Best Timing to Buy a Computer?

asdffdsa on 05/04/2019 - 22:06

I'm looking to upgrade my computer which is now pretty old (2011). I was wondering if there was a 'best time' to buy a computer - what I mean is, are there any new technologies that are coming out soon or have already come out (but haven't dropped to 'mainstream' prices yet) that are worth waiting for? Kinda like those new SSDs which look like RAM sticks or DDR5 memory (both of which I know nothing about atm).

If anyone has any opinions even if they're just telling me I'm overthinking it it would be appreciated. Cheers

Computing Computer Desktop Computer

Comments

  • chookpoo on 05/04/2019 - 22:23
    +1

    AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation

  • iforgotmysocks on 05/04/2019 - 22:36
    +18

    You have a very small window between 24:35 and 24:61 on April 31st. The next best time is not for another decade.

    • FIVEDOLLAR on 06/04/2019 - 01:36
      +3

      I missed out during 2009, I hope I do better this time.

      • iforgotmysocks on 06/04/2019 - 08:45

        Patience, my child. The best time is almost upon us again.

    • alvian on 07/04/2019 - 16:22

      There is a secret hour every year that occurs in early October when all PC components from every retailer are on sale for free. In 2019 this magical hour will happen on 6 October at 2:00:00am to 2:59:59am AEST. Set your calendar and don't miss it!

  • FlipCrank on 05/04/2019 - 22:37

    Couple months after CES? You may see some sales and its still got a good lifespan.

  • Godric on 05/04/2019 - 22:45

    Now

  • p1 ama on 05/04/2019 - 23:52
    +2

    In general, no. What we've seen over the past few generations is newer products coming out for higher prices and current products having price cuts throughout their cycle, such that when the new product comes out, there's usually price/performance parity.

    For example, when the RTX 2080 launched, it was slightly more expensive than the outgoing GTX 1080 Ti, understandable as it had more technology, features and future support…etc. However, it didn't make the 1080 Ti an instantly bad buy.

    Basically, right now, I would say that Ryzen 3000 series would be the biggest thing you'd want to wait for, but the announcement is still a while away and it'll still be ages before we get our hands on stock in stores. That said, there are plenty of good options right now for gaming CPUs and I don't think you'd have any issues with what we have now.

    In terms of GPUs, I'd say you're pretty safe to go. Based on what we saw of the Radeon VII, I don't think AMD really has much up their sleeve with GPU performance. It's been that way for the past several generations. Vega was a let down after the huge initial hype. Polaris was very good, but it never undercut the GTX 1060 by enough to make it the "must buy" GPU - i.e. both the GTX 1060 and RX 580 would have been perfectly reasonable buys in my book. That's coming from someone who owns an RX 580.

    Other things I think we're fine. DDR5 is not around the corner by any means and even when it does launch, it's not something that will obsolete your PC overnight. Same thing with SSD technology.

    • asdffdsa on 06/04/2019 - 18:11

      Thanks for the great response. I might just buy now.

  • CyberMurning on 06/04/2019 - 00:38

    When you have $

  • altomic on 06/04/2019 - 00:47

    what are the specs of your current PC?

    • asdffdsa on 06/04/2019 - 18:10

      My specs are i7-930, 1050 Ti (only upgraded part in my setup), 10gb ddr3 ram (all different sticks, but i slightly overclock it to 1600mhz). Mobo is a gigabyte ud7 rev 1.0.

      • kma on 07/04/2019 - 11:40

        Why do you want to upgrade?

        • asdffdsa on 07/04/2019 - 20:01

          The computer generally runs fine, but the video card is weak (I upgraded during the height of GPU prices so I didn't want to spend any more than that) and my biggest gripe weirdly enough is that it generates a lot of heat. The first gen i7 has something like 4x the power drawdown or more than the latest generation of CPUs or so I read.

          • asdffdsa on 07/04/2019 - 22:33

            @asdffdsa: I guess now I think about it a bit more it's probably the video card. I could upgrade it but video cards have gotten a lot bigger than they were 8 years ago and they probably won't fit in my case. The 1050 ti barely fits.

  • Cave Fire on 06/04/2019 - 00:57

    the ssd is probably the main advancement. And they are cheap for the performance, $30 for a basic one. I had a 2011 macbook with an ssd and it was faster than a new laptop with a mechanical drive. It is also quite easy to install as well.

  • Halo375 on 06/04/2019 - 08:26
    +2

    Best time is normally when the Australian dollar is strong or the US dollar is weak.

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