3K budget

[Rush]

I want to work on spending 3K in the next 2 years on computer components that will last me 5 years at least (or as damn near it, a big ask in computer life i know) .
What motherboard, processor, memory, graphics card will allow it ??..I know i will have to invest in Blue ray !! but what about the rest? there must be some hardware or peripherals that are years ahead of their time.

 

[itsme]

You can get a lot for 3K, but remember in the computer industry? New today obsolete tomorrow!!! You just have to look at every aspect?

 

[CITech]

... a big ask in computer life i know ...

You ain't kidding Rush, 5 years, you're lucky if it remains up-to-date for 5 months

 

[Ian]

Why not spend 1.5k now, and another 1.5k in two and a half years time? That way you'd have a fantastic system that would last you for 5 years

 

[Adywebb]

Rush, most componants will last you 5 years or more - its just that they become comparatively slower and less effective.

I don't think there really is a 'best' time to buy as things move so quickly - sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and buy the best you can at the time.

 

[crazylegs]

You'll never have a system that will last a full 5 years that is just asking to much


Your best bet is to get a solid grounding and update components as and when you need them over a set period of time...

 

[Rush]

Sony expect their new console to last 10 years !!! i thought 3 was a relative era for my new machine.

 

[crazylegs]

Sony would be lucky if there new console lasts 10 months let alone 10 years...

Other peoples technology certainly won't let sony's console last any length of time as the need for updating regularly is now considered the norm..

 

[Rush]

OK point taken. Lets look at another angle/ which companies are considered to be the up and coming main manufacturers of the latest and most reliable parts and components ?.. LG spring to mind

 

[Adywebb]

I know i will have to invest in Blue ray !!

Hmmm, are you sure about this - what about HD-DVD? I would wait and see who wins the battle first

LG seem to be on a roll at the moment getting themselves a good reputation

 

[Rush]

Ok Ady I know LG pionered the HD-DVD so them against the Blu ray is a risk to be taken...1 to wait and see m8 !

 

[muckshifter]

You'll never have a system that will last a full 5 years that is just asking to much

I have.

Yesterdays hardware will run today and tomorrow on Linux.

 

[floppybootstomp]

At one time LG made the most unreliable products ever and I mean in every product with their name on. I experienced instances of LG products crapping out close to home and read lots of negative views of the company on the net.

That was, however, about 3 or 4 years ago, maybe they've got their act together.

NEC managed it, their first burners were rubbish yet now they frequently top reviews as best DVDRW drive.

Most reliable products?

Hard to say, it often depends on the manufacturing factory and the batch.

I'd trust Plextor, Pioneer, Samsung, DFI, Asus, Asrock, Iiyama, Philips, off the top of my head.

As others have said, there ain't NO system built now that is going to look even vaguely up to date in five years. Five years ago an Athlon 900 was top dog CPU and onboard sound was a rarity.

For £1K5, consider dual core Athlon, DFI or Asus motherboard, at least 2Gb of RAM and a top range video card. If your budget includes a monitor, choose that first then see what money you have left. With that budget, don't skimp on the Monitor.

And as for Sony, they can go creep in a hole and die, I will NEVER forget them placing adware/virus on audio CD's.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I have.

Yesterdays hardware will run today and tomorrow on Linux.

Aye, that it will, but in five years you may be using the equivalent of a Pentium 2 or a Duron 800 based system. Would you really be happy with that?

Incidentally, most Linux distros will run on the aforementioned CPU-based systems, as you know

 

[floppybootstomp]

Almost forgot, I know a lot of folks favour Liteon but I've had 1 DVDROM drive and no less than 3 of their CDRW's die on me.

They've lasted between 2 and 4 years before going to the great optical drive graveyard in the sky.

So, I don't touch Liteon anymore.

 

[TriplexDread]

I think 3K is a ****load of dosh to spend on a PC altho some peeps spend tht kinda money in one go on the likes of an Alienware system. Personally I thinkk tht is a total waste. Build ya system as good as you can get it. ie get a really really good aluminium tower (full size) get a really good PSU minimum of say 500watts. Go for a M/B tht will handle SATA II drives aswell as the usual but dated IDE. Also makesure the M/B is PCI-E capable and has the usual 1394/USB2 and 1.1 sockets. Try to make sure the board has Dual BIOS and is capable of DUAL CORE CPU upgrading via a Flash so if u want this can be bought at a later date if your not sure about spending over £700 on a AMD FX57. All this will help decide how much u wanna spend in the future.

The good case and PSU helps you determine what you can do in the future. I spent £120 on a Thermaltake case and an extra £75 on a Tagen PSU. They will last minimum of 5years. So try look ahead a bit

 

[Rush]

My specs at the moment

Amd 3200+/asus a8n-sli /nvidia geforce 6600gt/1024mb pc3200 ram/40 gb sata hd/16x dvd rewriter/ 52x32x52 cd rewriter.



Monitor is letting me down LG Flatron L1510S ONLY SUPPORTS 1024 X 768

OH CASE Antec Performance TX1088AMG Metallic Grey Tower Case - 480w Truepower PSU (CA-035-AN) [size=-1]
[/size]

 

[chelseafc2005]

get a more powerful cpu get either a 3500 or a 3700 you will def notice the difference

 

[psd99]

tel u what put 0.5k my way and im happy!

lol

 

[-Opaque]

why do people like to keep there pc's 100% upadted :/ aslong as it run's thing you use with ease does it matter :S