MY own theories on upgrading :
The video card requirements increase by 50% per year , therefore , if you upgrade to something that is TWICE as fast as the currant recommended requirements of games , your video card will be more than sufficient for the next TWO years .
The CPU requirements increase by 33% a year, so upgrading to something Twice as fast as currant recommended will have you set for 3 years ! .
Memory requirements double evey 1.5-2 years . If you use a rare type of RAM eg RAMBUS , DDR 600. be sure to upgrade with lots of RAM before hand , in case you can't find them later on .
Example : the recommended PC now is :
2ghz P4/1.7 GHZ AMD
512mb DDR RAM
radeon 9600 / 8500 / TI 4200 128mb .
Your 'built to last' PC should be :
Athlon 64 3400/3.4 GHZ P4
1 GB DDR 600 [for overclocking ]
X700 pro /6600 GT 256mb .
Your PC Will be high end until late 2005 , medium end until late 2007 . It will play games VERY well .
Tricks of the trade :
Overclocking : look for a video card/CPU that overclocks well and is cheap , eg. my Athlon XP mobile , 70 USD , + a 10 USD CPU fan , overclocked to Athlon XP 3200 speeds [ and beyond] which at the time cost 150 USD + . Or a 6800 256mb , costs 320 USD , overclocks and mods to a 6800 GT , or even an ultra, which cost 450 USD + .
Selling your parts : build your PC with resale value in mind, when you have to replace it in 2-3 years , you will be able to sell your currant machine for AT LEAST half the price of the new one .....
RESEARCH!!!! : be sure your new parts are AT LEAST twice as fast as your currant build , or you will be running up more bills having to upgrade when games start to lag bad , go for PERFORMANCE above unecessary features , eg. video capture , shader 3.0 etc. etc.
USE A CREDIT CARD : match the EXACT model of the cards reviewed with the one you buy off the net , a 5200 can range from speeds of a Geforce 2 , to speeds of a geforce 4 , in the same price range , also you save alot of money
.
NOTE : shader 3 will be required next year , if you will USE it , you want video capture . Some games will break the trend once in awhile eg. Doom III needs a 9800 pro to make it happy .
