Upgrade now or wait

[Cool Buddy]

I was thinking of upgrading my system. Currently I have 2 Ghz Athlon X2 (almost 4 years old) and 1.5 GB of RAM. I'll be buying only mobo+proccy+RAM+SMPS. I thought of Sam's config (X4 635+Gigabyte 785 US2H+2 GB RAM). this would cost me ~14.5k. But then I thought if I could get the following around December-January, wouldn't it be better:

Phenom II X6 1055 - 7.5-8k
2 GB DDR3 RAM - 2k
Good Mobo - 4k
SMPS - 2.5k

I would increase my budget to 16.5-17k if this would be possible coz I really want to get that 6 core processor. So what say friends, do you think I would be able to get things at these prices if I waited 4 months?

I'm filling the PC build questionnaire just for you people to know what I do and what I need my PC for:

1. I use My Computer mostly for Internet and watching movies (mostly HD). But now I really want to game somewhat. I'm not too much into games & really am not serious about them. So I'll skip the gfx card till my exams in May 2011. Besides I download for around 3-4 hours daily
2. No I'm not open to alternate Ideas, I'm only open to AMD options
3. Max budget for the above 4 components would be 17k
4. I'm not thinking of overclocking at all. So a relatively cheaper mobo would do
5. I don't need HDD
6. I have a 20" monitor, 1600x900
7. I'd rate my hardware knowledge at 6-7. Please judge yourself
8. I'll not be assembling myself although I do know somewhat. But I'm not the risk taking type
9. I plan to buy it around Dec '10-Jan '11
10. I won't be upgrading this system ever. It may or may not be future proof.
11. I need only proccy, mobo, RAM & SMPS
12. I live in and will buy from Koklata

I hope leaving out the question doesn't make it difficult, all questions have been answered in order. Please give your opinion.

[jayantr7]

IMO,You should wait for December.As prices will decrease and then you may have a better option.Choice is totally yours though...

[Cool Buddy]

Come on guys, at least some of you express your views. Jas, sam, saurav, where are you people. All i wanted to ask was whether you think the prices will fall that much.

[Faun]

no wait...its too late.

[Sam]

i was at college. sacrificing my brain to those idiots that call themselves "teachers & lecturers".

by October-November, price will come to that level. waiting till December will see new proccy previews. so better buy in October-December. else skip it & get the new proccy that AMD releases. March-June 2011.

[Jaskanwar Singh]

best wait if you can.
although dont be biased towards AMD only. good intel releases are pending...

[Cool Buddy]

I can certainly wait coz my pc is good enough for another 3-4 months. I'd like X6 so that this pc can handle two monitors some time in future, simultaneous movie and browsing for example. I also use my pc for encoding videos.

There are multiple reasons for not considering intel, first i know it'll never fit in that budget. Second, since i'm skipping gfx card for now, i need the capable igp of 785g or 880g. Third, i'm just not comfortable buying intel, in short, i'm an AMD fanboy (which i'm not ashamed to say BTW)
Newer launches will be expensive, so i won't wait for them. I'll upgrade around december

[Jaskanwar Singh]

nope, who knows intel sandy bridge's graphics be better. you cant just say without any review. moreover you cant comment on the price of a unknown thing.

[acewin]

still it would be bette and costlier LOL, it is never gonna happen that intel keeps its good HW's price lower than AMD

[Cool Buddy]

OK, graphics might be better. But it will never be as much vfm as AMD at these prices. for that the newer proccys will have to be cheaper than i5 7xx series
yet, If I do find that intel is offering better performance at same price or same performance at lower price than AMD, I'll definitely buy it. But that is unlikely to happen.

I am preferring to wait because I am in no hurry to buy. When companies launch newer products, price cuts are expected in older range of products. Also RAM prices are falling. It is available at around 2.3k currently. A further fall of 200 bucks is definitely possible. And I hope the 880G Chipset boards will become slightly cheaper by then. I know Sam's board won't be available by then, hope Jaskanwar's will be.

I wanted to ask one more thing. Antec earthwatts series of PSUs is very good. Availability is an issue. 430W is available for around Rs. 3400 on some sites. Will it be a good buy at that price. or getting VX450W by adding another 300-400 bucks would be better, coz VX450 can be considered to be 500W PSU, almost. Otherwise I'll just get FSP Saga II 500W

@ichi, can you please explain what you meant.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

IThere are multiple reasons for not considering intel, first i know it'll never fit in that budget. Second, since i'm skipping gfx card for now, i need the capable igp of 785g or 880g. Third, i'm just not comfortable buying intel, in short, i'm an AMD fanboy (which i'm not ashamed to say BTW)
Newer launches will be expensive, so i won't wait for them. I'll upgrade around december

after giving such good reasons. the third one isn't needed anymore.

yes Intel Sandy Bridges will be faster than 880G or 890GX but if they ask 8-9k for a dual core (with HT) & a seperate 6-7k for the mobo (a total crap as always) i feel even Intel fanboys will have to think once. this just an assumption but looking at the Core i series success, its a good possibility.

Originally Posted by acewin

still it would be bette and costlier LOL, it is never gonna happen that intel keeps its good HW's price lower than AMD

well told. its an Universal Truth

[Cool Buddy]

But the thing that I fear is that AMD increasing its prices. Athlon II series of processors is pure value for money. But if you look at the phenom II range, they are not so vfm. Phenom II X4 945 (3.0 Ghz) costs 7k while Athlon II X4 635 (2.9 Ghz) cost <5k. this phenom offers a mere 10-15% performance boost over 635.
So maybe AMD is looking to bring its prices more at par with Intel although it will always have to be cheaper than Intel.

[Sam]

so buy late & get Athlon II X4 or Phenom II X6. if you not game lot (you already mentioned earlier) & budget allows X6, X6 is better buy. else Athlon II X4 always there to watch your back.

[Cool Buddy]

yes, currently no games run on my PC so I don't play games much. But anyways I'm not interested much in gaming although I would definitely play some after I get graphics card. However, If fall in prices allows me to get a graphics card+X4 at similar price as X6 without graphis card, then it will be a tough decision for me.
So now I have decided to wait. Will consult you guys around November-December for the new config, hopefully.
thanks everyone.