How Long Will This Last

[MatrixmaN]

Before I have to upgrade:

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AMD AthlonXP 2600+
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2GB DDR333 PC2700
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ATI Radeon 9800NP 128
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WindowsXP Pro
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Sound Blaster! Live 5.1
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Cable Internet
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This isn't for bragging rights just an honest question. I know alot of people have a better one.

In this market nothing lasts long. I'm wondering how long I have before I'm archiac and can't run everything very well, and whats gonna be upgraded in what order. I tried to make it so upgrading wouldn't be a worry for awhile.

What do you think?

[Droppyale]

i say a year and a half... 2 years maximum

what do you do most of your time on the computer? gamer? programmer? mix music/videos?

[MatrixmaN]

I'm a Gamewhore.

Tried to build it in my budget around running all of my games and upcoming games as flawlessly as possible with the best graphics I could afford.

I guess that narrows me down to about 6 months eh?

[CubKid]

Actually that should last you quite awhile. Im still running on an old Althon 1ghz, GeForce 2, and 384mb ram. It works fine as far as games go.

[ragtop]

You'll probably be able to run games for a couple years, but you may not be able to run at the highest resolution and detail settings.

Look at it this way - what was the hot setup two years ago?? (Probably a GF3 and an XP1800 running on a KT266A MB). If you had that setup today, you'd still be able to run all the games that are out there, but you wouldn't be able to run the newest ones at high resolution. The pace of technology will probably be about the same over the next two years as it has been for the past two years.

[J-Excel]

2GB DDR is a little overboard, isn't it?

[CubKid]

Originally posted by J-Excel
2GB DDR is a little overboard, isn't it?

That was my thought. I thought 384 was a bit high.

[Ryder Zery]

Take away a gig of RAM and spend that extra cash on a faster Athlon. That's what I would do. And I think that comp will last you a maximum of 2 years with no upgrades, unless you need to play the newest games at the highest resolutons with everything set to high. Then it won't last you more than a year.

[nukes]

It will probably last longer than that, I had my Voodoo3 for about 18 months 2 years, and it could still play lots of games for a while after that.
In 2/3 years time though, you probably won't be able to play on the highest settings, but it will be ok, as you'll still be able to play stuff. For example, atm I'm still running a 32mb radeon SDR, and that will probably be my next upgrade as I've had that about 2 year. It wasn't even top of the range when I bought it, whereas a 9700pro is.