Ever tried playing Supreme Commander on a 2.4 ghz Pentium 4 computer? It's not a pleasurable experience. The lag.......uugh. I should play it on a system that has the recommended 3 or more ghz.

My problem is, the computer is too old to be worth upgrading. I'm better off getting a new computer with the latest and greatest graphics cards and a 3.0ghz quad core CPU. I should be able to afford that.........in about a year. So what I'm asking is:

What are good gaming computers going to cost then, and how much power will they have?

(I'm looking to spend $1000-$1600)

Clarify 'good gaming computer'. Do you mean one that runs last year's games well, one that runs this year's games well, or one that runs next year's games well?

Maybe next years......but I'll settle for this years if I must.

This year's? you'll be able to get one dirt cheap. Next year's? Probably about the same kind of price as current computers, only more powerful, unless some major breakthrough is made that'll make stuff much cheaper. I doubt they'll get more expensive.

If any major breakthrough is achieved, it will undoubtedly make computers more expensive. If they create something like Oct Core processors, that'll be super high priced. In truth, it's impossible to predict the future, so the best advice anyone can offer would be to save your money; expect the worst; hope for the best.

hmmm....
that's what I'm doing. In fact, I was seeking employment today.
I can hardly wait until the next breakthrough that will make computer power cheap.

Maybe 2008 will be the year of the true quantum computing breakthrough ... doubt it.

Marcus, go to various websites, like BestBuy, CircuitCity and Dell, where ever. Price the system your looking for and in one years time I guarantee you it will cost 500-800$ less than it does now. For more details on how see my post here.

Well, I'm only interested in getting the latest and greatest............
So what's that going to be in a year?

In a year, computers will probably need atleast 3-4gb ram to play games well enough. 512mb videocards will be the minimum, but still good enough for almost everything but FPS games. Spore will probably be geared around current technology, so there shouldn't be any issue there. The speed of the videocard may however be an issue, as always you won't be able to get by with any of the onboard cards or even what Dell is offering is you really want the performance. But since replacing a videocard isn't that big a deal, you can upgrade at a later date. Having multiple linked videocards will probably be the best way to go. For processors, you should aim for a multicore with atleast 3.5ghz but are better off closer to 5ghz. Although I can't really see games getting much more resource intensive than they are now. There's only so much that you can display, and there are certain limitations of various hardware standards. Even cooling can become an issue.

What I'm trying to say is that there are limitations as to what will be out on the market for the average "buying a PC and just plugging it in" crowd. This is because to get into the 5+ ghz range, you really need a more efficient method of cooling than with fans and air. That creates a problem in the marketplace since your average consumer wouldn't be able to understand, let alone maintain a water cooled system. This means that unless some sort of breakthrough does occur, games will eventually have to just plan for those limitations since you can't expect to sell a game that requires everyone to customize their computer to play. It may not mean that these games play extremely well on an "off the shelf" computer, but they will play well enough to make the product viable. If anything ends up limiting you, it'll probably be videocards, but again game companies can't expect people to have multiple cards installed and setup, so unless the standard is to put two sets of video processors and memory on a single card, there probably won't be a serious need to go beyond what is currently available now. Think about it for a moment, how much have things advanced within the last year, compared to the year before that, or the year before that. The tech push isn't as strong now, and a slowly dying american economy isn't making it stronger.

So what you're saying is that in about a year, we'll have maxed out 5 Ghz CPUs? That sounds intense.....
I also read the rest of your post. What I interpreted from it is:
Over the next 5 years, games will grow less in processing power compared to the last 5 years. That will make everything bought in a year from now more worthwhile.
I like that idea. I don't want to be caught up in a cycle of having to upgrade my computer every 2 years.

Well, I'm probably wrong about it. Some techno geeks are probably having a good laugh at what I posted. But there have been hints that the rate of improvements has been slowing down. As far as processors go, most of the advancements within the last few years have only been because of putting more than one core on a board. The actual architecture of the processors hasn't changed much, they've just been able to make it smaller. But there are limits to this, more processors mean more heat, and anything as far as heat goes is usually bad for computers. 5ghz isn't unthinkable, it just requires multiple cores and the ability to get rid of the heat. As long as processors are using metals to conduct signals, there will be a limit to how small of a processor you can have. It won't be until someone can come up with some light based processors (micro-optics) that things will really start to take off again. Or if they find out a solution to the heat issue that's idiot friendly.

But taking a few years out of the rapid hardware improvement cycle might actually be a good thing for things other than your pocketbook. If we get faced with limitations, we'll be more encouraged to optimize our software to run better with those limitations, rather than leave it up to someone else to make up for any problems. Look at how many game engines there are out there that make poor use of system resources. Look at Vista. These things were not made to run on what is currently available, but are made to run for those who have gone for either an above average system, or one of those high-end custom systems.

If you're really worried about having to buy a new computer after a few years, save up and buy Alienware. Yeah, it costs alot more, but an Alienware system that is bought right now would be good enough to last you 4-5 years if you don't mind slowly diminishing performance or not keeping up with all the latest and most flashy FPS.

About 5000-6000$. You can get today's Latest and greatest for about 5000-6000$. You said previously that your budget was 1600$. Since you are obviously pipe dreaming here is mine:

XPS 720 - Black
Starting Price $5,938
Instant Savings $104
Subtotal $5,834
As low as $176/month


PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6850 (4MB L2 Cache,3.0GHz,1333 FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate
MEMORY 4GB Corsair Dominator DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz OC'd to 1066MHz-4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE Dual 500GB - Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Dual Drives: Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) and 16x DVD+/-RW
MONITOR 24 inch E248WFP Entry Widescreen Digital Flat Panel Monitor
VIDEO CARD 768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra
PHYSICS ACCELERATOR AGEIA® PhysX® physics accelerator
SOUND CARD Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer (D) Sound Card
KEYBOARD Dell USB Keyboard
MOUSE Dell Optical USB Mouse

My Software & Accessories
PRINTER Dell Laser Printer 1320c
SERVICE & SUPPORT 1 yr Ltd. Warranty- Advance Exchange
DELL PRINTER Dell 1320c Color Laser Printer edit
SPEAKERS Bose Companion 3 Series II Multimedia Speaker System
TOP SELLING SOFTWARE Easy Media Creator 10 Suite
GAMING ACCESSORIES Saitek P2900 Wireless USB Game Pad
DESKTOP ACCESSORIES Western Digital 500GB 7200RPM USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

My Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE Get $50 Dell Gift Card with 4Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor
PROTECTION AGAINST ACCIDENTS CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection, 4 Year
GETTING-STARTED HELP Dell On Call, 30 Day Unlimited, Back to School Support! Setup and More
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Included 10GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Year

ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
XPS Specialized Support XPS, Specialized Support


Dream On. When your ready to stop pipe dreaming, really read my post(all of it) that I linked to previously and then we can talk about a system that you can afford and will be upgradeable, extending it's life 1 or two years beyond the two year software stepup demand on desktops.

I saw in '09 they are going to have a pc from Microsoft about the size of a table. If you go to for example, a skate shop, you can customize the skateboard using a touch screen. They wont be in homes until i think 2011

I spent $1500 to buy the parts and build my own "state of the art" pc about 3 years ago. Well, not really the best, but I targeted 85 to 90% of the best. That way you can get it for less than half price. I also made sure I had the latest motherboard setup (at the time) so I could upgrade to new cpus and stuff when the prices came down.

Since then, I've upgraded my monitor (from 17" to 22" widescreen), installed a brand new video card, a new dual-core cpu and doubled my ram - all for another $1000 or so. I can run Oblivion at 1680x1050 with all the settings nearly maxed and fps at 20 or better. See my profile for actual system details.

Next year I'll probably throw it all away and start over. Since my monitor is brand new, I'll save a bit. I figure to spend under $2000 to get back to 90% of next-year's "best."

Regarding quad-core - you don't need it for games. Games won't take advantage of multiple cores for a few more years yet. One core for the game and one for Windows underneath - that's all you need for now.

Anyway - if you really, really want to see what a cost-no-object, state-of-the-art gaming rig looks like, check these out: Falcon Northwest. Just be prepared for some serious, serious sticker-shock.

-Jumonji

Wow, my dream machine is over 22K!

Mine's at $16,132.19. Don't call'em dream machines for nothing.
Let's see what these guys offer at a lower price......
Nope, I don't think there's anything in my range. Of course, I intend to buy the pieces and assemble it myself to save some cash. I'll also be cheap on the chassis.

Of course, if I change my mind and decide to go all out on a chassis, I'll definitely get a HP Blackbird 002. Those things are bitching. My dream system from that site's @ $10644.95.

Take a look for yourself, it's one helluva chassis!

My Falcon NW dream box is under $7k, but then I like AMD and I don't need a new monitor or a fancy paint job.

Update:
If I'm hired, I should be able to make about $5000 by September.

Any new graphics cards or CPUs coming out by then that anybody knows about?

You guys are pathetic - raw power alone isn't gonna make your game run any better. You still have to know how to optimize your system so you're not sacrificing performance all on the count of visuals.

BTW, NVIDIA's GeForce 9800 GX2 should be released anytime soon (maybe later this month, or next month sometime).

Im iffy about another dual GPU card from them. All the 9800 GX2 is suppose to be is 2 8800GTS's slapped together, i believe with 10.1 support though. The last one had terrible drivers from what i read. I would wait and see what the 9800GTX is.

For me I have more fun buildind it, then I actually do using it, Im so proud of the computer i built back in march!

I actually don't use NVIDIA (ATI user myself ), but since all these little kiddies here swear by NVIDIA, I don't want to PO them...

This computer uses an ATI, but its an older model, but it was excellent at the time. I'm not saying that anyone who says Nvidia is the best is wrong, just that ATI hasn't given me a reason to change brands yet.

You know, ATI is what I prefer because not only do I play games, I also watch movies. NVIDIA = high performance gaming, ATI = high definition media.

Exactly how powerful (and expensive) would these 9800 GX2 and 9800GTX cards be? Because when I buy a computer, I want it to be ridiculously powerful so it'll take longer to outdate. And what about the CPU department? What can we next expect from Intel?

PS I'm a Nvidia/Intel supporter

The 9800GX2 will be 30-50% faster then a 8800ULTRA, pretty fast, but it is expected to be $450 maybe a bit higher. Who knows how fast the 9800GTX will be. Or how much it will cost.

Intel will have their Nehalem line out by then. I don't know what to expect out of the new motherboards that will come out.

How much money are you looking at to spend?

He said anywhere from $1000 to $1600 - and the new 9800 GX2 isn't much to look at I'm afraid. But as I said, I'm an ATI/AMD supporter, so if my comments are highly offensive, I DON'T CARE. Call me a fanboy, I'll sock it to your eyeball

BTW, AMD will be putting out their new combined CPU/GPU architecture sometime later this year, and that's something neither Intel nor NVIDIA can touch.

I've built all kinds of systems. I go with whichever has the most performance. Right now the pendulums swing is at the Intel/Nvidia sides. I Don't see it changing anytime soon either. Which is bad for consumers because the companies then wont compete for performance and price, thus we lose out since theres no race.

As long as there is a race between Intel and Amd, It is the gamers who shall be the winners....

anyhow, I should have around $6000 by the end of August. Compute that!

PS What's Nehalem?

Wiki wrote:


6 G's is a lot of money! You will be able to build a MONSTER computer. If you need any help picking out pieces like the case, mobo, etc, just ask. I doubt it will be to hard to find what you want thought, since you bascially will be getting the best. I for instance am always on a budget so i try and find the sweet spot of price and performance. You could save yourself 4 grand easily if you wanted to do the same. But then your PC wouldn't be ass bad ass!

My problem is not finding what gets the most bang for my buck, (because that's not my top concern), but where I can find the best prices. I'll probably ask that in a new topic when I have the money.

Right now, I would see if you can your hands on at least one of the 2.66ghz/3.0ghz wolfdales or a quadcore that you can actually afford. Unless AMD gets a miracle, stick with Intel if you want to stay up to date.

In regards to graphics card, one thing I did last summer was saved up some money and picked me up a 8800 GTX. The reason I went with the GTX was because I wanted the extra power so that it would last me a little longer and be able to max everything out for a while longer.

If you want the best price, then you want to custom build. If you build, Newegg.com is the place to go.

Update: I will not be able to get $6000 by September, only $1000 or so. However, my birthday is in September, and my parents on both sides have three siblings each.

My strategy:
In September, get 9 different pieces of the $5000 dollar computer (3 from my dad's siblings, 3 from my mom's siblings, 1 from each set of grandparents and one from my parents), but not the graphics card or CPU (don't want to ask to much of them financially)

In December, I ask Dad's half of the family to put all the money they were going to spend on me together to buy me the best Intel Quadcore CPU available, and ask my Mother's side to do the same for the best Nvida graphics card(s) on the market.

Anything not covered by those 2 events I'll just buy myself.

Clever, or what?

Hey, more power to ya, Marcus, just do us all a favor huh? When you do get this uber computer of yours, don't start making and releasing mods that will only run on uber computers. Keep in mind that most of us have to work for a living and most of those that don't will never have this handed to them.

Actually, I don't make mods, so that won't be an issue.

I doubt that intel has any plans to introduce a 5Gz anytime soon, as they are going with multiple cores instead. And unless 64-bit operating systems are mainstream you will not need more than 3GB of ram, since 32-bit operating systems can only use about 1.5GB of ram per application. The high end video cards available today should also be sufficient in a year because developers are loath to get to far ahead of the consoles, which have a much larger sales rate than PC games.




I wouldn't recommend going cheap on the chassis, unless you want to melt your parts, of course.

Well, not THAT cheap. I'm just looking for function more than fashion.