[nativeson]

So my current box is horribly out dated. WAR runs, but just barely.

I'm going to probably just buy a Dell because of the corporate discount I get through work (20%) And I don't have the time to fiddle around building my own.

I would have placed the order this weekend, but while doing some research I saw that the i7's are slated for release in Q4. So maybe in the next month or two.

Wait or buy now, thoughts?

[Steingrimr]

One thing with computers, is you will always find yourself saying "X is coming down the pipe in Y months."

When you decide you need a new PC, pull the trigger and buy the best you can get for your dollar. New technology will always be inflated in price. When I buy a new machine, I generally try to buy one generation down from current top of the line, as that offers the most buying power.

[Drakhon]

I agree with Steingrimr on this with a little modification: I had been planning on building a new system since early this year, but I knew I wasn't going to have anything that I really needed it for until WAR, so I waited until a couple weeks ago to make the purchase. It made sense to wait for prices to drop and new stuff to come out as long as I got the system ready before WAR.

As a note, the Core i7 stuff coming out in Q4 is only the high end enthusiast (expensive) stuff. The more mainstream things wont be until Q2ish '09, supposedly. Of course, if that's what you would buy, it's not a big deal, but you don't have to spend a lot of money on hardware to get really good performance if you buy the right stuff at the right time (which isn't the highest end new tech right when it comes out).

[Jalec]

never buy something that has JUST come out. i would say wait for q4 and save tons of money on the stuff thats out now as prices drop because of the i7. While im definately a hypocrit at the moment(i got the 4870x2 the day it released) this is advice ive tried to stick to as much as possible.

[Qizarek]

I love my Dell XPS...it's a much bigger computer than I expected, but I'm very happy with it. Customizing the 3 sets of LEDs is just awesome. (Front upper panel, front lower panel, back panel)

[Drakhon]

never buy something that has JUST come out. i would say wait for q4 and save tons of money on the stuff thats out now as prices drop because of the i7.

He could do that, but he said WAR barely runs on his current system, so it's a choice of saving money or having a potentially terrible play experience. Also, the "there's something more powerful coming soon" problem applies to "there are price cuts coming soon" as well as that will always be the case no matter when you make your purchase.

[Steingrimr]

Yeah, you can't get stuck in the cycle of 'xxx is coming'. You just have to pull the trigger and live with what you get. If you know you get the most bang for your buck, it makes it a lot easier to live with your choice.

[Drakhon]

Yeah, you can't get stuck in the cycle of 'xxx is coming'. You just have to pull the trigger and live with what you get. If you know you get the most bang for your buck, it makes it a lot easier to live with your choice.

My rule is pretty much to wait until you can't wait any longer for the intended application of the hardware (WAR, for example). For a general upgrade rather than for something specific, if it is known that a new generation or price cuts will happen in the next month, wait for that. If not, go for it immediately. The release cycle is pretty predictable, mostly due to the companies making it so intentionally rather than a specific limitation of innovation.

[Taut]

I say buy! .. but I just spent 2k on a new build

[Wazdakka]

Buy. While there is always something new on the horizon, right now there doesn't seem to be anything inexpensive and earth-shaking on the horizon.