When is a good time to buy a new computer?

I've been thinking about getting a new computer before I head off to university, and I have the knowledge of how to build one so my costs will be down. As always, technology is being upgraded. Are there ever times in a year that are better than others to get a computer? Like, is there a time when a lot of new hardware comes out, or when costs go down quite a bit?

Nope, it's all about patience and resisting the urge to be an early-adopter.  For instance, I have my eye on 4GB SDcards but I know they won't be affordable until 8GB ones become widely available (in the consumer market).  Cutting edge will cost you dearly.

>>1
When there are things you want to do and you answer "yes" to these four questions:
1. These things are really important, not just stupid non-functional shit like transparent skins or drag and drop faggotry
2. You really cannot do them with your hardware, not because you fail at configuration but because you can't
3. You really can do them with new hardware
4. You can afford new hardware.

>>1

AMD will most likely be bringing out their 65nm chips around christmas time, and Intel will be releasing Conroe toward the end of the year as well. AMD's 65nm chips will be obsoleting the AM2-remakes of their old 939 A64's. Intel's Conroe will be obsoleting their Presler and Smithfield chips. YOu can wait until the end of the year and get the latest greatest and build a machine with no obsolete hardware, or buy now. If you buy now,  old 939 CPU's perform better than the AM2 CPU's currently available, but AM2 will get you a better upgrade path, as you'll have the latest socket type. If you but Intel, Presler 930 or 940 are your best bets. They'll be obsoleted by Conroe, and can barely compete with the low end X2's, but are much cheaper, and can overclock like no other processor you can get under $400. Seriously. The Presler core is capable of 5.5GHz stable, 6GHz unstable (can post and boot at 6GHz). Preslers also have the biggest cache available right now, at 2mb per core (dual core). An AM2 or LGA775 build with a cheap CPU (like a Smithfield 820 or a Sempron 64 3000+) could get you by until the new CPUs come out later this year, with minimal expense on the interrim CPU.

When DOOM 4 is released and you need 1342342 niggerbytes of memory to hold all the textures you can't see because it's so dark.

WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO GET RID OF DRAM AND START RELEASING SRAM DIMMS?

When Apple updates them. I'd love to get Merom in an iMac but I need a new machine now.

Fucking iMac...

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