Building a PC for when I get back from Iraq

Macen

Hey guys. I'm going through right now to buy different parts for a PC for when I get home sometime in Q1 2009. I want to build something that is pretty beefy, but all around under 1grand in cost (minus accessories).

I won't have an issue with putting it together when I get home, but I don't know much about new computer parts. I've been out of the loop for about 2 years.

Deployment - and 6 month pre-deployment alcohol benge!

If I could get some recommendations from you guys... I want to build something that will last for at least 2 years (can upgrade parts as I go if needed I suppose). Any helps is appreciated!

EDIT* Decided I would add a list of what I'm thinking about picking up (Black Friday Weekend Sales on a lot of it).

Here is a list of what im thinking SO far...

Case:
Antec Nine Hundred

Graphics:
MSI GeForce GTX 260 896MB SLI Enabled
or
ASUS GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB SLI Enabled

Ram:
OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

Hard Drive:
Western Digital 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s

I know i'm still missing some of the most expensive parts... but I can go over a grand.

Scrublet

You are going to want to buy a CPU soon. I'm not sure how long the core 2 duos are going to be sold now that the core i7 is out. My guess is longer than usual, since the i7s are expensive and require DDR3 (also expensive) and an LGA1333 motherboard (even MORE expensive). Still, standard operating procedure is to shuffle out the old cores to make way for the new. I'd get a decent core 2 quad chip and a gigabyte motherboard to go with it.

Macen

Scrublet wrote: »

You are going to want to buy a CPU soon. I'm not sure how long the core 2 duos are going to be sold now that the core i7 is out. My guess is longer than usual, since the i7s are expensive and require DDR3 (also expensive) and an LGA1333 motherboard (even MORE expensive). Still, standard operating procedure is to shuffle out the old cores to make way for the new. I'd get a decent core 2 quad chip and a gigabyte motherboard to go with it.

So, I'd be better off picking up a core 2 quad instead of a core 2 duo? I get the difference in the two, but I didn't think most programs were able to optimize off the quad core yet?

ParisInFlames

You're in no danger of having Core2Duo's being gone from anywhere by Q1 2009. We won't see C2D being phased out till they're budget versions of Core i7 and accompanying motherboards start showing up.

As far as your build goes I'd wait until the day you come back. Prices can change so quick and great deals can just make a build too good to pass up for the price. I think you're on the right path with those few choices. But just hold off until you're ready to pull the trigger.

Scrublet

Macen wrote: »

Scrublet wrote: »

You are going to want to buy a CPU soon. I'm not sure how long the core 2 duos are going to be sold now that the core i7 is out. My guess is longer than usual, since the i7s are expensive and require DDR3 (also expensive) and an LGA1333 motherboard (even MORE expensive). Still, standard operating procedure is to shuffle out the old cores to make way for the new. I'd get a decent core 2 quad chip and a gigabyte motherboard to go with it.

So, I'd be better off picking up a core 2 quad instead of a core 2 duo? I get the difference in the two, but I didn't think most programs were able to optimize off the quad core yet?

Lots of work is being done by Microsoft and others to work on the parallelization of all code. There is even work being done to make the process transparent to coders (where the compiler will compile code to run on any number of cores without a coder worrying about it), though that is even farther away. However, the point is we have made tons of progress using multiple cores, and much more progress is on the horizon. I'd have to recommend future-proofing yourself by getting the quad.

I strongly suspect ParisInFlames is correct, so while the cautious sie of me says buy now to make sure they don't run out, the not-so-paranoid side of me says he is right and the i7s are just too expensive to phase out as quick.

Ramen Noodle

Also, go with ATI instead of nVidia right now. 4870 is a better bang for your buck than a GTX260.