I was going to build a new machine when Conroe (Core 2 Duo) was released. But now I am waiting. With Vista, HDMI vid cards/monitors, and quad core processors, all slated to be out this time (or sooner) next year, I just cant pull the trigger yet. All of the items I just listed are huge archetechture upgrades and not just a slight performance bump.

If you *NEED* a new machine because your old one isnt cutting it, AMD just slashed the prices on their X2 and Athlon 64 lines but upwards for 50% for bulk 1000 chip buys — online retailers should start reflecting this with significant price drops over the next few days.

Thom: From what I have read those are just speculations — nothing official from the devs yet.

EvilAvatar posted an article about Crysis’s minimum and recommended specs yesterday if that would help you make any decisions about your next PC.

http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15404

AMD already integrated the memory controller into their processors; according to the roadmap the PCI-E controller is supposed to be folded into the CPU during one of the next revisions as well — could we soon see the full GPU integrated with the CPU???

It would suck from a cost standpoint, and the fact that to replace your video card you would have to replace your CPU, but I cant help but to think that performance would be pretty crazy with direct access to system RAM and processor cache….

Then I start thinking about how ATI was talking about doing physics with their GPUs; if the CPU and GPU were on the same chip, would be able to load balance physics between the two???

Lots of possibilities with this merger — especially if AMD decides to try some “outside-the-box” innovation to combat the juggernaut that are the Core 2 Duo (Conroe) processors that Intel is releasing.

Also, dont forget, both AMD and Intel have quad core processors on the roadmap within the next 12 months…

Update: I still hate ATI.

3dfx > *