Next year, around July, I will be building a new rig (woopee!). Anyhow, right now I am rich, so I want to buy a few parts for the new rig now, so its not such a huge chunk outta my wallet then.

What I want to know: What parts can I buy now, that will still be current or wont have lost a shedload off their value by the time july rolls around?

Case
Cooling system (fans, fan controllers, etc)
Harddrives
RAID card (if you are going that direction)
Power supply
Sound card
Optical drives
Software
Keyboard
Mouse



I would say motherboard, but I would wait until you see what chipsets come out in response to all the new Quad processors.

6 months ago I would have said graphics card, but we're in an awward graphics strage with DX10 in our view.

floppy drive!!!!!!

shit! I thought of the case, but what about the rest! your totally right!

Though hard drive prices are steadily declining

Seagate SATA 3.0Gb/s 320GB PRT HDD - Currenty at an amazing price point, SATA is the future, plus hard drives advance slowly.

A case with good airflow - Probably the one item that will surive multiple future upgrades.

A 600-700W power supply with plenty of amps on the 12V rails. - Will run next gen graphics cards.

LCD monitor - There are some nice ones available and you can start using it now. The only argument for waiting is that the price theoretically could come down a significant amount by July

18X DVD-Burner - At $30 this is a no brainer

Floppy Drive - If you need it for overclocking

Wait on buying the motherboard, RAM, graphics card, sound card, and CPU. These technologies advance and fluctuate in price many times before July 07.

I wouldn't get a monitor right now, because LCD's are constantly improving performance, and 6 months may make a different.

Sound cards are safe, because the current technology produces very good surround sound, unless you are actually doing sound editting and mixing - then you should wait.

You are always going to save money, if you wait on the same parts. The only answer to that is to save your money and buy everything when you are ready to buy it all.

From experience. It is very frustrating staring at an empty case and power supply for three months.

Absolutely none *.

Save the money, earn some interest, spend it all in July.




*maybe a keyboard. Or a floppy drive. Or possibly some case fans or cables. But even then, prices will always drop - or you will be able to get better for the same money.

Probably good advice. You have itchy fingers!!!!

But at the same time I understand the feeling that if I don't commit some money to this new computer build then I'm never going to get around to it.

So, buys a case and stare at it for 6 months.

Woah, as an OC newb, did I miss something when I read Tom's Guide to Overclocking? A floppy drive?? :?:

This is just stupid. Learn to save your money and research till then.

Agreed.

you will need a floppy, someday,
for raid drivers, bios flashing,.....
if you don't think you need it,
just buy one for all times sake.

Look it isn't stupid to purchase things over time. It's just a different philosophy.

It's easier for me to purchase systems one step at a time, because it seems like I'm spending less to those who have their noses in my bank account. If you get my drift.

$200 there, $400 here $300 there and whalla!!! Mostly new kick butt system. Single guys may not understand this principle.

Wow. If he needs a floppy drive for that crap he can just PM me his address and I'll send him an old ugly one. My systems from here on out don't get one internally installed. Which leads me into my top 10...

Top 10 Reasons not to buy a floppy...

10) They take up a drive bay

9) Your local retailer is handing them out free.

8 ) I'd give you one free

7) Ever hear of a thumb drive?

6) CD-R's are cheaper than floppies

5) Floppy disks are very magnetically and statically sensitive, information is frequently lost

4) CD's make better coasters than floppy disks

3) Your grandma still doesn't know how to use a floppy drive and will never figure it out.

2) Buy a raptor

1) If you are going to buy a new floppy drive, just think of the 3 packs of chewing gum you could buy instead. Are you sure you're ready to make this kind of financial committment?

monitor
speakers
keyboard/mouse
case

at least for me, those are the less often upgraded parts in my computers

Hell I Havent Had, Used or Installed A Floppy Drive In Any System Ive Had In The Last 5 Years (3 Systems To Be Exact)

I believe you can accomplish the same tasks with a USB JumpDrive.

--Shodar

lol,
it looks like somebody hates floppy drives,
ever got stuck with you **** in it?

personally i use my floppy to boot to restore my image of my system

seriously,
he asked which parts he could buy, that still be usable next year,
so floppy.
simple question, simple answer.

Nice System!, My System Makes Like 10 Of Yours, My FSB Is Faster Than Your CPU, My iRAM (Can Be) Bigger Than Your Hard Drive, I Have More Memory In My Videocard That You Have In Your Entire System, LOL, No Offence I Just Had To Say That Though

Why do people assume things online about other people?

Ok fine, here we go...

Top 10 reasons to save up and buy at once:

1) You need to learn to save anyway

2) Interest = free money

3) Parts get cheaper

4) Everybody's doin' it

5) New parts come out that are faster and give you better selection

6) Skipped, some people think 666 is somehow corralated with the devil who I personally don't believe exists and is a fathom of superstition and fear...but we won't get into that. But all you crazies, this is for you.

7) If there are "prying eyes" into your financial statements, you're either rich, doing something illegal, or don't know how to stop creditors from looking at your personal financial records. If you're rich, a $3000 computer is nothing. If you're doing something illegal, quit it. If you don't know how to stop creditors from looking at your personal financial records, research how to s